To compete and thrive in the 21st century, democracies, and the United States in particular, must develop new national security and economic strategies that address the geopolitics of information. In the 20th century, market capitalist democracies geared infrastructure, energy, trade, and even social policy to protect and advance that era’s key source of power—manufacturing. In this century, democracies must better account for information geopolitics across all dimensions of domestic policy and national strategy.
Please join us for this virtual workshop, co-hosted by the Office of the Chief Economist - Middle East & North Africa, the World Bank.
Program Schedule
8:00am - 8:30am EDT: Opening Remarks
- Ferid Belhaj, Vice President, Middle East and North Africa, World Bank
- Tarek Masoud, MEI Faculty Director and Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman Professor of International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School
8:30am - 8:45am EDT: Big Data and Reform Analysis
- Ha Nguyen, Senior Economist, MENA Chief Economist’s Office, World Bank
8:45am - 9:30am EDT: Stock-Taking of Economic Reforms in MENA and the GCC
History of Reforms in MENA and Zooming in Reforms in the GCC using a new Legislation Database
Discussion, Q&A
- Ha Nguyen, Senior Economist, MENA Chief Economist’s Office, World Bank
- Samira Kalla, Université Evry Val Essonne, Paris-Saclay.
9:30am - 10:30am EDT: Ownership of Economic Reforms in the GCC
Insights from Newspaper Articles
Insights from Social Media
Discussion, Q&A
- Ivan Yotzov, University of Warwick
- Abdulla Saif, Harvard University
- Oussama Belmejdoub, Quantcube Technology
10:30am - 11:00am EDT: Way Forward
- Issam Abousleiman, Country Director for the GCC, Middle East and North Africa, World Bank
- Rabah Arezki, Chief Economist, Middle East and North Africa, World Bank
