استفادت الموجة الثانية من الانتفاضات العربية التي بدأت في السودان في ديسمبر من العام الماضي وامتدت إلى الجزائر ولبنان والعراق هذا العام، من تجارب الموجة الأولى من الربيع العربي بأخطائها وإنجازاتها. تعلم متظاهرو هذه الموجة الجديدة خمسة دروس اساسية من تجارب التحول السياسي في 2011. الدرس الأول هو أن الإطاحة برأس النظام لا يعني أن النظام السياسي قد سقط. فبينما…
Teachers in Jordan are starting the third week of one of the longest strikes by educators in the region’s history. The teachers are demanding a 50 percent salary increase, which they claim was promised to them by the government in 2014. However, negotiations with the government have stalled, and there is no end in sight. The grievances raised by the…
Photo by Gwenaël Piaser under a creative commons license available here . Tunisia’s economy is not in good shape and has a set of key challenges it needs to confront. High unemployment, unfulfilled demands for social justice, rise in corruption, and an unsustainable macroeconomic trajectory, all threaten recent political gains. This paper explores the reasons why Tunisia’s budding democratic order…
Image credit: Alisdare Hickson. While a majority is dissatisfied with the behavior of the PA and Palestinian factions in response to the Israeli demolition of homes in Wadi al Hommos, a greater majority believes that Abbas’ response, to stop implementation of agreements with Israel, is merely a media stunt and will not be implemented; and while support for two-state solution…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that if elected next week, he will formally annex significant parts of the West Bank. Arab capitals were quick to condemn this announcement, potentially threatening the recent rapprochement between Israel and certain Arab governments. Relations had steadily been improving in large part because of the perceived threat of Iran to the region, which…
Egyptians with different levels of income and education seem to have incredibly disparate perceptions of the Egyptian reality. Richer and better educated Egyptians are systematically more optimistic about the future of the economy, report higher satisfaction with the current government’s performance, and demonstrate higher levels of trust in the private sector. That Egypt suffers from inequality of income and opportunity…
Executive Summary Beginning in February 2019, many citizens began to take to the streets which ultimately resulted in the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. On the eve of the protests, Algerian citizens were not only deeply frustrated with economic conditions, but with the system as a whole. Perceptions about the state of the economy and optimism about the country’s future…
Executive Summary Beginning in February 2019, many citizens began to take to the streets which ultimately resulted in the resignation of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. On the eve of the protests, Algerian citizens were not only deeply frustrated with economic conditions, but with the system as a whole. Perceptions about the state of the economy and optimism about the country’s future…
Executive Summary Individuals between the ages of 15 and 29 account for roughly 30 percent of the population of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).1 The beliefs, attitudes, and preferences of this large and growing segment of the population has the potential to shape and drive the region’s future. Yet, widespread youth discontent about their economic prospects poses a…
