The Arab World Center is a thinktank founded in 2016, focused on analyzing the structural transformations taking place throughout the Arab world, which were birthed in 2011. Over the past decade, the Arab world has undergone deep-seated changes that have led to an extremely convoluted and unprecedented situation. This has provoked the need to develop pragmatic Arab studies governed by a new breed of researchers through which to monitor, analyze, and evaluate the current situation in the region, as well as the surrounding region in Southwest Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Northern Mediterranean.
The general framework that governs the work produced by the Center is based on a number of founding principles:
1. The Arab world consists of 22 countries, with commonalities that make up the Arab region within the world around it.
2. Relations between Arab countries are characterized by sharp transformations, despite the existence of fixed patterns that ebb and flow year by year.
3. Several countries throughout the region are facing domestic instability that threatens the very fabric of the nation-state.
4. There is a current wave of modernization sweeping through the Arab world that represents good news for the region.
5. Several countries in the region have experienced exacerbated threats domestically through the intervention of regional actors.
Most importantly, there are trends that have recently taken shape in several Arab countries, with organizations and groups seeking to revive the concept of the “Arab World”. These trends have manifested in new terms, alliances, networks, and initiatives that are a departure from past practices, that appear feasible as a baseline strategy, even on a partial or functional level.
The concept of the “Arab World” adopted by the Center is neither theoretical or ideological, but is based on the realist approach that considers nation-states to be the region’s building blocks, and that national interests of these states shape regional dynamics. This is accompanied by the conviction that there are common interests among Arab states, that can aid each achieve its goals with regards to national security, economic development, political stability, social cohesion, cultural openness, technological progress, and international standing.
The Arab Wall
The Center has a specific scope of activities, including daily assessments on the Arab region, an online website, a monthly publication, as well as weekly roundtable discussions with the aim of strengthening public awareness and contributing to policy making.
1. The work produced by the Center aims to be concise, intricate, and commensurate with the reality of the region.
2. The Center aspires for its work to reach parties outside the region, as well as within the Arab world.
The “Arab Wall” is an online website that is built on a fundamental principle that there are common threats to the main countries in the Arab region, emanating from countries and groups located on the periphery of the Arab world, and some positioned inside the Arab world. Although many Arab countries have varying priorities and disagree on the scale of those threats, there is a common interest to combat these threats collectively.
Funding
The “Arab World Center” is a limited liability company, financially dependent on research projects, carried out in cooperation with research centers, public and private institutions in both Egypt and across the Arab world.
– These projects are chosen within strict parameters, consistent with the Center’s values,
and are fully complaint with the orientation of the state and Egyptian Law.
– Financial supervision of the Center is conducted through renowned and leading auditing companies.
The Center aims to grow its revenue through online ads, subscriptions to daily assessments focused on the Arab region and a monthly periodical entitled “State of the Arab World”.