BEIRUT—The Carnegie Middle East Center announced today the addition of three new scholars to its growing research network in the region. Muhammad Faour, Ibrahim Saif, and Yezid Sayigh will work out of the Center in Beirut and complement Carnegie’s Middle East Program headquartered in Washington.

Muhammad Faour is a leading expert on education reform in the Arab world. Ibrahim Saif is an economist specializing in the political economy of the Middle East and the former secretary general of the Economic and Social Council in Jordan. Yezid Sayigh, an advisor and negotiator for the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks from 1991-1994 and a former professor at King’s College London, is an expert on the peace process and the political role of Arab militaries. 

In making the announcement, Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies, said:

“Muhammad, Ibrahim, and Yezid are wonderful additions to the Carnegie Middle East Center. The Center is now well positioned to deal with the historic political and economic transitions that are taking place across the Arab world today. We now have five full-time senior scholars from the region who bring with them decades of experience researching some of the most pressing issues in the Middle East and North Africa. The need for informed analysis is even greater at this time of significant regional change, and we look forward to their contributions.” 

Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, said: 

“I am thrilled to welcome our new colleagues to the Carnegie Middle East Center. Their expertise is an important addition to the Center as we expand our work throughout the region. Muhammad, Ibrahim, and Yezid will have a key role to play in providing much-needed analysis on the critical issues of reform in the region.”  Muhammad Faour is a senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center, where his research focuses on education reform in Arab countries, with an emphasis on citizenship education. 

Prior to joining Carnegie, Faour was a research fellow at the Center for International and Security Studies at York University in Canada, where he studied social change and demography of the Middle East, and conflict analysis and resolution. From 2007 to 2010, he was president of Dhofar University in Salalah, Oman. Faour also served as deputy vice president for Regional External Programs at the American University of Beirut (AUB) from 2000 to 2007. Prior to that, Faour was professor of sociology for more than fifteen years and chaired AUB’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. 

In addition to his academic work, Faour served as a consultant to several United Nations agencies, Lebanese foundations, and nongovernmental organizations, and was a founding member of the Lebanese Association of Sociology.

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Ibrahim Saif is a resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center. An economist specializing in the political economy of the Middle East, his research focuses on economies in transition, international trade with an emphasis on Jordan and the Middle East, institutional governance, and labor-market economics. 

In addition to his work at Carnegie, Saif serves as a consultant to numerous international organizations, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the International Labor Organization. He is also a fellow with the Economic Research Forum and a member of the Global Development Network. 

Prior to joining Carnegie, Saif was the director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan and, until recently, served as the secretary general of the Economic and Social Council in Jordan. 

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Yezid Sayigh is a senior associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where his work focuses on the future political role of Arab armies, the resistance and reinvention of authoritarian regimes, and the Israel-Palestine conflict and peace process.

Previously, Sayigh was professor of Middle East studies at King’s College London. From 1994 to 2003, he served as assistant director of studies at the Centre of International Studies, Cambridge, and from 1998-2003, he headed the Middle East programme of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. Sayigh was also an advisor and negotiator in the Palestinian delegation to the peace talks with Israel from 1991-1994. Since 1999, he has provided policy and technical consultancy on the permanent status peace talks and on Palestinian reform.

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