A program of the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL), focusing on Arab World affairs. CDDRL is a research center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Policy Analysis
Scholarly Publications
Authoritarian State Building in the Middle East: From Durability to Revolution
February 2011
What accounts for variation in the durability of authoritarian regimes in the post-colonial Middle East? This working paper presents a new explanation that underscores how the geopolitical...
Public Diplomacy 2.0: An Exploratory Case Study of the Digital Outreach Team
January 2011
The internet is enabling new approaches to public diplomacy.
Other Publications
Necessary Risks: How a New U.S. Administration Can (Finally) Give Us the Middle East Policy We Need
October 2008
At the root of current Middle Eastern foreign policy debates on topics ranging from Iran to Iraq to Israel, is a more fundamental challenge for American policy makers: how to combat the general...
News
Noura Erakat analyzes the political and legal contexts of the 2014 Gaza war [VIDEO]
May 2015
As part of the Arab Reform and Democracy Program's speaker series, George Mason University scholar Noura Erakat examined the political and legal contexts for the 2014 Gaza war. In July and August...
Ben Ahmed examines the challenge of youth alienation in the Tunisian transition [VIDEO]
April 2015
As part of the Arab Reform and Democracy Program's speaker series, Executive Director of the Mediterranean Development Initiative Ghazi Ben Ahmed examined the challenge of youth alienation in the...
Stanford conference explores new development approaches post Arab Spring
April 2012
The Program on Arab Reform and Democracy hosted its third annual conference on April 26-27 at Stanford University to present an integrated approach to development in the Arab world.
Events
Saudi Arabia: Can Economic Reform Succeed without Political Change?
November 15, 2017
ABSTRACTThe formation of Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption commission and the arrest of dozens of princes and former ranking officials have brought to focus the prospects for political and economic...
Labor Activism under Egypt’s New Authoritarianism
October 4, 2017
ABSTRACTDespite security surveillance, forced dismissals of labor activists, and referrals of labor activists and protesters to military trials, labor activism remains at the forefront of societal...
The Anatomy of Authoritarianism in the Arab World
April 13, 2016
AbstractIn this talk Joseph Sassoon discusses his recently released book Anatomy of Authoritarianism in the Arab Republics (Cambridge University Press, 2016).
Projects
Safadi-Stanford Initiative for Policy Innovation
Purpose of SSIPI The Safadi-Stanford Initiative for Policy Innovation (SSIPI) initiative is a partnership between the Safadi Foundation USA and the Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at Stanford...
English
Political Reform Prospects in Yemen
As in much of the Arab world, 2011 was a year of social upheaval and momentous change for Yemen.
English
The Link between Economic and Political Reform in the Arab World
The Program on Arab Reform and Democracy at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) is pleased to present the report of this project, which examines the link between...
English
Multimedia
The Tunisian Transition and the Challenge of Youth Alienation
April 2015
AbstractSocial and economic grievances of Tunisian youth played a major role in igniting the uprising in Tunisia, and more generally, the so-called Arab Spring.
People
