Julia Choucair Vizoso is no longer at the Carnegie Endowment.
Julia Choucair Vizoso was editor in chief of the online journal, Sada. Her research interests include Middle Eastern politics, authoritarianism, and identity politics. She is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Yale University. Her dissertation seeks to explain patterns of ethnic exclusion in authoritarian coalitions and institutions. She is the co-editor of Beyond the Façade: Political Reform in the Arab World (Carnegie book, 2008).
Compared to the dramatic events that shook Lebanon in the past six months, the parliamentary elections that took place between May 29 and June 19 were anti-climactic. Local and foreign observers expressed disappointment that, apart from the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, remarkably little has changed.
Contemporary discourse on democratic transformation in the Arab world often lacks a critical assessment of the kind of progress that is taking place on the ground. Marina Ottaway and Julia Choucair-Vizoso launched their new book Beyond the Façade: Political Reform in the Arab World, a critical assessment of political reform in the Arab world based on ten case studies.
Reform is a politically charged issue in the Middle East. Carnegie experts force us to recognize the reality of conflicting interests and the limitations of external actors to bring about political reform, while drawing lessons on how to make international democracy promotion more effective.
On February 27, Nathan Brown presented his paper on Kuwait’s Islamic Constitutional Movement and Amr Hamzawy presented his forthcoming paper on Morocco’s Justice and Development Party. Leslie Campbell, National Democratic Institute, served as a discussant and Julia Choucair moderated.
In this Carnegie Paper, "Illusive Reform: Jordan's Stubborn Stability," Julia Choucair argues that Jordan's stability is best maintained through political reform. She contends that the United States and Europe, for short to medium-term reasons, have shied away from urging Jordan to undertake further reform, which would be in everyone's long-term interests.
Member and Secretary of the Parliament of Lebanon, Mr. Jawad Boulos, spoke at a roundtable hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and moderated by Julia Choucair, September 26, 2006.
Even though many Lebanese people and several Arab governments criticized Hezbollah for instigating the crisis with Israel, the Israeli air attacks -- including the killing of many civilians -- have now quieted the criticism, and in fact have worsened the already poor standing of the United States in the Arab world.
This is a dangerous moment for the Middle East, because the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon could easily escalate to involve the broader region. Any strategy to address the present crisis must deal with the realities of the Middle East as they are now, not try to leapfrog over them by seeking to impose a grand new vision. Such a vision would be bound to fail as it did in the case of Iraq.
May 18, 2006 - Nathan Brown presented his Policy Brief "Living with Palestinian Democracy." Larry Garber, the New Israel Fund, and Ori Nir, The Forward, served as discussants and Julia Choucair served as moderator.