We're pleased to invite you to our upcoming online event "After the Vote: Prospects for MENA Human Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy", on Tuesday 12th November, 12pm Eastern Time, 6pm Central European Time.
The elections are over, and Trump has been declared the winner. The Biden administration still has 100 days before vacating the power seat, and the implications of the transition on the MENA policies and human rights are both urgent and unsettling. The genocide in Gaza continues unabated, Israeli aggression in Lebanon escalates, and encroachments into Syrian territory deepen. Meanwhile, Russian and Iranian bombs rain on Syrian civilians, and the Gulf states lead an unsettling normalisation of Assad, solidifying his return to regional diplomacy. Gulf monarchies, notably the UAE, fuel conflicts beyond their borders, supporting a brutal genocide in Sudan with near-total impunity.
In this climate, "human rights" has become a hollow term, a promise unkept and a reality that few believe in anymore, undermined first and foremost by the international system’s biggest backer—the United States. Communities across the MENA region have reached a boiling point—polarised, divided, but desperate to see justice. The question remains: with international credibility in ruins, what happens next?
Our speakers include:
Iyad El-Baghdadi, Chairman at Kawaakibi Foundation
Jasmine El-Gamal, Middle East Analyst and former Middle East advisor at the U.S. Department of Defense
Abdullah Alaoudh, Senior Director for Countering Authoritarianism at Middle East Democracy Centre
Karim Safieddine, Lebanese Political Writer and Organiser
Moderator: Razan Saffour, Head of Content Strategy at Kawaakibi Foundation
Sign up here for the Zoom link.
