General Announcements - September 16, 2011
IPI Follows Civil Society Work in Transitions in Tunisia, Egypt
The Arab Spring of 2011 is still a work in progress, full of hopes and uncertainties. Tunisia and Egypt, where the uprisings began, have embarked on a “learn-as-you-go” experiment, each following different paths to chart their respective post-revolution periods.
As part of its expanding focus on the Middle East, IPI has been closely following the work of some of the Tunisian and Egyptian civil society leaders who have been active during and after the uprisings. The innovative processes, mechanisms, and citizen-led pressure groups they have set up have helped inspire some of the progressive policies of the transitional governments in both countries.
Following several months of research, IPI has found that while the technologically-empowered elites may be sharing some of these home grown experiments, no formal standing structure has emerged to take stock of these experiments and serve as a platform for exchanging knowledge, ideas, and lessons learned among civil society groups in the two countries.
Civil Society in Transition: Starting with Women
After consultations earlier this year with key stakeholders in New York and on the ground, IPI decided to explore, in partnership with UN Women, the idea of helping create an inter-Arab Forum of Civil Society in Transition, focusing initially on Tunisia and Egypt. Such a forum would be beneficial not only to these two countries but also to civil society leaders in other Arab countries undergoing transitions.
IPI decided that the initial focus would be on women civil society leaders, joined by men committed to gender equality. Women played a significant role during and after the uprisings, and one fear was that many of the rights they had enjoyed over the years could be challenged early on during the post-revolution period or worse, reversed.
Since its launch, the idea has gained some currency among local stakeholders. This has prompted IPI, with the help of UN Women offices in the region, to identify two small groups of Tunisian and Egyptian women and several men. Their main task will be to agree on the objectives and contents of the forum as well as on the practical modalities for its launch. Initial, informal discussions between these two groups on how to carry the project forward have already taken place.
Tunisian Context for the Project
Youssef Mahmoud, IPI Senior Advisor for the project, has visited his native country, Tunisia, twice since the uprising. During his last visit he met with some young university students who had lived through the revolution and were experiencing its aftermath with mixed emotions. To provide further context for this IPI project, he offers some of their sentiments, together with his own observations on some of the issues raised by these students.
The Global Observatory
A Gulf Union? Not Yet
A union between Persian Gulf countries the along the lines of the European Union may be a long way from being achieved.
Key Global Events to Watch in May
A list of key upcoming meetings and events with implications for global affairs.
The Global Observatory is a new website by IPI, providing timely analysis on peace and security issues, interviews with leading policymakers, interactive maps, and more.
Recent Events
May 10, 2012
Arbour: What the Rule of Law Means
“In my understanding of the rule of law, fundamentally, what the rule of law means is that it embraces the principle of equality before the law,” Louise Arbour, president of the International Crisis Group (ICG), told an IPI audience on May 10, 2012. Ms. Arbour outlined that this means that no one is above the law and everyone has both equal protection and equal benefit of the law. 
May 03, 2012
Shachtman: Cyber Threats Akin to South Bronx, Not Pearl Harbor
“There’s not a danger of a cyber Pearl Harbor… it’s more like the South Bronx circa 1999, where there’s a danger that it becomes such a tough neighborhood that no one wants to set up shop there and people move out,” Noah Shachtman, editor of the Danger Room blog at Wired magazine and non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, told an IPI audience at a panel on cyber security on May 3, 2011.
April 27, 2012
Preventing Conflicts in Africa: The Role of Early Warning and Response Systems
An April 27th roundtable discussion at IPI titled “Preventing Conflicts in Africa: The Role of Early Warning and Response Systems” examined the progress, prospects and challenges of regional and international early warning and response mechanisms to monitor, anticipate, and mitigate potential conflict situations in Africa.