Middle East and North Africa Publications
Morocco: “Advanced Decentralization” Meets the Sahara Autonomy Initiative
May 23, 2013The pace of reform in Morocco has been extremely slow since the enacting of the new constitution. Yet, buried in the maze of reports and studies that accompany any change in Morocco, a significant development is taking place: the program of “advanced regionalization” promoted by the king is transforming the 2007 proposal to grant a degree of autonomy to the Western Sahara into a one-size-fits-all system in which all Moroccan regions would enjoy more self-government, with the Western Sahara treated like any other region. more
Backdraft: The Conflict Potential of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
May 14, 2013Amid the growing number of reports warning that climate change threatens security, one potentially dangerous – but counterintuitive – dimension has been largely ignored. Could efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and lower our vulnerability to climate change inadvertently exacerbate existing conflicts? more
Soviet Policy Toward Syria, 1976-1986: Factionalism and the Limits of Influence (1986)
May 01, 2013Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Kennan Institute Occasional Paper Series #212, 1986. PDF 44 pages. more
The Soviet Union in the Middle East (1984)
Apr 26, 2013Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Kennan Institute Occasional Paper Series #185, 1984. PDF 17 pages. more
Moscow's Moves in the Direction of the Gulf: So Near and Yet So Far (1981)
Apr 24, 2013Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Kennan Institute Occasional Paper Series #122, 1981. PDF 26 pages. more
Iraq Ten Years Later: A Different Country in a Different Region (Spring 2013)
Apr 16, 2013Senior Scholar Marina Ottaway writes that ten years after the U.S. invasion to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Iraq remains a deeply troubled country, rent by internal dissensions and caught in the maelstrom of the increasingly sectarian politics of the region. more
Violence Unsettles Tunisia’s Democratic Transition
Apr 11, 2013Tunisia’s transition to democracy, widely regarded as the most successful to emerge from the five uprisings that shook the Arab world in 2011, is being seriously threatened by violence in the wake of a prominent leftist politician’s assassination in early February. The killing of Chokri Belaid has not only triggered a showdown within the ruling Islamic Ennahda Party between its moderate and fundamentalist wings but also deepened the hostility between secularists and Islamists within Tunisian society. more
Iran and Caucasia (1980)
Apr 11, 2013Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; Kennan Institute Occasional Paper Series #105, 1980. PDF 15 pages. more
Arab Uprisings and Mass Politics: Possibilities, Constraints, and Uncertainty
Mar 29, 2013The uprisings that have swept across the Middle East and North Africa region have unleashed new or reenergized existing movements expressing deep dissatisfaction with the status quo. Popular demands for change have ranged from the clearly political to the strictly economic. Economic crises, unreformed security sectors, and corruption continue periodically to draw people into the streets to reassert the power that forced initial regime changes two years ago. Brand examines developments in Egypt and Jordan to explore both the forms of greater mass participation and their implications for regional foreign policy. more
As Islamists stumble in Egypt and Tunisia, the Arab Spring turns wintery
Mar 27, 2013Of all the states that rose against tyranny, Egypt and Tunisia have traveled the furthest on the road to democratic transformation. However, concerns about the Islamists’ fidelity to democracy continue to mount. This is particularly so in Egypt where the president seems susceptible to authoritarian proclivities and the Islamist elite show little inclination to compromise. In Tunisia, the prospects for democracy are relatively better as Ennahda, partners in the governing coalition, have little choice but to be flexible. It is rather ironic that democratic transformation is left in the hands of those professing fidelity to principles whose compatibility with democracy is contested. more
