To what extent do Moroccans view state leadership in religion favorably, or see head of state King Mohammed VI as a source of religious authority? The author examines these questions in this issue brief, produced as part of a two-year Center for the Middle East study on religious authority in the Middle East.
The toll of Lebanon's dual governance system weighs heavily on the state and its governance structure. The author examines the current need to formalize the country's informal senate.
The author explores consociational democracy as it has played out in Lebanon, and its possible use as a heuristic tool to rethink the relationship between communal groups, political organizations, and the state in the contemporary Middle East.
By Mustafa Gurbuz, Ph.D., Arab Center, Washington D.C.
The Syrian civil war drastically changed the future prospects of Kurds in both Syria and Iraq. This brief examines the challenges that prevent a politically inclusive culture in Syrian Kurdistan—popularly known as Rojava—and Iraqi Kurdistan.
This brief and research paper are part of a project on pluralism and inclusion in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. The project is generously supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
By Imad Salamey, Ph.D., Lebanese American University
Contemporary Arab politics have been overwhelmed by communitarian divisions. This research reviews rising transnational communitarianism in the Middle East and suggests communitarian plurality as a solution to ongoing political conflicts in the region.
Imad Salamey discusses in both a short issue brief and longer research paper on pluralism and inclusion in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. The project is generously supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
This month, the Syrian Civil War will have lasted seven years. The authors of this brief explore how the United States — first under President Barack Obama and now under President Donald Trump — has struggled to develop a coherent strategy that balances U.S. interests in the conflict with the military, financial and diplomatic resources necessary to pursue them.
This brief on the Trump administration's approach to the battle against ISIS is the first of a three-part series on America's foreign policy in the Middle East. Subsequent reports will examine U.S. policy in Syria and the intensified competition between Iran and traditional U.S. partners in the region, notably Saudi Arabia and Israel.
The list of 13 demands presented in June 2017 by Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates suggests a supremely ambitious set of goals behind their embargo of Qatar, including “red lines” that touch directly upon Qatari sovereignty and that Doha will almost certainly reject. The stage is thus set for a contest of endurance, one that with every passing month looks more likely to result in favor of Qatar, writes fellow Gabriel Collins in this brief.