Tag: Egypt
Progress for some, but institutional challenges for all
Despite recent gains, Egyptian women are seeing challenges to their rights and duties as citizens. Women are struggling to have their own development keep up with the shifting landscape in both personal and professional life. Furthermore, despite official attempts to promote gender equality, with more women in cabinet and on boards than ever before, long-held patriarchal attitudes continue to restrict the roles of women in the public and private spheres. On June 1, 2021, the Middle East Institute hosted Equality for Some: Changes to Women’s Rights in Egypt to discuss and better understand the socioeconomic consequences of these restrictions and the social movements taking place to forward the feminist movement. The speakers were:
Hoda El-Sadda
Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Cairo University
Mozn Hassan
Founder and executive director, Nazra for Feminist Studies
Mirette F. Mabrouk (moderator)
Senior fellow and director, Egypt program, MEI
The movement in context:
El-Sadda explained the context of the current feminist movement in her discussion about the current status of personal status laws in Egypt. In February 2021, the Egyptian cabinet approved a draft proposal of the new personal status laws that consolidated gendered inequalities and added new restrictions on women’s legal capacity. Currently, women have the legal status equivalent to minors, under tutelage of a male family member to make decisions on the behalf of women in the family. Meanwhile, the legal system can continue to create regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles that impede women’s mobility and guardianship of their children.
The legal subordination of women, according to El-Sadda, has been translated into decisions and regulations implemented by state institutions. When laws were changed in 1956 that granted women universal suffrage and equal rights in the public sphere, these practices were not paralleled in the private sector. While amendments have been added in order to address specific, minor, aspects of these laws, they fail to address the philosophy behind the law and governing logic while cementing religious practices.
The feminist movement and the state
Hassan argued that since the Arab Spring in 2011, there has been change that caused new actors to surface and mobilize – propelling the feminist movement into its current place. While violence is not the primary issue for educated women, Hassan emphasized the importance of the past ten years as demonstrating a dynamic movement that has shown the importance of independence and strength in community.
El-Sadda clarified the role played by the Egyptian government. Rather than acting as a proactive source of equality and protection, the Egyptian government’s amendments on personal status law have been attempts to extinguish social fires at a retroactive pace. While there is a general increase in female representation in government and education, the relationship between the state and social movements like the current feminist campaign is difficult. The state aims to dominate or destroy independent movements, so many of the challenges facing Egyptian women today remain the same since the 1950s. There is little hope for the future of the Egyptian state to act as a proactive and engaged member of the equality dialogue.
The future of the movement
According to Hassan, the feminist movement has created allows for the development and promotion of individual campaigns throughout the public. It is evolving alongside technologies and social media, while drawing on the context of government and civil society structure created by past generations.
El-Sadda concluded the panel with hope for the future. She believes that the women’s movement in Egypt has become the most successful social movement of the 20th century, despite obstacles along the way. There exists a transformative nature within this feminist movement that has the innate ability to pass through generations. El-Sadda claims that due to more courage, increased social media presence and relevance, and the new generation of politically engaged feminists, the movement gives hope for all Egyptian women.
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Peace Picks | May 31 – June 4, 2021
Peace Picks | May 31- June 4, 2021
Notice: Due to public health concerns, upcoming events are only available via live stream.
- MEI Lebanon Policy Conference – Addressing the Lebanese Social and Humanitarian Crises | June 1, 2021 | 9:45 AM ET | Middle East Institute | Register Here
Lebanon’s social and humanitarian crises have sharply accelerated over the past two years. From the onset of Covid-19 to the Beirut port explosion and the unfolding financial and socio-economic collapse, Lebanese citizens as well as Syrian and Palestinian refugee communities are witnessing a rapid slide into poverty and despair. Recent developments threaten to fuel civil unrest, xenophobia, and extremism. In the meantime, international partners including donor countries, multilateral institutions, and non-governmental organizations have rallied to help Lebanon avert a total and irreversible humanitarian disaster with wide-ranging repercussions.
How have international partners and the Lebanese diaspora circumvented the absence of a strong and capable central government to deliver much-needed support to citizens and refugees alike? What are some of the different potential scenarios for Lebanon on the social and humanitarian fronts in the months ahead? What must be done in the short and long term to prevent the country from spiraling further downward?
