News

On a panel hosted by the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and the SAIS International Development Program at Johns Hopkins University, Navtej Dhillon, Director of the Middle East Youth Initative, discussed the current prospects for economic growth in the Middle East and how U.S. foreign assistance can be positioned to help the region address the challenges that lie ahead.

The "Conference on Iran's Economy" was held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from December 11 to 13 to bring together leading scholars on the economy of Iran and to stimulate further advanced work in the field. Middle East Youth Initiative scholar Djavad Salehi-Isfahani served on the program committee and presented research on several topics.

Middle East Youth Initiative expert Jad Chaaban was recently featured on Al Jazeera English’s Inside Story program to discuss recent developments in Middle East stock exchanges, where markets from Dubai to Cairo have experienced significant volatility.

Yasser Salimi, a Middle East Youth Initiative Youth Ambassador from Tehran, Iran, presented a paper at the "International Conference on Youth Issues in the Islamic World: Present and Future Challenges" in Tunis on November 25. Yasser, a Master's candidate in International Relations, also serves as member of the Board of Trustees of the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation.

In the first Policy Outlook by the Middle East Youth Initiative, Ragui Assaad and Mohamed Ramadan show how housing policy reforms in Egypt have made marriage more affordable for young people. This new research demonstrates how effective policies to grant young people access to key markets, such as housing, are critical in order to ensure successful transitions to adulthood.

"In the past eight years, Washington has viewed the struggle of Arab youth as political, theological and ideological,” Navtej Dhillon, director of the Middle East Youth Initiative at Brookings, described to Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National.

Tarik Yousef, Dean of the Dubai School of Government and Nonresident Senior Fellow at Brookings' Wolfensohn Center for Development, took part in the second Arab Sustainability Leadership Group (ASLG) led by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah in Amman, Jordan on November 2 and 3.

The Middle East Youth Initiative convenes its network of experts for an ongoing discussion on the global economic crisis and its potential effects on oil and non-oil exporting countries in the region.

Abu-Dhabi based newspaper The National has published a series, "Young in the Muslim World," in cooperation with the Middle East Youth Initiative.

A new report by experts at the Brookings Institution's Global Economy and Development Program identifies a positive youth agenda for the Middle East as one of the top global economic priorities facing the next U.S. president.