Middle East Initiative

A collaboration between Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership and the Belfer Center’s Middle East Initiative, the Emirates Leadership Initiative (ELI) provides the critical opportunities needed for emerging leaders from the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East to confront the region’s public policy issues in question through a multi-pronged approach.

The complexities of modern leadership require more than traditional academic coursework. Effective leaders utilize tools of strategic and financial analysis balanced with self-understanding and the ability to work across cultures and sectors. Now, more than ever, leaders need to be equipped with the tools to think globally and act locally.

Funded by the government of the United Arab Emirates, the Emirates Leadership Initiative features several components, including: a research fund supporting pre-doctoral, post-doctoral, and faculty research; student degree fellowships; an on-site learning experience in the UAE; and Executive Education programs. Please click the links below to learn more about ELI’s various elements.

I. Research

• Pre-Doctoral, Postdoctoral, and Faculty Fellowships
• Harvard University Faculty Research Fund
• Harvard Kennedy School Student Research Fund
• Senior Fellows Program

II. Student Degree Fellowships

III. Executive Education

IV. On-Site Learning in the UAE

The Kuwait Program at Harvard Kennedy School is generously supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS). The Kuwait Program, housed at the Middle East Initiative, serves current and emerging leaders and decision-makers of various institutions in Kuwait, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the wider Arab world through unique opportunities for cooperation on advanced research, teaching, training and outreach on critical issues of importance to Kuwait and the region. Please click the links below to learn more about the various components of the Kuwait Program:

• The Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholars Program
• The Kuwait Foundation Visiting Research Fellowship
• Faculty Research Fund
• The Kuwait Foundation Fellowship for Outstanding Emerging Leaders
• Executive Education Fellowships
• Customized Executive Education Programs

The Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholars Program

The Middle East Initiative hosts senior policymakers and academics to engage with students and faculty as a visiting scholar for one semester as part of the Kuwait Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Applications from scholars working on contemporary issues of policy relevance to the Middle East, and the Arabian Gulf in particular, in the disciplines of political science, economics, history, and sociology are especially welcome. All visiting scholars are expected to either:

• Conduct a research project preferably with a Harvard Kennedy School faculty member; or
• Lead a not-for credit eight week study group on a topic relevant to policy and development in the Middle East and North Africa.

Kuwait Visiting Research Fellowship

As part of the Kuwait Program at Harvard Kennedy School, the Middle East Initiative hosts an academic from Kuwait each spring. The Kuwait Visiting Research Fellow is expected to either conduct a research project resulting in an article-length working paper,  preferably with a Harvard Kennedy School faculty member, or to lead a study group on a topic relevant to policy and development in the Middle East and North Africa. Research fellows are expected to attend the Middle East Initiative’s research seminars and to participate in other program activities as appropriate. 

Eligible candidates include researchers and faculty ranging from the postdoctoral to senior level. Applicants must be either a Kuwaiti national or current residents in Kuwait.