Speakers:
Congressman Darin LaHood (Opening Remarks)
U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois’s 18th District
Paul Salem (Opening Remarks)
President, Middle East Institute
Alex Mahoney
Acting Office Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, USAID
Nadine Massoud-Bernheim
Chief Executive Officer, LIFE
Haneen Sayed
Lead Social Protection and Jobs Specialist, MENA Region, World Bank
Mona Yacoubain (Moderator)
Senior Advisor to the Vice President of Middle East and North Africa, United States Institute of Peace
- Equality for Some: Challenges to Women’s Rights in Egypt | June 1, 2021 | 10:30 AM EST | Middle East Institute | Register Here
Despite hard-won gains in rights and freedoms carved out over the past century, Egyptian women are seeing challenges to their rights and duties as citizens. During a period of rapidly evolving social and environmental dynamics, women are struggling to have their own development keep up with the shifting landscape in both personal and professional life.
There also appears to be an odd dichotomy; despite official attempts to promote gender equality, with more women in cabinet and on boards than ever before, long-held patriarchal attitudes mean some positions are still firmly off-limits to women. Women are also facing myriad challenges to their personal lives, with the much-debated draft Personal Status Law threatening to set women’s rights back decades. What are the socioeconomic consequences of these issues?
Speakers:
Hoda El-Sadda
Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Cairo University
Mozn Hassan
Founder and Executive Director, Nazra for Feminist Studies
Mirette F. Mabrouk (Moderator)
Senior Fellow and Director, Egypt Program, MEI
Additional Speaker TBA
- Small Satellite Proliferation, Advanced Technologies, and Their Security Implications | June 1, 2021 | 11:00 AM EST | Foreign Policy Research Institute | Register Here
The uncontrolled re-entry of China’s rocket, which launched the core module of China’s space station, has raised concern about the absence of norms governing space. To provide an important perspective, FPRI has assembled a panel of experts to discuss the risks and opportunities of dual-use technologies. How do we ensure a space environment that is safe and sustainable as the number and capabilities of objects in space increase? Can new technologies help mitigate the risks of international conflict over space?
Speakers:
Mariel Borowitz
Associate Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology
Everett Carl Dolman
Professor of Comparative Military Studies, U.S. Air Force Air Command and Staff College
Glenn Lightsey
Professor at the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
Lawrence Rubin
Associate Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology and a Templeton Fellow in the National Security Program at FPRI
- Winning the Peace: Armed Groups & Security Sector Challenges | June, 3, 2021 | 8:00 AM EST | Register Here
Armed non-state actors have exploited state fragility with devastating impact and have experienced a remarkable ascension in recent years, powerfully competing with conventional military forces, sometimes delivering governance to local populations, courting state sponsors and working with them across borders. In the wider Middle East, their rise and impact has been pronounced. Developing effective internal and external policy responses to such hybrid security environments, rife with contestations over power, resources, and geopolitical dynamics has been a challenge. Policymakers have grappled with integrating some of the armed groups into formal governing structures, while countering others and with devising policy responses to their rule.
To explore these issues, Crisis Response Council and the Brookings Institution’s Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors are delighted to welcome you to a panel discussion that examines the future of armed groups in the Middle East and policy options for responding to them. It looks at whether armed groups should be integrated into formal governing structures, whether armed movements can govern, and which armed groups should be accepted, and which should be sidelined; it examines how the international community, particularly the U.S. and Europe, should address security crises and looks at potential policies for conflict mitigation and resolution at the local and regional level.
Speakers:
Vanda Felbab-Brown
Brookings Institution
Frederic Wehrey
Carnegie Endowmen
Benedetta Berti
NATO
Yaniv Voller
University of Kent; Stanford University
Ranj Alaaldin
Brookings Institution
- MEI Lebanon Policy Conference – Coordinating International Support for Lebanon: A Conversation with Dr. Najat Rochdi of UNSCHOL | June 3, 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | Middle East Institute | Register Here
The Middle East Institute is thrilled to host Dr. Najat Rochdi for a keynote conversation as part of MEI’s inaugural Lebanon policy conference. Dr. Rochdi is the United Nations deputy special coordinator and resident and humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon. She brings over 20 years of experience in development and humanitarian assistance and international coordination in conflict and post-conflict areas.
