Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa Wikipedia

In such critical times, MEI’s dedicated to inform and advance the policy conversation on Lebanon in the United States and globally. The program particularly focuses on investigating and promoting viable paths forward for Lebanon as it battles through one of the darkest periods in its 100-year modern history. The world is witnessing a tech cold war and decoupling between the U.S. and China, as new geopolitical fault lines emerge based on technology networks and the flow of information.

That’s probably the most important thing for those of us in Washington (and across the international community) to remember. Which have gone through mass protests with millions on the streets — revolutions leading to changes in government — and are still finding their ways forward. Jordan — though making progress on corruption — hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees and faces growing protests about wages by ordinary citizens. In Egypt, protests against corruption and inequality are eliciting a brutal response.

Global Affairs

Also keep an eye out for new acquisitions to the catalog and the publication of online resource guides. MEI offers language training through private and group courses in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, and other regional languages at a variety of proficiency levels, all taught by professionally-trained, native speakers. This book offers a new interpretation of the rich narratives of Arab secularism, contending that secularism as a set of ideas and a social movement is destined to loom large on the political and legal horizon of most Arab states.

Lebanon (24) has been caught in a spiral of economic, political and social disasters since its financial sector imploded as a result of overspending and corruption in 2019, exacerbated by the devastating Beirut port explosion of the following year. To make things worse, the country has been without a functioning government since the end of October, further delaying crucial reforms to improve economic and monetary governance. Corruption was one of the main criticisms of the government when the civil war began eight years ago. Now the state has collapsed, and the country is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with two thirds of its population in dire need of food.

Inspections, Bottlenecks and Safety Concerns Hinder Gaza Aid

A large number of political parties with very different ideologies, are active in Lebanon, but most of them form political alliances with other groups of similar interests. Even though certain high-profile positions in the government and the seats in the parliament are reserved for specified sects, intense competition is usually expected of political parties and candidates. Many articles of constitution about political freedoms and minority rights (e.g. education in mother language for language minorities) have not been applied at all.

In Syria, the current regime retains its grip on power, but the government has done little to direct resources to support the people. Twelve years of fighting has collapsed the infrastructure – leaving much of the population without access to clean water, health care and food – and the country is now facing a cholera outbreak. Tunisia (40) dropped by four points since last year as the country continues down a path toward authoritarianism.

Governments have a core mission to provide effective services by making the best possible use of their resources to offer both individuals and businesses the 21st-century infrastructure and environment that are essential for a successful and excellent quality of life. Parliamentary elections were held in December, in a period marked by further rising tensions and strikes. As even more organisations and activists encouraged a boycott of the elections, considering them a threat to democracy, just 11.2 per cent of voters turned out. In July, protesters rose up in response to Saied’s abuses ahead of a vote scheduled to approve a new constitution that would significantly expand executive powers. But the president took it as an opportunity to further consolidate power, arresting protesters, dismissing the prime minister and freezing the parliament. Amidst widespread boycott of the election, the new constitution was voted on by just over 30 per cent of the population.

Only a small handful of countries in the Middle East have actually held free and fair democratic elections for the country’s head of state, notably including once again Israel and Tunisia. One exception to this praise is the chapter on Israel by David H. Goldberg, the Research Director at Dynamic Global Information Service in Toronto. The chapter is so unbalanced and one-sided that readers might regard it as pro-Israel propaganda. Goldberg maintains that Iran has a nuclear weapons program and nuclear weapons facilities, even though their existence has not been confirmed by inspection agencies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency. By contrast, he avoids discussion of Israel’s nuclear weapons stockpile, which US Defense Intelligence estimates at a minimum of 80 warheads. He does not mention Israel’s refusal to ratify the Nuclear Weapons Non-proliferation Treaty (something Iran has done) and Israel’s opposition to turning the Middle East into a nuclear weapons free zone, a goal favored by Iran and the other Middle Eastern countries.

Middle East and North Africa: MENA Governments

By 2025, more than 40% of all ICT investments in the Middle East will be intended to fulfill ambitious digital transformation initiatives. Within the GCC alone, digital technologies are advancing, and governments are set to revolutionize both the scope and quality of their service offerings. They are keeping citizen-centered design at the heart of their e-government services and upskilling their workforces to be suitable for a dynamic future.

Highly sophisticated surveillance technology is used to constantly monitor entire populations and crack down on any dissent. In Egypt and Iran, tens of thousands of prisoners are currently behind bars due to their political positions. Saudi Arabia imprisoned more than a dozen female activists in 2018 who peacefully protested for equal rights, subjecting these women to beatings, electric shocks, and sexual abuse.

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This is at times of cooperation, collaboration, rivalry, and enmity, offering a vivid perspective as to how the similarities of both political actors bring them together after decades of … Jacqueline S. Ismael is Professor Emerita of Social Work at the University of Calgary and is founding co-editor of the International Journal of Contemporary Iraqi Studies. She has published extensively on Canadian social policy, international social welfare, and Middle East politics. Tareq Y. Ismael is a professor of political science at the University of Calgary, Canada, and the Secretary General of the International Association of Middle Eastern Studies.

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