Middle East Initiative

After a nine-month deadlock marked by political bickering, a struggling economy and massive growing public debt, Lebanon’s political elite finally agreed Thursday on the formation of a new government. The compromise among Lebanon’s sectarian political factions will certainly inject some much-needed social normalcy and stability, and the new government will historically include four women ministers, among them Raya al-Hassan, leading the influential Ministry of Interior.

Before the Syrian civil war, Egyptians were the single largest migrant labor community in Jordan. Labor market pressures and changes to the Jordanian work permit system have resulted in the increasing vulnerability of Egyptian labor, who have been the primary labor force on Jordanian farms and construction sites since the late 1970s. Using new data from the 2015 Jordanian census, the 2010 and 2016 Jordan Labor Market Panel Survey, and field interviews conducted in Jordan from 2014 to 2018, I show that higher concentrations of Syrians at the subdistrict level are associated with higher rates of informal labor market participation for Egyptians. Furthermore, higher proportions of Syrians do not correlate with negative impacts on the formality or household wealth of Jordanian citizens, suggesting that Syrian labor does not directly compete with the Jordanian labor force. Given the importance of supporting host communities during refugee crises, this analysis sheds light on how mass forced migration affects other vulnerable segments of the migrant labor force in the Global South.

BOSTON — The announced abrupt U.S. withdrawal from Syria has sparked widespread speculation about what we might expect next, with most U.S.-based analysts emphasizing the “who wins and who loses” approach to their conclusions. This is understandable in a society whose foreign policy is heavily mercantile, self-centered, militaristic, and absolutist in its strategies and tactics, but it misleads the public that listens to such narrow views.

Generously supported by the government of the United Arab Emirates, the Emirates Leadership Initiative (ELI) at Harvard Kennedy School concluded its fourth year in 2018. Facilitated jointly by the Center for Public Leadership (CPL) at HKS, HKS Executive Education, and MEI, the program connects students, fellows, and faculty to the UAE and the broader Middle East every year at Harvard and in the region through four key activities: the Graduate Student Fellowship, the Research Program, Executive Education, and the UAE Policy Field Experience. MEI primarily supports the Research Program and takes an active role in the Graduate Student Fellowship and the Policy Field Experience with CPL. ELI thrives on the shared mission of preparing emerging leaders from the United Arab Emirates and the Middle East to confront the region’s public policy issues through a multi-pronged approach that goes beyond traditional academic coursework.

On June 18, 2018, Nicholas Burns, Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, o cially passed the baton to his successor as MEI Faculty Chair, Tarek Masoud, Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations. is transition concluded eight years of leadership, during which both the Middle East and MEI experienced profound transformations. From the time he assumed the role of faculty chair in 2010, Burns and Direc- tor Hilary Rantisi partnered to foster exponential growth in students, programs, community, and reach.

On September 3, 2017, MEI joined the Belfer Center and Harvard Kennedy School communities in mourning the loss of former MEI Faculty Chair John P. White, who passed away at the age of 80. A former U.S. Deputy Secre- tary of Defense, Harvard Kennedy School Professor, and member of the Belfer Center’s Board of Directors, White was remembered most poignantly as a “dear friend and close colleague,” by Belfer Center Director Ash Carter and all who knew and worked with him.

During the 2017-2018 academic year, MEI hosted six research fellows supported by the Emirates Leadership Initiative. The fellows – including two doctoral candidates and four postdoctoral researchers – conducted independent research projects, presented their ongoing work to the
public, participated in several MENA-focused seminars and workshops, and contributed to the broader Harvard community through other events, activities and collaborations. We sat down with pre-doctoral research fellow Allison Spencer Hartnett to discuss her research on autocracy, colonialism, and land reform in the Middle East, her time at MEI, and her research agenda moving forward. Follow her on Twitter @as_hartnett.