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Many tropes exist in the public sphere regarding determinants of sectarian sentiments. For example, it is assumed that the less educated and more vulnerable might be more easily swayed by sectarian arguments. However, rather than rely anecdotal evidence, this question can be assessed empirically. The Arab Opinion Index contains a variety of demographic indicators as well as questions capturing sectarian sentiment. Using this data, factors that truly have an effect on the prevalence of sectarian sentiment can begin to be explained.

Despite high levels of mass mobilization in the past, Palestinian society today finds itself polarized and demobilized. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has gained control as a governing apparatus and has become increasingly authoritarian in nature. But the PA does not have complete control over the territories. This variation in control allows isolation of the effect of the PA's authoritarian nature on mobilization patterns and social dynamics. The study argues that mobilization has systematically declined in places where the PA has more direct control. Counter-intuitively, political mobilization today is more prevalent in areas under direct Israeli occupation. Findings suggest the PA has a direct role in this dynamic, using selective cooptation and repression. Overall, authoritarian strategies in the Palestinian territories have led to decreased capacity for mobilization.

This study attempts to identify the roles of economic diplomacy actors inside and outside capital cities. By presenting international examples it creates a comparative study to explain the evolution of economic diplomatic action, not only in Morocco – the subject of the study – but also globally. To carry out this analysis the present study argues that there are no longer pure national issues, even those that represent the core of national sovereignty, such as budget, taxes, or development. It suggests that nothing can isolate a country from its surroundings, and that economic diplomacy necessarily involves a country’s essential internal issues. This challenges existing Arabic writings, which put economic diplomacy in the context of traditional diplomacy without differentiating between the various areas of the field.

عنوان الكتاب: الطائفة، الطائفية، الطوائف المتخيلة. المؤلف: عزمي بشارة. سنة النشر: 2018. الناشر: المركز العربي للأبحاث ودراسة السياسات. عدد الصفحات: 822 صفحة.

The seventh Annual Conference on Democratic Transition focusing on External Factors and the post-2011 Democratic Transition in the Arab Region. The conference, which is being held by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies on 21-22 September 2018, examines the nature of regional and international roles and their impact on the transition to democracy in the Arab countries following the revolutions of 2011.

Russia has not specified its national interests in the Middle East or the Arab World since the 1990s. This paper discusses Russia’s shift toward a more active and effective role in the Middle East, in particular after Vladimir Putin came to power. Putin’s attempts to strengthen Russia in the Middle East were driven by a mixture of nostalgia and strategic national interests. With the events of the Arab Spring, Russia sensed that Arab revolutions could result in geostrategic changes in the region, which may not comply with its growing ambitions. It is this background against which Russia’s different stances toward each Arab Spring country and the outcomes of their respective uprisings can be read. Putin expressed anti-change reservations in Libya and Egypt, and even more so in Syria, making it one of the major actors in the Syrian crisis. At the same time, however, Moscow had no strong stance on Yemen, Tunisia, or Bahrain. The motives behind Russia’s role can be understood through a look at its internal situation, which is being influenced by waves of democratic change in the Arab Region, as well as its impact on the future of Central Asian countries, particularly Russia’s allies (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Belarus). This paper discusses all of these entanglements in the context of the current Arab situation.

​يعرض التقرير أعمال الندوة الأكاديمية "مآلات الثورة السورية: ماذا جرى؟ ولماذا؟"، التي عقدت يومَي 7-8 نيسان/ أبريل 2018.

​يتضمــن هــذا التقريــر توثيقًــا لأهم الوقائــع الفلســطينية والأحداث المرتبطــة بالصــراع العربي - الإسرائيلي في المدة 1 آذار/ مارس - 30 نيسان/ أبريل2018.

This study addresses the extent to which the "participatory" framework is compatible with the networks of Tunisian elites since the Revolution of 2011. The author seeks to understand, analyze and interpret the theoretical approaches which allowed Tunisian politicians to reduce the level of political divisions within the country. The author further illustrates how Tunisia's formal political parties adapted and developed in the post-revolutionary setting, despite the revolution unraveling the vast extent of a societal rift in Tunisia which has dominated the country's political debates since that time. Finally, the study explores in depth the role and influence of Tunisian political elites as it relates to the praxis of participatory democracy, something which could not have been possible without the consciousness and awareness of these elites and their duty to fulfill their roles.

Any attempts to interpret the Tunisian Revolution of 2011 through the prism of generational shifts raises four major questions. The first two concern the difficulty of attributing to young Tunisians any kind of generational or political consciousness, particularly before the outbreak of the revolution in 2011. The third and fourth questions relate to the concept of the "Generational Theory" itself and its ability (or otherwise) to explain a wide spectrum of social factors. Can the demographic approach sufficiently describe the Tunisian Revolution of 2011? This paper will demonstrate that a demographic approach can illuminate not only an understanding of the Tunisian Revolution, but also of the wider social and political changes which have shaped the country in recent times.