How is international aid coordination unfolding in Lebanon? Which mechanisms are already in place? What are they building towards? What challenges and obstacles lie ahead? How will the role and involvement of the United Nations in Lebanon develop in the months ahead?
Speakers:
Dr. Najat Rochdi
Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL)
Joyce Karam (Moderator)
Senior Washington Correspondent, The National
- Setting the Agenda for a Transatlantic Digital Alliance | June 3, 2021 | 11:00 AM EST | German Marshall Fund | Register Here
Tech issues – from digital taxation and the platform economy to artificial intelligence and the protection of critical technology – are central to the transatlantic relationship. European Commission President von der Leyen identified technology as one of four pillars of her “US-EU agenda for global change,” and called for a new “Trade and Technology Council” to strengthen transatlantic collaboration. As U.S. President Biden prepares to visit Brussels, experienced policymakers will explore the opportunities, challenges, and objectives of EU-US engagement on technology, and how these issues will affect the transatlantic relationship into the future.
Speakers:
Tom Wheeler
Former Chairman of the FCC
Luis Viegas Cardoso
Senior Expert of Digital, Technology and Innovation, I.D.E.A. Advisory Service, European Commission
Karen Kornbluh
Senior Fellow and Director, GMF Digital
Mark Scott (Moderator)
Chief Technology Correspondent, Politico
- International Order and its Discontents: Russia, Iran, and the Struggles for Recognition | June 3, 2021 | 12:00 PM EST | Belfer Center | Register Here
Russia’s relationship with Iran illustrates how normative expectations, power aspirations, and shared experiences of denigration can regulate, transform, and structure relations over time. Despite the areas of tension and the mistrust endemic to the relationship, Russia and Iran have exhibited synergies in their approaches to international order as shared experiences of discontent have further galvanized these countries to coalesce around the contestation of the so-called “Western”-led international order.
This seminar will examine the nature of the Russia-Iran relationship, drawing on research of Moscow and Tehran’s domestic foreign policy debates, archival documents, and elite interviews. It offers a framework that accounts for multiple expressions of power and the norms, ideas, values, and solidaristic bonds inherent in the evolution of the Russia-Iran relationship. The broader implications of this case illustrate how power inequalities, and, by extension, the unequal distribution of legitimacy and authority can form a basis of solidarity between states and invite contestation over the rights, rules, and institutions of international society.
Speakers:
Nicole Grajewski
Research Fellow, International Security Program
- Fast Reactors, the Versatile Test Reactor, and Nuclear Safety and Nonproliferation | June 3, 2021 | 4:30 PM EST | The Atlantic Council | Register Here
The discussion will focus on the role of advanced nuclear energy systems for the purpose of reducing carbon from fossil fuels and supporting global clean energy growth, and the essential role of the Versatile Test Reactor in supporting innovation in nuclear energy. It will address issues related to safety and security by design, how the VTR can enhance those features in the next generation of nuclear technologies, and how advanced reactor systems can incorporate enhanced safety and safeguard features.
As the United States accelerates its engagement on advanced nuclear research and development, the US Department of Energy and other federal bodies are adapting policies and procedures to assure that these new technologies are safe and secure and are deployed in a way that supports both climate and national security goals. In this moderated discussion, nuclear energy policy and technology experts will share their insights on pathways to continued innovation, international security, and the continued value of the nuclear power sector.
Speakers:
Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr.
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Lightbridge Corporation
Ambassador (ret.) Laura Holgate
Vice President, Materials Risk Management, Nuclear Threat Initiative
Jackie Kempfer
Director of Government Affairs, OKLO, Inc; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center
Kenneth Luongo
President, Partnership for Global Security
Dr. Kemal Pasamehmetoglu
Executive Director for the Versatile Test Reactor, Idaho National Laboratory
Dr. Jennifer Gordon (Moderator)
Managing Editor and Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council Global Energy Center
- NATO 2030: A Keynote Address by Jens Stoltenberg | June 4, 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | The Brookings Institution | Register Here
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), together with the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and The Brookings Institution, have the pleasure to invite you to a special virtual conversation.
As allied leaders prepare for the NATO Summit in Brussels on June 14, 2021, the transatlantic alliance faces a host of challenges that include Russia’s aggressive actions, the threat of terrorism and cyberattacks, disruptive technologies, the security impact of climate change, and the rise of China. At the same time, the Biden administration offers the opportunity for Europe and North America to work more closely together than they have for many years. The Secretary General will outline his vision in a keynote address followed by a discussion of the NATO 2030 agenda.
