Think-tanks have a crucial role to play in the long-term effort to encourage democratic reform in the Middle East. The CER is one of the founding members of a new programme that will look at these issues, the Arab Reform Initiative (ARI). The Arab Reform Initiative is a consortium of a dozen Arab research and policy institutes, with partners from the United States and Europe.

The overall objective of the ARI is to mobilise the Arab research community to develop a realistic, home-grown programme for economic, political and social reform in the Arab world, and produce policy recommendations accordingly. Its specific objectives are as follows:

• To enhance co-operation between policy institutes concerned with questions of reform in the Arab world, the United States and Europe in order to forge a common and more nuanced understanding of the obstacles to, and requisites for, reform in the region;
  
  
• To present stakeholders in the region with alternative policy options for reform which address their fears and concerns; and
  
  
• To raise awareness among the political elite, media and general public in the Arab world of successful transitions to democracy and the market in other parts of the world, and of the mechanisms and compromises which made such successful transitions possible.
  
  
• The research plan for the project includes reports on the reform process in individual countries, thematic reports on issues of relevance to reform in the region, shorter policy briefs, public opinion surveys, workshops, seminars, and training programs for the media.
  
  The CER believes that this is an important initiative, and we are glad to be associated with a project that has great potential to promote the cause of reform in Arab countries.