Elie H. Abouaoun

May 15, 2014

Tunisia & Libya’s political transition: Impressions from the field

Tunisia and Libya recently took diverging tracks in their political transitions. A USIP field mission to both countries to meet with political and civil society leaders

November 29, 2013

The Syria crisis persistent challenges to an effective humanitarian response in Lebanon

The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon continues to grow amid continuing speculations that the violence is likely to continue in Syria.

November 15, 2013

In the Arab region, barriers abound to giving locally

For decades, human rights defenders across the Arab region have relied on foreign resources rather than local funding to support human rights initiatives.

October 7, 2013

Palliative Effect of Hassan Rouhani

While some analysts perceived Rouhani’s presidential victory as a subtle maneuver, others looked at it as a belated fulfillment of the 2009 “Green Revolution.”

June 1, 2013

Re-thinking the revolution

Almost two years after Mohammed-Tarek Bou Azizi’s slap on the face ignited a “Jasmin revolution,” Arab public opinion remains divided over the reasons, methods and outcomes of what has been called the “Arab Spring.”
February 1, 2013

Syria’s refugee crisis: The unseen end of the tunnel

Syria has been in turmoil since early 2011. However, the escalation witnessed in the last weeks indicates a change in the nature of the military actions, with considerable and overt implications for civilians.
January 24, 2013

Syria’s refugee crisis: The unseen end of the tunnel

The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon continues to grow amid continuing speculations that the violence is likely to continue in Syria.

January 1, 2013

An Insight on Human Rights Work from the Arab Region

The Arab region has experienced a number of historical developments in the last two years, a dynamic of change unseen since the 1950s. Analyzing the whereabouts of this dynamic might be pretentious for a grantmaking organization like the Arab Human Rights Fund (AHRF);

December 7, 2012

Reflections from Johannesburg: Social Justice Philanthropy

Posted on December 6, 2012 by IHRFG

May 1, 2012

Philanthropy in the Arab region at the dawn of a new era

The Arab region has experienced a number of historical developments in the last year, a dynamic of change unseen since the 1950s. Analyzing the whereabouts of this dynamic might be pretentious for a grantmaking organization like AHRF; nevertheless, reflecting on how this reshuffling of the cards would affect philanthropy in the region is a much needed exercise at this stage.
April 1, 2012

Corporate Social Responsibility, NGO linakes for a new era of enhanced sustianability

Only three decades ago, the role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in filling the gaps resulting from the public sector’s shortcomings was intensively debated in a context of extreme caution (by governmental stakeholders).

October 19, 2011

Baghdad’s Wary Support for the Syrian Status Quo

The starting point for understanding how Iraq’s Shiite-led government evaluates the popular unrest in Syria is its wariness towards the uncertainties associated with a change in the secular, Alawite-dominated regime in Damascus.
June 2, 2011

Iraq’s al-Sadr Movement

USIP’s Elie Abouaoun, based in the Institute’s Baghdad office, discusses the al-Sadr movement – and why it once again stands to be a destabilizing force in Iraq and region.

February 27, 2011

Food for thought on the unrest in MENA countries

This paper is not meant to be a thorough analysis or to bring answers to complex questions. It was written more as a food for thought about major and almost unprecedented political developments in the region.