Paul Dyer

Nonresident Fellow

Bio

Paul Dyer is a nonresident fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs. He has over 20 years of research and policy analysis experience on governance and economic development issues in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.  

Dyer’s work has focused on labor market policy and youth development, small and medium enterprise development, the promotion of access to finance, and broader issues of economic inclusion. Recently, he has worked on conflict resolution and post-conflict recovery in Libya, Syria, and Yemen, with attention to rebuilding institutional capacity; as well as the MENA region’s policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

In this capacity, Dyer has worked with the World Bank Group, the Islamic Development Bank, the International Labour Organization, and many government agencies and non-governmental organizations in the MENA region. He has published widely, contributing to numerous reports and edited volumes on economic development in the MENA region, as well as implementing several long-term impact evaluations.  

In the past, Dyer served as managing associate at Maxwell Stamp, Inc. and knowledge program manager at the Silatech Foundation in Qatar. He was also a fellow at the Dubai School of Government and extended-term consultant at the World Bank. Dyer co-managed the Middle East Youth Initiative, a research initiative focused on understanding institutional barriers to youth economic inclusion in MENA and programmatic solutions to persistent challenges in terms of employment, entrepreneurship, and social development. He also was a founding advisor to the Taqeem Initiative, evaluating youth employment programs in the MENA region.  

Research Areas

  • Youth transitions
  • Labor markets
  • Post-conflict recovery
  • Institutional reform

Countries of Focus

  • Gulf (GCC)
  • Yemen
  • Libya

Other Areas of Interest

  • Demography
  • Education reform
  • Conflict resolution
  • Governance

Education

  • M.A., Arab Studies and Economics, Georgetown University, DC, 2002
  • B.A., International/Global Studies, College of William and Mary, 1996

Articles

In this Council Views, ME Council experts react to Donald Trump’s re-election, analyzing what his return to the White House means for the Middle East and North Africa. 
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
For decades, the U.S. dollar has been the international reserve currency. With many countries now seeking an alternative, and BRICS adding new members, are the dollar’s heydays numbered?
Paul Dyer
The recent outbreak of violence in Sudan has already taken a heavy toll on the country and threatened stability abroad. Middle East Council scholars offer their insights on what’s driving the conflict, the imperative to bring it to a swift end, and its implications for Sudan and beyond.
Nader S. Kabbani, Paul Dyer, Larbi Sadiki, Adel Abdel Ghafar, Sahar Khamis, Ranj Alaaldin, Dania Thafer, Faozi Al-Goidi
It has been a long, hot summer in Libya. Demand for air conditioning has strained the country’s electrical grid, leading to rolling blackouts that have underscored the unity government’s inability to improve the daily lives of its people. With frustration mounting over the ongoing failure of political elites to organize elections, the blackouts prompted well-organized—if… Continue reading Desperately Seeking Stability: Libya, Elections, and Enduring Political Stalemate
Paul Dyer