Research Library

Despite enviable increases in educational attainment, women in the MENA countries may fare less well in attaining a form of social capital integral to their ability to exercise full political, economic and social agency: wasta — loosely, clout, or using one’s connections and/or influence to get things done.

The degree to which religious leaders in the Middle East should advocate for women's rights should correspond to the opinions of the individual countries and communities.

This report reviews the key concepts and themes that emerged from the conference “Divided Societies, Volatile States: The Politics of Identity Post-Arab Spring,” hosted by the Baker Institute Center for the Middle East on March 10, 2015.

Iran — as it has since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 — represents a challenge to U.S. foreign policy. But it is one best addressed through a combination of firm action where necessary and flexible diplomacy where possible.

Boko Haram may be reaching its bitter end in Nigeria as the the country's military, with the support of Niger, Cameroon, and Chad, plans a massive ground invasion of the insurgents’ long-controlled safe zone, the Sambisa Forest. Outgoing Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has refused the offer of the United Nations to send troops, expressing confidence in the regional Multinational Joint Task Force's (MNJTF) ability to rout Boko Haram before the May 29 handover to the new president. However, Boko Haram remains deadly as long as sharia is the precondition for political and economic gains to the Muslim north.

The current electoral labyrinth in Egypt continues to pose a significant challenge to creating a just and all-inclusive political system. Despite the myriad electoral reforms and constitutional amendments passed in the past four years, women continue to play a minor role in the decision-making process in postrevolutionary Egypt. The new constitution unveiled in early 2014 lacks a constitutional provision or a quota system that would guarantee equal political representation for women; this will negatively impact women’s ability to exert influence in the political arena.

Qatar’s reforms have opened the floodgates of women’s opportunities in education and defined the small nation as a hub of research and higher learning within the greater Middle East. What are the implications of the abundance of highly educated women in Qatar?

This report suggests the contours of a more comprehensive policy for the United States in the broader Middle East, one that pursues not only important tactical approaches to counter Islamic extremism and terrorism, but also shapes the larger strategic landscape to secure and promote U.S. interests. After defining the challenge for the United States and the international community, the report provides a brief narrative on the rise of ISIS before presenting key policy recommendations for a more strategic approach.

"Islamic extremism is not an enemy that we will vanquish. It is a problem we will be forced to manage," writes Baker Institute fellow Joe Barnes in a commentary on the Islamist attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris.

Currently the Nigerian state is undergoing a civil war, with the protagonist being the Salafi-jihadi group popularly called Boko Haram. During the years since 2011, Boko Haram has morphed from being a local Salafi-jihadi group into a major player in West African radicalism. During the period since July 2014, Boko Haram has clearly set the establishment of a physical Islamic state in Nigeria as its goal and has fought the Nigerian military to a draw. While there is some support among the U.S. foreign policy community for proactively combating Boko Haram, the Nigerian civil war is not one that commands much interest among Americans as a whole. Nor is it clear the manner in which aid for fighting Boko Haram could be rendered or what exactly would be the acceptable scope of such a conflict for the United States. In this paper, author David Cook argues that there are only extreme circumstances under which the United States should involve itself in the Nigerian civil war and that thus far this conflict does not coincide with those circumstances. However, it is possible that with Boko Haram set upon the establishment of an Islamic state there could come a set of circumstances under which this reality could change.