Arab Reform Briefs

Arab Reform Briefs are monthly analysis and insights from engaged Arab scholars or activists dealing with all key reform issues in the social, economic, political and legal domains.


	The Jordanian Elections: No More than Deepening the Crisis May 2013 by Sufian Obaidat The latest Jordanian parliamentary elections were held against the backdrop of a political and social crisis. The outcome of these elections prolonged the status quo but they also doomed the country to fail in standing-up to the looming challenges.
	Syria papers - The Syrian Revolution and Future of Minorities April 2013 by Akram Al-Bunni This paper analyzes the potential repercussions of the Syrian Revolution’s shift towards political Islam and all the challenges that might entail in terms of pushing other societal groups towards sectarian and ethnic entrenchment to the detriment of Syrian national identity.
	Crisis without End: Story of Egypt’s Democratic Transition March 2013 by Tamer Wageeh The paper tries to assess Egypt’s transition. The author argues that it is useless to restrict one’s thoughts to procedural aspects of transition without examining the substantive socio-economic dimensions of the on-going fundamental struggle.
	Transition to democracy in Tunisia: Where to? February, 2013 by Emna Jeblawi The paper tries to assess Tunisia’s transition and ponder the outcome of the period, as a whole.
	“Youth” Inclusion in Yemen: a Necessary Element for Success of political transition December 2012 by Atiaf Zaid Alwazir This paper attempts to review the level of “youth” inclusion, by first defining the “independent youth”, and focusing on their past, current and potential role in the transitional process.
	Kuwait: The Crisis and its Future November 2012 by Mohammad Alwuhaib This paper highlights a group of historical events that bear the seeds of the current crisis. It also shed some light on some of the central concepts for understanding Kuwaiti political mobilization
	Libya: Establishing Political System and The Transition to Statehood September 2012 by Moussa Grifa Since its 2011 Revolution, Libya has undergone several stages in a bid to forge a new state. The General National Congress elections that took place in July 2012 and the impressive democratic performance of the Libyan people are the most significant of these stages.
	Jordan: A Flowerless Spring August 2012 by Sufian Obaidat In light of the many recent changes in the regional and international landscape, it is a mistake to believe that the status quo is sustainable in Jordan. Yet it seems that neither the ruling powers, nor the people, nor the political forces in general realize this.
	Egypt presidential election 2012: the survival of the July 1952 regime July 2012 by Georges Fahmi On 23 and 24 May 2012, Egyptians went to the polls to choose their president in Egypt’s first free and fair presidential elections. This paper analyzes the presidential elections, with its two rounds, and its impact on Egypt’s transition from authoritarianism.
	Algerian elections: False specificity, dangerous status quo and reform in waiting June 2012 by Mustafa Muhammad The result of the parliamentary elections of May has apparently preserved the political status quo in Algeria. While Islamist parties have come to power in Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt, is there an Algerian specificity? Is the Islamist answer that emerged in 1991 definitely outdated?