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The IFI building, set for completion in late 2010, is designed by
Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid
.

The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs (IFI) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) was inaugurated in 2006 to harness the policy-related research of AUB’s internationally respected faculty, and other scholars in order to contribute positively to Arab policy-making and international relations.

 

President Jimmy Carter's article in the  Washington Post
Read here

IFI Research Affiliates

IFI hosts researchers working on doctoral or post-doctoral research within the institute’s areas of interest. IFI provides affiliates with a base at AUB as well as an ID card to enter the campus and the library. To borrow books from the library, affiliates will need to pay an extra fee. IFI does not offer office space or stipends to affiliates at the moment, but this form of support will become available in the future.

IFI currently has four programs; Research and Policy Forum on Climate Change and Environment in the Arab World, Youth Issues in the Arab World, Policy and Governance of Palestinian Refugee Camps and the Arab Public Policy and Think Tanks program. Please visit the respective sections on the IFI website to familiarize yourself with each program’s objectives and activities.

If you feel that your research can contribute to these areas of expertise, please send the following information to the respective program’s coordinator (contact details available on program pages):

1- A letter or email requesting an affiliation and specifying  the start and end dates of the affiliation
2- A research proposal
3- A curriculum vitae
4- For graduate students, a reference letter from the advisor. For professors, a reference letter from the department chair.

We require that our affiliates give a public lecture about their research, as part of each program’s lecture series, and also contribute an 800 word summary of their research, to be published as a policy memo.


Issam Fares Institute Logo


Right: Original design by Rafic Saab; Left: Present logo design developed by the University Publications Office.

After its inauguration in 2006, the IFI for Public Policy and International Affairs held a student competition at the American University of Beirut, in collaboration with the Department of Architecture and Design, to design its logo.

Then 2nd year Graphic Design student Rafic Saab won the competition and the accompanying $200 award. He explains how the small i’s are “representations of human beings, joined by an organic-looking F.” Saab adds that “the i’s were designed using a serif font to join the serious world of policy with the human aspect that it seeks to represent.”

The IFI would like to thank Najib Attieh, Graphic Designs Manager at the University Publications Office, for his development of the initial logo design into
its final form, and Leila Musfy, Chairperson of the Department of Architecture and Design, for her support.


Research and Policy Memos are short, policy-oriented memos on IFI research and lectures.
Read memos on:

Youth in the Arab World

Climate Change and Environment in the Arab World

Policy and Governance in Palestinian Refugee Camps

Launch of two programs:

  1. The Research and Policy Forum on Climate Change and Environment in the Arab World
    IFI's first program was launched with The Impact of Climate Change on the Arab World Spring 2008 Lecture Series by eight different scholars, activists, and officials. Read more
     
  2. Policy and Governance in Palestinian Refugee Camps
    Jointly managed by the Center for Behavioral Research at AUB, the program was launched with a lecture by UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd. Read more

International Affairs:

Read the OSLO forum 2008 - Annual Mediator's Retreat -Meeting Report. Some of the participants of OSLO 2008 will speak in IFI's Bill and Sally Hambrecht Distinguished Peacemakers Lectures.
Read more

Read Rami Khouri's contribution to the Brookings Doha Discussion Papers on Reform in the Muslim World.



 


 
Announcements

January 13-14, 2009
 

Studying Youth in the Arab World
A two-day Seminar co-hosted by IFI and the Goethe Institute.
Time: 9 am - 5 pm
Location: College Hall, Auditorium B1, AUB
Download Agenda

January 5, 2009
 

Samir Makdisi Appointed Distinguished Senior Fellow at AUB Issam Fares Institute
Click to read more

January  2009


NEW  Publication 
 

UNIFIL II: Emerging and Evolving European Engagement in Lebanon and the Middle East

Karim Makdisi, Timur Goksel, Hans Bastian Hauck, Stuart Reigeluth

Read More...

Previous Related  Publication

Audio  Video
On Campus
Off Campus

Jimmy Carter
39th President of the United States of America
in a public lecture on
"30 years after Camp David: A memo to the Arab World, Israel and the Quartet"
Read Here

NEW

Palestinian Camps Research and Policy Memo # 3
Read in English 

September, 2008

"Who are the Stakeholders in Ras Beirut's Seafront Pollution Management?
The AUB Neighborhood Initiative
Dr. Jad Chaaban

Download Report

Read Article

Call for student researchers

 





 

Anthropology of Peace Expertise
Deadline January 31
A research project led by Nikola Kosmatopoulos, PhD candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Zurich, and supported by the Commission for Research Partnerships in Developing Countries (KFPE) and the IFI.
Read more

KFPE Link

Publication
DGAP

 





 

Germany's Contribution to Lebanese Sovereignty
The Maritime Task Force, Coastal Radar System and Border Pilot Project. DGAP, January 2008. By Timor Goksel (AUB), Hans Bastian Hauck (DGAP), Karim Makdisi (AUB) and Stuart Reigeluth (CITpax).        
Read More

Full audio and video of IFI lectures at the Academic Computing Center website

Recent Lectures and Events
December 19
 
The Financial War on Terror: Whom did it target and why did it miss?
An open lecture and discussion by
Ibrahim Warde
Adjunct professor of international business at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
More information soon
December 12
 
Jimmy Carter
39th President of the United States of America in a public lecture on
"30 years after Camp David: A memo to the Arab World, Israel and the Quartet"
The Daily Star Coverage
Al Mustaqbal Coverage
Al Anwar Coverage
Al Safir Coverage
AUB Coverage
November 12 State Building and State Stability in the Arab World
Lebanese and international guests from politics, civil society, academia, NGOs, International Organizations and media will discuss political development from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Read More
Download Program
The Daily Star Coverage
November 10 "Preventing and Resolving Deadly Conflict: What Have We Learned?"
By Gareth Evans President of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group since January 2000.
Read More
Full text
November 4 "The 2008 Presidential Campaign in the US: What have we learned? What should we look for?"
By William C. Vocke Jr., PhD. Senior Fellow and Senior Program Director at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.
Carnegie Council website
October
27-28
City Debates 2008: Spaces of Faith and Fun
City Debates is an annual event organized by the Masters in Urban Planning and Policy and Urban Design at the department of Architecture and Design in collaboration with the International Institute for the study of Islam in the Modern World at Leiden, and the support of the Issam Fares Institute, the Institut Français du Proche-Orient and the Brazilian Embassy.
Read More
Download Agenda
October
14-15
Arab World Climate Change Workshop
Regional Two-Day Workshop: Arab World Policy for Post-2012 Climate Negotiations. In Partnership with IndyAct and the Heinrich Boll Foundation.
Read more
AUB Coverage
The Daily Star Coverage
As-Safir Coverage
Thursday, October 9 From 5-7 pm
"Can Washington Mediate Arab-Israeli Peace? Lessons Learnt from Camp David ii, the Clinton Years and Beyond."
By Robert Malley
Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs and Director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa Program since January 2002.
Read more
 

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