Political transformations and social movements Developments and visions

Summary of the book “Reforming Media in the Arab Region: Professionalism and Institutionalization”

Amr El Shobaki ,Amr ElShobakiEgypt ,Lebanon ,Morocco ,Tunisia“Reforming the Media in the Arab Region: Professionalism and Institutionalization” is written by a group of writers and researchers from several countries in the Region: Hanan Bader, Amal Al-Makki, Hisham Allam, Wafaa Sandi, Radwan Boudjomaa, Abdel Haq Saef, Fadel Belibesh and Rabie Barakat, and edited by: Amro ElShobki. This book is the second phase of an integrated project about media. While the first one talks about the relationship between media and political systems and the process of democratization in different Arab countries, the second one deals with the challenges and professional problems faced…

A look on local journalism in the Arab region: Do we begin from here?

Amr El ShobakiEgypt ,Lebanon ,Morocco ,TunisiaA look on local journalism in the Arab region: Do we begin from here is written by the following group of writers, researchers and specialists who commented on the papers: Amel Mekki, Smail Hamoudi, Redouane Boudjemaa, Abdel Hak Saaf, Ahmed Khair El Din, Belal Slyten, Dalia Shams, Nor El Hoda Bouzegaou, Rabie Barakat, Nahwnd El Kadri Issa, Elie Challhoub, and it is edited and forwarded by Amr ElShobaki. This book sheds light on different Arab local media experiences compared to the advanced experience of France, at a time the profession of journalism in general, and…

The Emergence of the ‘New Right’ in Europe and its views on the main Arab issues

Gennaro GervasioEgypt ,Jordan ,Lebanon ,Morocco ,Tunisia After the defeat of the Nazi-fascist powers in World War II, a first ‘wave’ of Far-Right movements emerged in Europe -as well as elsewhere- in the ‘long 1960s’ and especially in the 1970s’ as a challenge to both the ‘New Cold War Order’ and to the emergence of the Revolutionary Leftist Movements. In his provocative book Where Have All the Fascists Gone?1, Canadian scholar Tamir Bar-On retraces the trajectory of the European New Right (ENR) from its post-WW2 formative years, to the most important developments in the subsequent decades. Bar-On aptly identifies the turning…

Women and Citizenship: The role of women’s organizations in supporting women’s rights

Rania ZadaEgypt  Rania Zada Egyptian women participated strongly in the Egyptian revolution, yet their status in decision-making did not improve, actually, women suffer from marginalization on all levels. The representation of women in the People’s Assembly after the revolution decreased from 12% to 2%. The question is why, although women in Egypt participate in civil societies and have roles in non-governmental institutions; they rarely get the opportunity to implant their influence in politics. Women’s representation in elected assemblies at the local and national levels remains unsatisfactory even if on January 18, 2014, Egypt adopted a ‘new’ constitution. Article 11 could be…

Consolidation of citizenship through municipalities in the Arab region

Driss Jardane ,Emad Salah Daoud ,Jamila Raja ,Mohamed ElAgati ,Mohamed Sahbi Khalfaoui ,Mona Khneisser ,Shimaa El SharkawyEgypt ,Lebanon ,Morocco ,TunisiaThe book is a study of multiple cases of citizenship and its support through the localities. The book includes cases from Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, Iraq, Morocco and Yemen. The question of this book is how we strengthen citizenship through municipalities and local communities in the Arab region. The involvement of citizens in the political process is an essential part of democracy.  Citizen participation in local governance involves ordinary citizens assessing their own needs and participating in local project planning and budget monitoring.…

Media and Democratic transition in the Arab region: Problematics and visions

Abdelhak Saaf ,Amr El Shobaki ,Chiraz Ben Murad ,Hanan Badr ,Mohamed Nasser Hafez ,Rabie Barakat ,Redouane Boudjemaa ,Roy Jreijiry ,Wahib El-NossariIt is difficult to address the issue of media in the Arab region from one perspective; it certainly has a political and legal dimension linked to the nature of the ruling regimes and their position within the course of democratic transformation. There is as well another important dimension related to the challenges and professional issues associated with the work of journalism and media in the Arab region. there are two main challenges related to the media: the first is professional…

Religious institutions Reform in Yemen

YemenBaligh Al Mekhlafi This paper is part of a project that aimed at introducing a vision on institutions reform in the Arab region that tackled media, judiciary and religious institutions in three countries Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen. The paper’s focus is identifying the core problems in religious institutions in Yemen and approaching recommendations to tackle these problems. Religious institutions in Yemen are entitled to run the religious issues such as Endowments, Fatwa, houses of worship as well as religious guidance and in the framework of these aspects, the activities undertaken by these institutions vary from solely religious roles to social…

Local elections in Tunisia: Reorder of the political scene:

Nissaf BrahimTunisiaNissaf Brahmi The local elections in Tunisia, which began on April 29 for security and military personnel – which is a precedent in the country – and on 6th May 2018 for the general civilian voters is the first municipal elections since the 2011 revolution, and the first free and fair local elections in the country’s history. Despite a low turnout of 35.6 percent (compared to the 69 percent turnout in the 2014 legislative elections), the results of Tunisia’s May 6 municipal elections were positive overall. Women were elected to represent 47 percent of the municipal council seats, youth under 35 years old won 37.57…

Politics… and Beware Of It.. The Lebanese Parliamentary Elections, 2018: The Reproduction of the Ruling Class and the Conflict between Alternatives

Mona KhneisserLebanonThis paper is a case study about the 2018 Lebanese Parliamentary elections, and it is written by researcher Mona Khneiser the researcher at AFA as an edition of the follow up papers that the Forum publish regularly. This paper examines the success or failure of the recent Lebanese Parliamentary elections, which took place under a new electoral law, in making a real change at the level of the ruling political elite. This paper highlights the experience of civic initiatives that have contested the traditional power parties through elections, and examines the results of the elections based on the success or…

Institutional Reform: Judiciary in Egypt- theoretical foundations and challenges

Algeria ,Egypt ,Iraq ,Jordan ,Lebanon ,Morocco ,Tunisia ,YemenBy Youssef Ouf 1 This paper is a case study in the book titled Institutional reform in the Arab region (Media, Judiciary, and religious), which is published by AFA in 2016. The paper refers to the Theoretical foundations of the historical attempts to reform Egyptian Judiciary system, and protracted challenges. Ouf tackling the constitutional and law context of the judiciary system in Egypt by referring to the independence of the judiciary as an essential insurance for the check and balance of authorities. The paper presents the divisions of the judicial authority in Egypt,…

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