Positive civil and political youth activism has been the most rewarding result of the Yemeni uprising of 2011. Individual activism, youth initiatives and the participation of youth in new political parties have introduced fresh approaches and perspectives to Yemen’s civil and political arenas. This youth involvement is already changing the landscape in Yemen. For example, in More »
A decade ago, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) shone a spotlight on the sorry state of education in the Arab world with its inaugural Arab Human Development Report in 2002, and its 2003 follow-on report, “Building a Knowledge Society.” The reports’ statistics still shock: in one year, Spain translates the same number of More »
The Arab Spring introduced us to the strength and determination of the many Arab women who took to the streets and the Internet to call for change in their governments and societies. Gone were the stereotypes of oppression and passivity. In their place were voices and faces of hope, courage and indomitable spirit, calling More »
The past week marked the second anniversary of the resignation of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, an event that in many ways turned unrest in Tunisia from a purely national affair to what the media dubbed the Arab Spring. That Arab Spring was seen as a broad rising of the Arab masses against aging More »
The participation of Yemeni women in the country’s uprising fascinated the world early last year. Yet the uprising also represented simultaneous opportunity and danger for women, especially female opinion leaders. An opportunity because women had the chance to be empowered. For instance, their parliamentary participation quota is under consideration to be increased from 15 to More »
Gunmen have killed a diplomat from Saudi Arabia in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a. Yemeni security officials and diplomatic sources say attackers wearing security force uniforms shot at the Saudi diplomat’s car today, killing him and his bodyguard. Susan Yackee asked Robert Powell, a senior Middle East analyst and Yemen expert with The Economist Intelligence Unit More »
According to a new report by the World Bank, Arab states spend far more on social programs than other developing countries. Whereas states outside the region with comparable income levels spend roughly three percent of their GDP on social expenditures, the weighted average in the Arab world stands at nearly double that amount – More »
Asia specialists will not openly admit it, but they hate the Middle East. To them, the Middle East is the great distraction that keeps people from focusing on what’s really important – their own area in the Western Pacific. The media are primarily to blame, according to this narrative. The media love sudden drama, even More »
The conventional wisdom is that American presidents who win a second term are less bound by domestic electoral considerations that may impose constraints on their foreign policy. But in his second term, President Barack Obama is unlikely to take any bold initiatives in the Middle East. Indeed, he is far more likely not only More »
With President Barack Obama’s re-election, many people across the Middle East are contemplating what this region might expect from his second term. Over the next four years, Obama will likely continue the policy directions set in his first term: by completing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, for example, and reaching out to global players like More »
Among the Arab Spring uprisings of last year, only the one in Yemen produced a negotiated regime change. The conflict in Syria has entered its 19th month. Some uprising have produces some change; others less. Autocrats in three countries chose exile, were jailed or killed, but President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen agreed to More »
October 11, 2012, marks the United Nation’s first-ever observance of the International Day of the Girl Child. According to the U.N., selected as this year’s theme was “Ending Child Marriage.” Organizers say it was chosen because the practice is seen as a phenomenon that violates millions of girls’ rights, disrupts their education, jeopardizes their More »
On October 1st, 2012, women organizers launched a Facebook page, “The Uprising of Women in the Arab World,” to highlight the discrimination against them which they don’t feel comfortable – or safe – enough to protest in the streets. In just ten days, the page has generated nearly 35,000 “likes” and conversation among more More »
This week in the Middle East, fighting continued in Syria, Jews throughout the world celebrated Yom Kippur, protests against the anti-Muslim film produced in the U.S. continued, Basra governor Mohammed Musabih Al-Waili was killed in Iraq, and 15 militant Islamists were sentenced to death or life imprisonment in More »
Violence and calls for calm continued throughout the region in response to the Internet video ridiculing Islam and the Prophet Muhammed. Muslim and Coptic leaders stood shoulder to shoulder urging peace between the religions. Services were held in Tripoli, Libya to remember Ambassador Stevens and the three other Americans killed in the most violent More »
This week in the Middle East, a film trailer lambasting the prophet Mohammed contributed to anti-American protests in Cairo, Sanaa and Benghazi, resulting in the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Embassy staff members. Also, new attacks broke out in Syria, UNHCR visited refugee camps, and protests against poor living More »
The attacks on U.S. embassies and consulates in Yemen, Egypt and in Libya have hurt America’s relationship with the Islamic world, especially the attacks that led to the death of J. Christopher Stevens, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya, and three others. That’s the opinion of Nasser Weddady, the Director of Civil Rights Outreach with More »
The international aid organization OXFAM says the humanitarian situation in Yemen is worsening. They report severe hunger, widespread malnutrition and warn the next generation of Yemenis may not have proper medical treatment or education. We discussed the issue with Joy Singhal, manager of Oxfam’s humanitarian response in Yemen who spoke to us by phone More »
International donors have pledged another $2.4 billion in aid to Yemen, bringing the total to $6.4 billion promised this year. At a donors’ conference in Riyadh, Yemen’s Planning and International Cooperation Minister Mohammed al-Saadi told delegates that Yemen will need another $5.4 billion dollars in the short term to aid its transition and overcome More »
Conflict brings with it not only human suffering, but also often produces setbacks for peoples’ cultural acquisitions and accomplishments. Yemen, one of the countries where the Arab Spring has unleashed aspirations for broader freedoms, has has proven no exception with its internal strife overshadowing the rich cultural heritage of one of the world’s oldest More »
