Diplomacy and International Politics

Recap of MEI Event “Can the Future of Jihadism Be Predicted?” with Dr. Thomas Hegghammer

In this white paper, authors Melani Cammett and Evan Lieberman try to shed light on what social solidarity is, how it might affect attitudinal and behavioral change; and given its desirable properties, what strategies impede and which facilitate the building of solidarity, particularly given the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Europeans awoke on Thursday morning to news that President Donald Trump had announced the suspension of “all travel from Europe to the United States.” Blaming the European Union (EU) for failing “to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China,” Trump suggested “a large number of new [coronavirus] clusters in the United States were seeded by travelers from Europe.”

Using World Value Survey opinion poll data, we empirically characterize the economic values and norms held by individuals in the Arab world, in comparison to values held in the rest of the world. We find that, contrary to some common beliefs, there are many values that predispose citizens of Arab countries to be part of a market economy, including a high level of work ethics, comfort with competition and the work of markets, and a high level of economic motivation.

This paper looks at the relationship between banking and cronyism in Egypt. A key puzzle that it tries to resolve is why private banks may lend in preferential ways to politically connected firms. In doing so, it tries to identify the causal pathways that link bank lending decisions to the corporate characteristics of politically connected firms.

Oula Alrifai, A.M. ’19, and her brother, Mouhanad Al-Rifay, are releasing “Tomorrow’s Children,” a documentary about Syrian child refugees trying to survive in Turkey.