ME Council
ME Council
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Governance and Development Program

The Governance and Development program promotes regional development and prosperity by working to identify solutions to the most pressing socioeconomic and governance challenges facing the MENA region.

The program conducts research to understand the underlying causes and consequences of these challenges; convenes meetings with leading thinkers, practitioners, and policymakers to develop viable policy solutions; and works with leading regional and international institutions to launch innovative programmatic initiatives.

 

 

Areas of
Focus

Economic Development

  • Energy transition
  • Economic diversification
  • Climate change
2.15.0.0

 

2.15.0.0

 

Governance and Institutional Reform

  • Public sector reform
  • Public finance management
  • Post-conflict rebuilding
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2.15.0.0

 

Social Policy and Inclusion

  • Social protection
  • Marginalized groups
  • Skills development
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2.15.0.0

 

publications

February 24, 2025 USAID in MENA: A Requiem

The Trump Administration began the morning of February 3, 2025, by telling staff and contractors of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to stay home. Elon Musk and his team at the newly minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) spent the day digging through staff computers, digital records, and accounts seeking information on programs they felt were wasteful or not aligned with the new administration’s priorities.

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January 16, 2025 Carbon Emissions Reduction Strategies for Qatar

Climate change is high on the agenda of countries around the world. Efforts to limit the average global temperature increase to less than 1.5°C – an amount that scientist say would limit the most dire consequences of climate change – have so far faltered. Recent United Nations Climate Change Conferences have focused on exploring ways to substantially cut carbon emissions and scale up financing for emissions reductions. 

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December 23, 2024 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 Governance and Development Program

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August 22, 2024 Division and Disaster: Libya’s Political Fragmentation and Response to the Derna Flood

A devastating flood hit the Libyan city of Derna on September 10 and 11, 2023. It resulted from the collapse of two dams after heavy rainfall pounded the eastern coastline of Libya due to Storm Daniel’s passage through the Mediterranean.

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