Lack of democracy has arguably contributed to the lag in major aspects of Arab development, but as the Arab region contemplates its democratic future, on the back of recent political upheavals, a more pertinent question begins to emerge: “Does the Arab region need to follow a Western model of democratic transformation?” This was the question raised by Samir Makdisi (American University in Beirut) in the opening plenary of the ERF 17th Annual Conference (More).

After the welcome and opening remarks, the ERF 17th Annual Conference took off with its first plenary session, that set the tone of discussion and provided inspiring food for thought that will inform the conversations in rest of the event (more).

In plenary session I « Democracy (Open Society) and Economic Development: The Politics of Policymaking”, Ricardo Hausmann, Director of the Centre of International Development (CID) & Professor of the Practice of Economic Development at Harvard University, addressed the following question: “Economic Development and Politics: Where is the Connection?” Reflecting on this, Hausmann looked at the existing asymmetry between the economy, which has an incredible ability to figure out its problems and sort itself out, and the political system (more).

Despite reforms in the mid-1970s and early 1990s that helped liberalize its economy, Egypt is still considered as a relatively poor country. The deceptive 5.3% growth rate in 2010 have been made negligible by the unbalanced distribution of wealth and opportunity, poor public services, lack of education, as well as the fact that Egypt suffered from a brain drain due to the oppressive political system (more).