Resources

Summary Brief | May 2014
National Case Studies on Health Policy-making in the Middle East: The Case of the National Social Security Fund Voluntary Health Insurance System in Lebanon by Fadi El-Jardali, Lama Bou Karroum, Hana Addam El-Ghali
Public policy making is complex and suffers from limited uptake of research evidence, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR). In-depth case studies examining the health policymaking process would contribute to strengthening health systems, informing future policymaking and pushing for the use of technical evidence in this process through...

أصدرت مؤسسة أبعاد - مركز الموارد للمساواة بين الجنسين ومؤسسة الرؤية العالمية في لبنان دراسة بعنوان "إتجاهات متغايرة ... والحصيلة واحدة": دراسة ميدانية لرصد مواقف وإتجاهات النساء والرجال تجاه حقوق النساء في لبنان. حول الدراسة:جاءت هذه الدراسة لترصد معرفة النساء والرجال المشاركين/ات في سياقها بجموعة من الحقوق التي تُمارس بمعظمها ضمن النطاق الأسري، والتي تتمثل بقضايا المساواة بين الجنسين، العنف ضد النساء وأشكاله، وإحترام النساء وإرادتهن ضمن سياق العلاقة الزوجية (الإغتصاب الزوجي)، والمساواة بين الجنسين في حق المواطنة وحق النساء المسنّات في التمتع بملكيتهن.تمكنت الدراسة من كشف طبيعة مستويات معرفة...

Monograph | April 2014
A Preliminary Overview of Policy Research Institutes in the Arab World A Compilation and Synthesis Report Consortium of Arab Policy Research Institutes (CAPRI) by Hana A. El-Ghali and Farah Yehia
​CAPRI started with research on policy-making and knowledge production in the Arab World, then moved into a series of workshops and seminars in Beirut, Cairo, Amman and Doha in which over 42 PRI colleagues from 17 different countries from the region examined their collective and individual experiences and explored how they could expand their impact in society. This includes...

“Varying Perceptions, One Outcome: Field study monitoring the attitudes and perceptions of women and men towards women’s rights in Lebanon” is a study published in April 2014 by World Vision in Lebanon and ABAAD – Resource Center for Gender Equality. About the Study:The study was designed to monitor the knowledge of women and men participants on a range of rights that are mostly practiced within the family; and which is represented through the issues of gender equality, violence against women and its forms, respect for women and their will within marital relationships (marital rape), gender...

Working Paper | November 2013
Employment and Entitlement in the GCC: A World-Systems Analysis of Disrupted Development by Michael Coulom
Much has been written about the ingenuity of the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, from their physical and economic growth since the 1970s, to their political weathering of the Arab Uprisings that began in 2011, and to their ever-increasing political power in the Arab World. Conversely, human rights groups have criticized the GCC for human rights abuses, particularly in regard to migrant workers and enforcing international labor laws. Development in the...

Working Paper | November 2013
India’s Iran Policy: Between US Primacy and Regionalism
India shifted to the side of US primacy in 2004, but since then its foreign policy has shifted once more to the middle. Sitting with a senior Indian diplomat, I mentioned that India seemed to be caught between two stools, US primacy and regionalism. “That’s an apt image,” he said, “except we have not fallen between the stools.” Things are more fraught now, and less clear. Talk of the peace pipeline and of linkages with Iran returned to the agenda after 2004. As US power enters a period of decline as a result...

This Regional Analysis of the Syria Conflict (RAS) is an update of the April RAS. The RAS seeks to bring together information from all sources in the region and provide a coherent analysis of the overall situation in the region as well as in each of the affected countries. While Part I focuses on the situation within Syria, Part II covers the impact of the crisis on the neighbouring countries. The Syria Needs Analysis Project welcomes all information that could complement this report.  

Working Paper | May 2013
Emerging Powers and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: The Case of Brazil and Venezuela by Guy Burton
What are the prospects of new rising powers to play a role in the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? At present the possibility of direct talks leading to a final settlement of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians looks far from promising. Negotiations between the two sides have been at a standstill since September 2010, when the two sides briefly met under US sponsorship. Expectations had been high that the US would once again take a leading...

UN-Related Publication | January 2013
Benghazi so Far: A View from Inside the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) by Georges Nasr
I joined the UN Support Mission in Libya, known by its acronym UNSMIL, in early 2012 as Head of Office in Benghazi. Established by Security Council resolution 2009, the Mission’s mandate is to support Libya’s democratic transition by facilitating political dialogue and delivering targeted technical support in the areas of electoral assistance, constitution drafting, human rights, transitional justice and public security. UNSMIL also has a mandate to...

Lecture | December 2012
International Intervention in Lebanon and Beyond by Maureen Ali
As part of its United Nations and the Arab World Program, the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs initiated a series of panels and lectures entitled, “International Intervention in Lebanon and Beyond.” The series analyzes the role played by international institutions in conflict and post-conflict zones in the region and seeks to contextualize military, civilian and humanitarian stands that are often interlinked or sometimes so blurred as to obscure the reality on the ground...