Speakers:
John R. Allen
President, The Brookings Institution
Cathryn Clüver Ashbrook
Designated Director and CEO, Germain Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP)
Jens Stolenberg
Secretary General, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- MEI Lebanon Policy Conference – Envisioning Lebanon’s Path to Sustainable and Equitable Growth: A Conversation with Ferid Belhaj | June 4, 2021 | 10:00 AM EST | The Middle East Institute | Register Here
The Middle East Institute is thrilled to host Ferid Belhaj for a keynote conversation as part of MEI’s inaugural Lebanon policy conference. Mr. Belhaj is the World Bank Group’s Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa. From 2012 to 2017, he was World Bank Director for the Middle East, in charge of its work programs in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Iran, based in Beirut, Lebanon.
How can Lebanon develop and implement a new economic model to promote sustainable and equitable growth? How will the role and involvement of the World Bank in Lebanon evolve in the months ahead?
Speakers:
Ferid Belhaj
Vice President, Middle East and North Africa Region, The World Bank
Ronnie W. Hammad (Moderator)
Adviser, Office of the Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, The World Bank
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One state, two states, three states, four are all possible
Friends ask: what does the latest Gaza war portend for the two-state solution? Is it dead? Is a one-state solution now inevitable? Are there other possibilities?
It is clearer than ever that Prime Minister Netanyahu is an opponent of the two-state solution. The West Bank settlements and related infrastructure, evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, and unequal treatment of Palestinian citizens of Israel make his preference clear: one state with more rights for Jews than for Arabs. Some call this “apartheid,” which was the more formalized South African system of segregation. Call it what you will, it is not democratic. The days when Israel could be regarded as the only democracy in the Middle East are long gone.
One state with equal rights is conceivable, but in practice impossible. Arabs and Jews are already pretty much equal in numbers between Jordan and the Mediterranean. Even secular Israeli Jews want their state to be Jewish. It can’t be Jewish if there is only one state. Nor are the Palestinians likely to afford Jews equal rights in a one-state Palestine after having been deprived of them for 75 years in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.
There is another version of the one-state solution that Netanyahu and other Israeli Jewish leaders like. They would be happy to see Egypt take Gaza back and Jordan take the West Bank back. The problem is neither Cairo nor Amman wants the Palestinians or the territory they occupy. Egypt has enough trouble in the Sinai peninsula with Islamist extremists. It has no interest in hosting Hamas, which originates in the Muslim Brotherhood. The Jordanian monarchy figures it already has enough Palestinians, who make up about 50% of the population. Governing the Palestinians in their enclaves on the West Bank would be an enormous challenge for Amman.
There is of course the possibility of a three state solution: Gaza, Israel, and the West Bank. Gaza’s political development for more than a decade has been independent of the Palestinian Authority, whose writ is largely limited to the West Bank. The two Palestinian proto-states are very different: Gaza is a contiguous, crowded, territory without Israeli on-the-ground presence while the West Bank is a Swiss cheese of Palestinian communities surrounded by armed Israeli settlements and the Israeli army. The current situation is close to this model, which in many respects is difficult to distinguish from the one-state solution with unequal rights.
Four states? That would be Gaza, Jewish Israel and West Bank, Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, and West Bank Palestinians. This, too, bears some resemblance to the current situation, because Palestinians with Israeli citizenship are not afforded equal rights or benefits, but they lack their own governing structures. Creating such structures with executive and legislative authority would be a gigantic problem for Israel, but it is the natural course of action now that the latest Gaza war has awakened the political consciousness of Palestinians who live in Israel proper. Judging from my conversations over the years with them, they would not accept governance by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.
Anyone can have their preferences among these options, and there may be more. I favor the simpler of solutions over the more complicated ones, because life is already complicated. Equal rights is a simple solution. One state won’t work. That makes me conclude two states with equal rights for Jews and Palestinians in both. But I admit it is getting harder than ever to picture the route to this outcome.
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Stevenson’s army, April 2
– Jake Sullivan meets with Japan and South Korea regarding North Korea.
– JCPOA signers [except US] meet with Iran.
– WSJ says US cutting forces in Middle East.
– Honduras hired lobbyists to stop investigation of corruption.
