03.11.2020

Young Progressive Voices from the MENA Region Advocate for Security Through Regional Cooperation

In 2019, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) and the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) selected a distinguished group of progressive young professionals working on security issues in civil society organizations, think tanks and universities from the Middle East and North Africa.

The participants were invited to write policy papers tackling current security issues in their region. The issues addressed in these papers range from regional cooperation on agricultural water management, tackling the proliferation of illicit small arms transfers, maritime security in the Gulf, the chances for short term ceasefires in current conflicts, improving access to humanitarian aid in Syria, to gender representation in security services in Turkey and Israel.

All of the policy papers are looking for or arguing for regional cooperation as a means to achieve progress towards more security in the region. The papers are meant as a contribution to the often stalemated discussions about security cooperation in the Middle East. They address policy makers, think tankers as well as civil society in Europe and the Middle East.

You can access the papers here:

COUNTERING ILLICIT ARMS TRANSFERS IN THE MENA REGION: THE CASE OF YEMEN AND LIBYA by Muhammad Alaraby and Alexander Müller

A SECTORAL TRUST-BUILDING APPROACH TO DE-ESCALATION IN THE PERSIAN GULF by Amin Naeni

MARITIME SECURITY OF THE GULF: A LIVING DILEMMA by Kameal Alahmad

COPING WITH WATER SCARCITY: A “REGIONAL WATER CLUB” by Ala’a Hammad

THE DILEMMA OF HUMANITARIAN AID IN NORTHWESTERN SYRIA by Fatima Alhaji and Farah Al-Lama’

UNITING FOR THE SHARED BATTLE SHORT-TERM CEASEFIRES IN MIDDLE EAST CONFLICTS TO PREVENT HUMANITARIAN DISASTER by Mahnaz Lashkri and Brian Reeves

UNSCR 1325: IMPLEMENTATION IN TURKEY AND ISRAEL - CAN CIVIL SOCIETY COOPERATION IMPROVE THE IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS? by Burcu Değirmencioğlu and Merav Kahana-Dagan