2012 ورقة عمل |  تشرين الأول
​دور مراكز الأبحاث في صناعة القرار السياسات الأردني  | 1989-2010 من إعداد وليد عبد الحي
من الصعب الحكم على دور مراكز الدراسات في أية دولة دون إدراك البيئة العامة التي تعمل فيها هذه المراكز،إذ تتشابك نشاطات هذه المراكز مع حركة المجتمع في مختلف جوانبها، ومع الحكومة في مختلف قراراتها، ومع القوى الإجتماعية المنظمة في مجتمع مدني من أحزاب وغيرها، كما أنها غير منفصلة عن انعكاسات بيئتها الإقليمية والدولية 
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Interview | October 2012
Insight into the UN in Libya
Dr. Tarek Mitri, Senior Fellow at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI), on October 15th 2012, began his appointment as the Special Representative for the Secretary-General at the United Nations, and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL). Dr. Mitri will be spending the year in this capacity, working closely with the Libyan government and civil society, aiding the process of institution building and security stabilization, as well as work with international actors playing a role in...

By Ibtikar Research & Consulting, s.a.l. Sonya Knox, Leila Zakharia, Ilina Srour September 8, 2012 Executive Summary The “Market Study in Saida: Creative entry points to the job market” presents findings triangulated from a comprehensive literature review of all available data, a quantitative market survey of 47 institutions in Saida assessing market demand, and qualitative research with 78 women (Palestinian and Iraqi refugees and Lebanese women at risk) and key stakeholders assessing market supply. The literature review brings together data and analysis from UN and governmental agencies and...

Working Paper | September 2012
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL): International Justice Dissected by Omar Nashabe
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was created by the UN Security Council in 2007 to prosecute those responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others in 2005. It has been controversial since its inception, with supporters claiming its very creation would ensure impunity. This paper offers a critique of the history, structure and procedures of the international criminal investigation and the establishment of the STL. Its central...

Working Paper | August 2012
 The Politics of International Justice  – US Policy and the Legitimacy of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon by John Cerone
Assessing the state of US policy toward international criminal courts is a complex, if not impossible, undertaking. Indeed, there is no coherent U.S. policy on international criminal courts generally. This is attributable on the one hand to the multifaceted nature of international criminal courts, and on the other to the fact that U.S. policy is an amalgamation of diverse views reduced in some cases to written form, which is itself subject to...

Working Paper | May 2012
Women’s Citizenship Rights in Lebanon by Maya W. Mansour and Sarah G. Abou Aad
This paper tackles citizenship rights of Lebanese women married to foreigners, from an international human rights perspective at first, as consecrated over and over by multiple conventions and treaties; to move afterwards to a more practical approach in exposing the provisions of the Lebanese Constitution, the nationality law and regulations, while pointing out the consequences and challenges in addition to the movements of the civil society facing such trials. The analysis used in...

Tobacco Control Research #2 | March 2012
A Smoke Free Campus: Lessons Learned from AUB by the AUB Tobacco Control Research Group (AUB-TCRG)
Following the adoption of a No Smoking Policy (NSP) by the American University of Beirut (AUB), the vast majority (90%) of undergraduate and graduate students surveyed, and over a third (36%)of them who smoked were satisfied with the new policy; with a full compliance (respecting the designated smoking areas) rate of 73% among the smokers surveyed. In addition, 1 in 6 smokers reported receiving a warning ticket when smoking in nondesignated areas. And, 20%...

Policy Series: Tobacco Control Research #1 | March 2012
The Transnational Tobacco Industry Effectively Hampers Tobacco Control Policy-Making in Lebanon by the AUB Tobacco Control Research Group (AUB-TCRG)
Lebanon is still considered one of the weakest countries in the region with regards to regulating tobacco use, despite having ratified the World Health Organisation’s Framework convention on Tobacco Control in 2005. Lebanon has failed numerous attempts to introduce a national tobacco control policy, including banning smoking in closed public areas, banning advertising and sponsorship, and...

Working Paper Series #7 | February 2012
The Dynamics of Policy Innovation and Diffusion in the Gulf Cooperation Council:  A Case Study of Three Specialized Cities by Hiba Khodr
This study examines a recent phenomenon in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) referred to as Specialized Cities (SC). A Specialized City is a “city in-the-city” that has the main purpose of implementing innovations in selected policy areas, in addition to being a new town. This paper goes beyond describing the spread of SC in the Arab Gulf region to answer to a broader question: what motivates a GCC country to adopt...

2011 ملخص تنفيذي | تشرين الثاني
​ جيل التغيير: واقع الشباب العربي بين التطلعات والتحديات | ملخص تنفيذي
​من إعداد رامي خوري, شاهدة أظفر, تشارلز حرب, ناصر ياسين, موسى شتيوي, يزن دخقان, عبلة غوجاندي, دينا شحاته, بربارا ابراهيم, غريغوري غاوسي, كريستين أسعد, جاد مالكي, منيرة حب الله, مارك ليفين, وعد ابراهيم, رودا ليغ, إيفانا تشالمرز, كارين ابي صعب, ساره طياره, جو خليل, زينه صواف, كارين علاف, دايان سنغرمان, نيكولا بل, شيرين الفقي, لوكاس نيلسن, أيمن زهري, محمد يونس, أحمد يونس, ليه بايبس, تيم جاكوبي, الين قطب, سايسي فولك, زافيريس تزاناتوس, و كامل نابلسي