Social and Political Change

Analyzing social and political trends throughout the region

For more than a decade, calls for social and political change have ricocheted throughout the region. Governments have responded, and their citizens have responded as well. The consequences of the resultant alliances and struggles affect events in individual countries, inspire regional observers, and help shape how governments engage regionally and globally. The Middle East Program tracks social and political trends on a national and regional level to better understand where the region is heading over the next few decades and where it came from.

 

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Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

Photo: AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

Ties that Bind: Family, Tribe, Nation, and the Rise of Arab Individualism

The Arab world is experiencing a revolution. States have relied on pyramids of authority that reach down through society, often through tribes into families. Yet those ties are fraying, and individualism is rising.

Report by Jon B. Alterman — December 2, 2019

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Libya’s Civil Society Crackdown Exacerbates Its Climate Woes

Libyan authorities are trying to silence independent voices in the run-up to planned elections, but the crackdown undermines the work of civil society more broadly. Lubna Yousef and Will Todman argue that this strategy is self-sabotaging.

Commentary by Lubna Yousef and Will Todman — May 2, 2023

Deaths of Despair

With unemployment in the Middle East reaching alarming levels, Jon B. Alterman explores the potential consequences of the region's economic growth and energy transition on its youth population, and with it, the critical choices governments should make to avoid crises.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — February 21, 2023

A Conversation with H.E. Hoshyar Zebari

Please join the CSIS Middle East Program for a conversation on the unfolding political situation in Iraq, Erbil-Baghdad relations, and the security situation in Iraqi Kurdistan with H.E. Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's minister of foreign affairs from 2003 to 2014.

Event by Jon B. Alterman and H.E. Hoshyar Zebari — September 28, 2022

The Middle East Transition We Need to Talk About

Dr. Jon B. Alterman calls attention to a transition in the Middle East that receives little attention, and how the United States can help regional states approach the looming changes to the benefit of U.S. strategic interests.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — July 21, 2022

Rethinking Saudi Arabia

Dr. Jon Alterman discusses progress and setbacks in Saudi Arabia's sociopolitical reform efforts and what these mean for U.S. engagement (or disengagement) with the kingdom in the future.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — June 23, 2022

Lebanon’s New Government

CSIS's Will Todman answers four timely questions about the formation of Lebanon's new government after a year of stalemate.

Critical Questions by Will Todman — September 10, 2021

Babel: Translating the Middle East

Khaled Dawoud: Journalism and Politics in Egypt

Jon Alterman talks with Khaled Dawoud about his recent release from prison and his time as a political prisoner in Egypt.

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman and Natasha Hall — May 4, 2021

CSIS Babel

Borders Without Doctors

Egyptian medical students’ emails requesting university transcripts might be the most expensive one they ever send.

Newsletter by Mahmoud Ghanem — February 22, 2021

Babel: Translating the Middle East

Dr. Hanaa Almoaibed: Saudi Arabia and the Labor Market

Jon Alterman talks to Dr. Hanaa Almoaibed about how Saudi Arabia’s youth view their job opportunities.

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman , Will Todman , and Daniel Sharp — February 9, 2021

CSIS Babel
Babel: Translating the Middle East

A Mezze: Ba'athist Blues

A short mezze episode from the Middle East Program at CSIS.

Podcast Episode — January 19, 2021

CSIS Babel