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Isobel Coleman

Senior Fellow and Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program

Expertise

Democratization, economic development, civil society, gender, Middle East

Programs

Women and Foreign Policy, Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, U.S. Foreign Policy Program

Press/Panels

Article

Women Transforming the Middle East: the New Normal

On the appointment of thirty women to Saudi Arabia's Shura Council, Isobel Coleman tells the Saudi-U.S. Relations Information Service that just having women in the public sphere has forced debate and dialogue about the role of women in society to continue.

Video Interview

How Women are Transforming the Middle East

A transformation is taking place behind the headlines in the Middle East as women are earning more college degrees, having fewer children, and are entering the workforce in unprecedented numbers. Isobel Coleman talks with Rocky Mountain PBS about these trends and their new relevance after the Arab uprisings.

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Video Interview

Egypt's Economy on the Edge

On DEFCON3 with KT McFarland, Isobel Coleman speaks about the economic crisis that Egypt faces, including dwindling foreign currency reserves, strikes in Port Said, and a plague of locusts.

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Panel

Afghanistan Post-2014

Fawzia Koofi, Afghan Member of Parliament, women's rights activist, and presidential candidate, speaks about what to expect for Afghanistan after U.S. troops withdraw in 2014.

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Video Interview

Violence Against Women in India

On "The Lang and O'Leary Exchange," Isobel Coleman comments on the culture of complicity that surrounds violence against women in India and about how women's economic rights relate to gender inequality.

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Radio Interview

The Taliban Attack on Malala Yousufzai

Isobel Coleman speaks with public radio in Philadephia about the shooting of Malala Yousufzai and what it says about Pakistan, its government, and the future of its people.

Video Interview

The Future of Mobility

TIME continues the conversation about the impact of the wireless revolution with a special panel discussion, The Future of Mobility, at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Panelists included Aneesh Chopra, senior advisor at the Advisory Board Company; Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations; Matt Flannery, co-Founder and CEO of Kiva; Judith McHale, president and CEO of Cane Investments, LLC; and Rey Ramsey, president and CEO of TechNet.

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Video Interview

Attack on Libyan Consulate

Isobel Coleman speaks with FOX News about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

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Radio Interview

The Economic Challenges That Egypt Still Faces

Just one week ago Mohamed Morsi moved into the Egyptian presidential palace. Egypt has the region's third-largest economy, but income per-person is near the bottom. Isobel Coleman is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is here to help us go in-depth on Morsi and the task ahead of him.

Radio Interview

Women's Rights In The Age Of The Arab Spring

Isobel Coleman speaks on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" about democratic transitions in Egypt and Tunisia. In Egypt, Islamists are assuming powerful roles. Many women's rights activists fear that a shift toward democratically-elected Islamist rulers will limit personal and political freedom for women.

Video Interview

Egypt's Women: Progress vs Oppression

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the January 25th protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square. On The Agenda with Steve Paikin, Isobel Coleman joins Steve Paikin to discuss the progress and setbacks for women's rights in Egypt one year later.

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Radio Interview

Arab Women Rising: An Uncertain Future

2011 was a year of protest across the Middle East and North Africa. Amid each uprising, women were visible, fighting not just for the rights of their country, but often for rights of their own. Host Audie Cornish talks with Isobel Coleman of the Council on Foreign Relations about women in the Arab uprising and their role going forward.

Radio Interview

Qaddafi's Death

Isobel Coleman, senior fellow and director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations, speaks with Joan Hamurg on WOR radio in New York about Col. Muammar Al Qaddafi's death and what it impact it will have on the region.

Article

Q&A: Why Voting Is a Good Start for Women in Saudia Arabia

Much to the surprise of women in Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah on Sunday granted them the right to vote and serve in office. Saudi Arabia is the only country on Earth that prohibits women from driving. The only one that allowed only men to vote. The only one that scored a zero for female political empowerment in the 2010 World Economic Forum global gender gap report.

Yet women now represent the majority of college graduates, and as they push for jobs, restrictions on them grow more untenable, says Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women Are Transforming the Middle East. She spoke to editorial writer for the New Jersey Star Ledger Julie O'Connor about why voting isn't as radical as driving, but it's a good start.

Article

Chat with Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow at CFR

Isobel Coleman, senior fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East, speaks with journalist Lauren Bohn about the days ahead for women in Egypt.