– Biden & congressional Democrats fight over Egypt policy.
– New report on counterspace capabilities.
– Former Speaker Boehner tells how GOP went crazy.
–Congressional norms are changing, not all for the bad.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, February 26
– Biden administration strikes Iranian-backed militias in Syria.
– Biden talks to Saudi king
– Axios says administration in no rush to change Western Sahara policy..
– Pew reports public opinion on Biden foreign policy challenges.
– David Ignatius comments on Egypt policy.
– Josh Rogin urges action on North Korea policy.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Beyond success and failure lies attractive possibility
Michael Picard, a first-year Conflict Management student at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, writes:
The Wilson Center February 24 hosted a panel discussion on “Revisiting the Arab Uprisings at 10: Beyond Success and Failure.” that weighed the societal impacts of the Arab uprisings 10 years after they broke out. The term “Arab Spring” is a misnomer as the revolts did not result in democratic reform – the term Arab uprisings was used instead.
The key question was whether the Arab uprisings werea failure that is now over or are they the beginning of a longer process of societal transformation?
Panelists
Liz Sly (moderator): Beirut Bureau Chief, Washington Post
Amy Austin Holmes: International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Marina Ottaway: Middle East Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Asher Orkaby: Fellow, Transregional Institute, Princeton University
Anas El Gomati: Founder and Director, Sadeq Institute
Focusing specifically on the experiences of Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya, the panelists presented and weighed the legacy of each country’s uprising 10 years on. Despite initial popular hope, there was never a serious expectation among observers that these states would transition to democracy overnight. What we have witnessed so far is the beginning of a long-term transformation of the MENA region. The memories of pre-uprising realities are still pertinent, and the youthful composition of Arab societies highlights the need for political and economic reforms.
Several panelists noted the US must examine how its policies and signals have impeded demoratic transitions. Regarding the 2013 coup that deposed Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, the African Union immediately expelled Egypt in response to this setback. The US did not react until the Rabaa massacre, which killed hundreds of pro-Morsi demonstrators. This reflects a broader theme: that the US must consider its democracy promotion goals and what its precise role ought to be in realizing these goals.
The panel also discussed the role of the Gulf monarchies in the Arab uprisings, noting that they saw such movements – both those originating domestically and in nearby states – as existential threats. Ottaway offered an anecdote about a Saudi official who anticipated expatriate students would demand greater civil liberties. This compelled the Gulf states to act – near unanimously – to crush domestic uprisings and take an active international role in promoting counterrevolutions. This has caused immense destruction throughout the region, derailing local conflict management efforts and restraining Gulf proxies from negotiating settlements.
Ottaway observed that perhaps the most pessimistic lesson of the Arab uprisings was that removal of large, unitary, Arab regimes that dominated political life has revealed that the building blocks of democracy were absent, with the narrow exception of Tunisia. Tunisia was able to avoid fates similar to Libya and Yemen because it is a) socially homogenous with relatively few ethnic and sectarian minorities, and b) politically pluralistic. Historically salient political organizations already existed and held society together, albeit in uneasy, unstable balances.
The panelists spoke to new dynamics and outcomes that continue to emerge. Several elaborated on “second generation” protest movements in Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria, and Sudan. In these contexts, protestors demonstrated greater understanding of how their movements could be more inclusive, better organized, and better at extracting meaningful government concessions. This has helped them avoid the high-stakes losses of the “first generation” protest movements.
The panelists noted unanimously that the Arab uprisings have had positive implications for women and some minorities. In several countries, women initiated the initial protest movements, focused on detention of their kin. In war-torn states, women have taken on a more active role in daily economic and social life. The panelists hope that these gains will be locked in with female participation quotas in emergent governance institutions. In Egypt, the Nubian minority gained recognition in the constitution and procured the right to return to ancestral lands from which they were forcibly displaced.
Conclusion
The panel agreed that the Arab uprisings were not failures that are now over but the beginning of a longer transitional process and state-building experiment. Orkaby noted these uprisings sparked the creation of local civil society organizations or strengthened existing ones. El Gomati noted the renewal of social protests in Lebanon, Iraq, Algeria, and Sudan, indicating civilians are still willing to take to the streets. Austin Holmes emphasized that much will depend on how the Biden administration postures itself toward the region, especially with regard to countries that have retained despotic features.
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