July is all about development in the pita-consuming region. Please send your submissions to Nadia at info@pitapolicyconsulting.com.
First Post: Tech Crunch published “The Arab World Has Tech Talent To Sustain It Beyond The Clones” by Mehrunisa Qayyum, founder of PITAPOLICY and Huffington Post Blogger. On that note, don’t forget to check out tech entrepreneurs survey!
Second Post: #MENAsocent: First DC-MENA Tweetup=#Success
Wednesday July 11: Guest Contributor, Ramah Kudaimi (@ramahkudaimi) on Boycotts, Divestments & Sanctions
Prospects for Development After Elections
By: Mehrunisa Qayyum
Originally published by CG News, Yahoo News, Print Edition of The Daily Star, North Africa United Magazine, Tunisia Daily; Republished: MENA Financial News (Jordan), Arab News (Saudi Arabia), The Frontier Post (Pakistan), Zawya.com (United Arab Emirates) on July 6, 2012
Official U.S. government engagement with Islamist political parties has long been a controversial subject. In April, however, mid-level White House officials officially met with a delegation from Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. President Barack Obama’s move was considered bold by the Republican Party, despite precedents set by both Republican and Democratic administrators and Senators such as Lindsey Graham, John McCain and John Kerry, who have all already met with representatives from the Muslim Brotherhood.
Because of the rise of new Islamist parties to leadership, especially in Tunisia and Egypt, U.S. engagement has become an important campaign issue for the American presidential candidates. But what is needed instead is for both sides to frame their relationship as an opportunity to increase economic engagement.
For the United States, the next step is to move past worrying about the degree to which Islam may influence party leaders to looking at a country’s potential as an economic partner. If the U.S. were to do this, it would gain access to the Arab world’s largest market, Egypt, which is also a base for foreign direct investment. Click here to continue.
