Brookings Doha Center

Brookings Doha Center
Motto Quality. Independence. Impact.
Founded 2008
Type Think Tank
Headquarters Doha, Qatar
Director
 Tarik Yousef
Website www.brookings.edu/center/brookings-doha-center/

Established in 2008, the Brookings Doha Center (BDC) is an overseas center of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. As a hub for Brookings scholarship in the region, the BDC advances high- quality, independent research and policy analysis on the Middle East and North Africa.

The creation of the center was announced in October 2007 by Brookings President Strobe Talbott.[1] The Center was formally inaugurated by Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani on February 17, 2008.[2]

Research

In pursuing its mission, the BDC undertakes field-orientated research and programming that addresses and informs regional and international policy discussions, engaging key elements of governments, businesses, civil society, the media, and academia on four key areas:

Open to a broad range of views, the BDC encourages a rich exchange of ideas between the Middle East and the global community. Since its founding, the BDC has hosted a number of leading scholars from a dozen different countries; put on a variety of events, including high-level roundtables, timely policy discussions, and the annual Doha Energy Forum; and published a series of influential Policy Briefings and Analysis Papers.[2]

Initiatives

BDC-Stanford University Project

This project is a three-year joint initiative between the BDC and the Center on Democracy, Development, and Rule of Law (CDDRL) at Stanford University. The project aims to generate comprehensive analysis of the conditions affecting democratization and good governance during the current period of Arab transition.

The project combines academic rigor, informed field research, and policy relevance to systematically analyze and illuminate the nature of Arab transitions, focusing on electoral design, constitution-drafting, political party development, and national dialogue processes. By engaging Arab and Western scholars and practitioners from diverse backgrounds, the project provides new voices and original scholarship from the Arab region and beyond to help inform policy and development assistance to countries of strategic importance.

Brookings Doha Energy Forum & Energy Research Platform

The Brookings Doha Energy Forum is a unique conference focused on systemic shifts in the global balance of energy supply and demand, which coincides with a period of unprecedented and rapid change in the Middle East. New demand centers in South and East Asia and a leveling out of demand in the United States and Europe have the potential to lead to a fundamental transformation of the region’s role and the global politics of oil and gas. With this in mind, the BDC and Brookings Energy Security Initiative developed the Brookings Doha Energy Forum.

The conference and its associated research address:

In addition to the annual conference, the BDC more broadly seeks to establish an energy research platform which examines global energy markets—with a focus on the Middle East and Asia—in collaboration with the Brookings Energy Security Initiative.[3]

Internships and Fellowships

Visiting Fellowship

Visiting fellows takes up residence at the BDC for a six to nine-month period, during which time they conduct individual research, interact with policymaking communities, and present their research at a seminar.

Visiting fellows are drawn from mid-to-senior ranks of governments, think tanks, universities, and media from the United States, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Successful applicants generally have a PhD or broad governmental, civil society, or professional experience, as well as fluency in English.

Visiting fellows complete both a Policy Briefing and Analysis Paper during their time affiliated with the BDC.

Nonresident Fellowship

The Brookings Doha Center hosts up to three nonresident fellows for a period of one year with possibility of renewal. Candidates are accomplished scholars, analysts or former officials with a concentration that falls within one of the three main areas of the BDC’s work: democratization, political reform and public policy; emerging powers in the Middle East; and conflict and peace processes in the region.

Brookings Doha Center – Qatar University Visiting Fellowship

Over the course of a 4-6 month period, fellows teach a seminar at the university and have the opportunity to conduct original research of their own. Fellows author 1-2 policy briefs on their area of focus, to be published by Brookings. Fellows also augment the BDC research platform by producing other opinion pieces and articles as an affiliated BDC scholar.

Fellows teach a semester-long seminar (16 weeks) at Qatar University on a topic of his/her own choosing. This may be one of the courses currently offered in the QU International Affairs program (history, political science, economics, international relations), or a related subject, as defined by the fellow. Courses are discussion-based, enabling fellows to develop and refine their ideas and research in an academic setting. Fellows also supervise the research of up to four Qatar University students, thereby contributing to the intellectual life of the University.

Internships

The BDC regularly hosts interns from Stanford University[4] as well as Georgetown University in Qatar,[5] Qatar University,[6] and other local academic institutions for semester-long and summer-long terms.

Directors

Tarik Yousef

Tarik M. Yousef is a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program and the director of the Brookings Doha Center. His professional career has spanned the academic world at Georgetown University and the Harvard Kennedy School; the public policy arena at the IMF, the World Bank and the UN; and more recently the NGO space at Silatech. He has served on the advisory boards of development organizations and boards of directors of financial institutions.[7]

Ibrahim Fraihat

Ibrahim Fraihat (also known as Ibrahim Sharqieh) is a senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center, and an affiliate scholar at Georgetown University. He is the author of the book "Unfinished Revolutions: Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia after the Arab Spring".[8] He previously taught international conflict resolution at George Washington University and George Mason University. His research focuses on conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction in the Arab world, with a particular emphasis on conflict management and mediation, transitions, national reconciliation, national dialogue, and institutional reform. [9]

Sultan Barakat

Sultan Barakat is Senior Fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution and Director of Research at the Brookings Doha Center. He is a Professor and Chairman of the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit, University of York. He has written extensively on the issue of conflict management, state fragility and post-war reconstruction. His most recent book is entitled Understanding Influence: The Use of Statebuilding Research in British Policy, published by Ashgate in 2014.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Staff Reporter (2007-10-31). "Brookings to open Doha centre in Feb". Gulf Times. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2014-07-12.
  2. 1 2 About Us, Brookings Doha Center, Brookings Institution
  3. ↑ Brookings Doha Energy Forum Report, Brookings Doha Center, Brookings Institution
  4. ↑ Communications, Stanford Office of University. "Stanford University".
  5. ↑ "Georgetown University in Qatar - School of Foreign Service".
  6. ↑ "Qatar University".
  7. ↑ "Tarik M. Yousef | Brookings Institution". 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2016-08-15.
  8. ↑ Yale University Press, 2016
  9. ↑ "Ibrahim Fraihat".
  10. ↑ "Sultan Barakat".

External links

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