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Oumeyma Chelbi

Former Visiting Junior Fellow

Bio

Oumeyma Chelbi was a Visiting Junior Fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. She holds a master’s degree in development economics from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar.

Chelbi’s research interests include corruption, governance, development economics, and entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Previously, Chelbi interned at Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in Amman, Jordan, and at the Doha Institute.

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Research Areas

  • Corruption
  • Governance
  • Development economics
  • Entrepreneurship

Countries of Focus

  • Tunisia
  • Middle East and North Africa

Other Areas of Interest

  • Migration

Education

  • M.A., Development Economics, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, 2023
  • B.A., Business Administration, Marmara University, Turkey, 2021

Articles

The Saudi Anticorruption Drive Moves Beyond Frying a Few Big Fish
What began in dramatic fashion in 2017 has matured into a sustained anti-corruption campaign that has made Saudi Arabia a regional leader on the issue.
Oumeyma Chelbi, Robert P. Beschel Jr.
How Tunisia's Anti-Corruption Campaign Is Putting Its Next Election into Question
Opposition figures continue to be banned from running for elections due to corruption charges. Is it an attempt to sideline the competition or distract from mounting economic woes?
Nejla Ben Mimoune, Oumeyma Chelbi
Conflict in the Red Sea Makes Economic Waves
The spillover from Israel’s onslaught of the Gaza Strip is not only generating conflict in far-reaching places from Lebanon to Yemen, but is creating economic consequences that could affect the entire globe.
Faozi Al-Goidi, Oumeyma Chelbi
BRICS Summit: Shaping a New Geopolitical Landscape – Council Views
The expansion of BRICS, announced at the August summit in South Africa, signals an emerging shift in the international order. Middle East Council experts analyze the significance of the bloc on the global stage and discuss questions raised at the summit about multipolarity, de-dollarization, and more.
Galip Dalay, Beverley Milton Edwards, Aisha Al-Sarihi, Shahram Akbarzadeh, Adel Abdel Ghafar, Ranj Alaaldin, June Park, Oumeyma Chelbi, Abdalftah Hamed Ali

Publications

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October 14, 2025
MENA Food Subsidies Are Here to Stay — For Now

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has historically relied heavily on subsidies, a form of government assistance that entails the provision of select goods or services at below-cost prices. Fundamentally a price stabilization mechanism and a buffer against the detrimental impacts of economic shocks, subsidies across the region have evolved into instruments of social protection aimed at alleviating poverty and addressing social inequalities, by lowering the cost of living and improving the access of low-income households to food and energy staples. In resource-abundant countries, they further serve as wealth redistribution mechanisms

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December 23, 2024
Gulf Countries - MENA region -
How Effective Are Arab Anticorruption Agencies? Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

Concerns about corruption have been at the center of public dissatisfaction over the quality of governance in many Arab countries. Anger over bureaucratic indifference and malfeasance was one of the main drivers behind the Arab Spring in 2010 and 2011. In 2019, corruption concerns animated the unrest in Lebanon, Iraq and Sudan. Polling data from… Continue reading How Effective Are Arab Anticorruption Agencies? Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

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October 27, 2024
MENA region -
Anticorruption in MENA: Insights and Global Comparisons

Concerns about corruption have frequently been at the forefront of political unrest throughout the MENA region.

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