Nader S. Kabbani
Senior Fellow and Director of Research
Bio
Nader Kabbani is a senior fellow and director of research at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs and a research fellow with the Economic Research Forum based in Cairo, Egypt.
A development researcher and practitioner with over 20 years’ experience, Kabbani previously served as director of research at the Brookings Doha Center and as senior fellow with the Global Economy and Development Program and nonresident senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.
Prior to joining Brookings, Kabbani was director of policy and research at the Silatech Foundation and the founding director of the Syrian Development Research Centre at the Syria Trust for Development. During his career, Kabbani has held positions on the faculty of the American University of Beirut and on the research staff of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California State Senate. Kabbani has also served on the boards of several non-profit organizations and social enterprises.
Kabbani has published a diverse set of policy papers, academic articles, and chapters in edited volumes, most recently “Economic Dimensions of the Social Contract and How to Address Them,” in The Modern Arab State: A Decade of Uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. He has served as a consultant and led the preparation of reports and studies for various international organizations, including the World Bank, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and others.
contact fellowResearch Areas
- Labor markets
- Youth transitions
- Social policy
- Post-conflict recovery
Countries of Focus
- Mashreq
- Gulf (GCC)
- Syria
- United States
Other Areas of Interest
- Sustainability
- Conflict resolution
- Private sector development
- Institutional reform
Education
- Ph.D., Economics, Johns Hopkins University, 2001
- M.A., Public Management and Organizational Behavior, California State University, Sacramento, 1997
- B.A., Economics, Claremont McKenna College, 1992
Articles
Ahmed Morsy, Mouin Rabbani, Tarik M. Yousef, Nader S. Kabbani, Paul Dyer, Aisha Al-Sarihi, Galip Dalay, Ranj Alaaldin, Robert P. Beschel Jr., Justin Dargin , Faozi Al-Goidi, Alhala Alkuwari, Abdalftah Hamed Ali, Mahjoob Zweiri, Yahia H. Zoubir
Nader S. Kabbani, Tarik M. Yousef, Ahmet F. Aysan, Nasser Saidi, Rabah Arezki, June Park
Ali Bin Musa, Shahram Akbarzadeh, Sahar Khamis, Nader S. Kabbani, Beverley Milton Edwards, Hamidreza Azizi, Omar H. Rahman, Galip Dalay, Noha Aboueldahab, Saoud El Mawla, Faozi Al-Goidi
Nader S. Kabbani, Paul Dyer, Larbi Sadiki, Adel Abdel Ghafar, Sahar Khamis, Ranj Alaaldin, Dania Thafer, Faozi Al-Goidi
Tarik M. Yousef, Nader S. Kabbani, Ahmet F. Aysan, Larbi Sadiki, Marc Owen Jones, Ranj Alaaldin
Publications
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The question of (dis)order remains central to current debates on Middle Eastern politics and security. It is a multifaceted question with security, political, and economic dimensions and is intimately interlinked with the Middle East’s place in the changing global system and external powers’ relations with the region.
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The four major Asian powers—Japan, China, India, and South Korea—have deepened their engagement across the Middle East.
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Women nationals in the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have made remarkable progress in terms of educational attainment and labor force participation. GCC countries now lead the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in terms of female employment among nationals (i.e., citizens). The rapid improvement in female economic participation in the Gulf has propelled them to the forefront of women’s economic empowerment in the MENA region. This goes against persistent historical narratives that depict the Gulf states as outliers in terms of repression of women’s economic, social, and political freedoms.
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