Research Library

The unintended consequences of tougher U.S. sanctions on Iran continue to accumulate, including stronger ties between Saudi Arabia and Russia and an expansion of Russian geopolitical power, graduate fellow Peter Volkmar writes in a post for the Forbes blog: http://bit.ly/2CS9FE5.

Baker Institute director Edward P. Djerejian, former ambassador to Israel and to Syria, appeared on Al-Jazeera's "From Washington" program to discuss the possible consequences of Jamal Khashoggi's disappearance (Arabic): https://youtu.be/J7-xALrG_3s.

Divisions across ethnic and religious lines in several Middle East countries since the 2011 Arab uprisings have brought renewed attention to the consociational model of governance. This student brief examines Lebanon’s consociational system in order to gauge whether it would be useful for other countries in the region experience similar ethnic or religious divisions.

Even though the United States has long maintained a dominant presence in the Gulf, the Chinese social contract model may actually more applicable to the social and economic dynamics of GCC states than the Western orthodoxy of political liberalism and unbridled free market policies, the author argues in this issue brief.

This brief sets out some of the major structural reforms to taxes, subsidies, and debt issuance in the GCC that are shifting financial burdens from the state to its citizens and residents.

By Marwan Muasher, Ph.D., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The author explores reform efforts and identifies challenges in Jordan following the Arab Spring. The brief is part of a two-year project is generously supported by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

GCC states have taken an active role in supporting entrepreneurship creation, as part of efforts to diversify and grow their economies. Yet while state-led entrepreneurship policies have worked to achieve many positive outcomes, they have also revealed some major shortcomings, such as reinforcing the political status quo and limiting the possibility of genuine change toward democratization. M. Evren Tok explores these issues 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.

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.

By Peter Salisbury, Chatham House; Arab Gulf States Institute This brief provides an overview of the evolution of aid and development resources by the GCC states over the past several decades and discusses the political context for their emergence as donor nations. Peter Salisbury discusses the GCC in aid and development 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.

The current leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia are trying to assert much more political control over their respective country's religious institutions. The lesson both regimes seem to have taken away from the Arab upheavals is not the necessity of pluralism, but instead the need for more regimentation, hierarchy, control, and exclusion.