Middle East

Under a program funded by the U. S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative, 25 emerging leaders from 15 countries in the Middle East are headed to the United States for a month-long fellowship at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. The Middle Eastern fellows will study the foundations of democracy before participating in a three-month skill-building internship, either in Central New York or Washington, DC. The participants, men and women ranging in age from 25 to 40, will return to their home countries with new knowledge and skills to help foster positive democratic change. 

While at the Maxwell School in February 2007, the fellows –- representing Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, and Yemen –- will participate in classes, lectures, panel discussions, and simulations. The academic program will focus on comparative politics and the development of democratic institutions; leading and managing the democratic state; and citizenship, private action, and private enterprise. The internships will provide the opportunity for participants to work in organizations that match their professional interests and provide a grassroots view of democracy in action.

The Leaders for Democracy Fellowship Program (LDF) is part of the State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), launched in 2002 to support democracy promotion, economic reform, quality education, and women’s empowerment in the Middle East. 

Press Release

Maxwell Perspective, Spring 2007