Some of the below links have been recommended by well- known international journalists who recently attended the Bicommunal Support Program (BSP) Journalist Symposium on March 18-19, 2006

Analysis and Commentary:

OnlineNewspapers.com, www.onlinenewspapers.com.

http://www.brookings.edu/index/cmep/analysiscommentary/index.htm
The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution - A nonpartisan think tank covering issues related to the Middle East, particularly U.S. policy-relevant. The website contains analysis and commentary as well as scholar bios and event information.

Haaretz, www.haaretz.com, available in English.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, www.acri.org.il, available in English and Arabic.

www.ceip.org/ArabReform
The Arab Reform Bulletin - a monthly publication of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace covering political reform developments in the Arab world. Available in Arabic and English.

http://ccas.georgetown.edu/
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University - Research, analysis, and events related to the Arab world.

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=topics.home&topic_id=1426
Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars - a non-profit organization that aims to unite the world of ideas to the world of policy by supporting pre-eminent scholarship and linking that scholarship to issues of concern to officials in Washington. The Middle East Program has events related to democratization as well as analysis and commentary.

http://www.cfr.org/region/397/middle_east.html
Council on Foreign Relations - an independent, national membership organization and a non-partisan center for scholars dedicated to producing and disseminating ideas so that individual and corporate members, as well as policymakers, journalists, students, and interested citizens in the United States and other countries, can better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other governments.

Justice Report, www.bim.ba, war crimes related issues from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, www.birn.eu.com, a close group of editors and trainers that enables journalists in the region to produce in-depth analytical and investigative journalism on complex political, economic and social themes.

Coalition for International Justice (CIJ), www.cij.org, an international, non-profit organization that supports the international war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, and criminal and transitional justice initiatives for East Timor, Sierra Leone, Cambodia, and Sudan.

Sense Tribunal, www.sense-agency.com, regular, balanced and comprehensive coverage of the work of the ICTY, ICJ and ICC.

Transitions Online, www.tol.cz, news about 28 post-communistic countries.

Crimes of War Project, www.crimesofwar.org, a collaboration of journalists, lawyers and scholars dedicated to raising public awareness of the laws of war and their application to situations of conflict.

Research Guide to International Law on the Internet, http://www2.spfo.unibo.it/spolfo/CRISIS.htm

Open Here, http://www.openhere.com/life/issues/war-weapons-and-defense/current-conflicts/

Regional Organizations and Websites:

Center for War, Peace, and the New Media, www.bu.edu/globalbeat, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to supporting journalists and news organizations in their efforts to sustain an informed and engaged citizenry.

International Criminal Court (ICC), www.un.org/law/icc.

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, www.un.org/icty.

War Crimes Tribunal Watch, http://balkansnet.org/tribunal.html, contains links to other human rights organizations.

Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org.

RAND Corporation, www.rand.org, public policy topics.

The Brookings Institution, www.brookings.edu.

http://www.tharwaproject.com/
The Tharwa Project includes reporting and analysis from locations around the Middle East, covering minority communities, human rights, civil society and democracy. Arabic and English versions.

http://www.daremar.org/
DarEmar - an independent multifaceted Syrian organization dedicated to raising the standards of civic awareness in the Arab world and increasing the Arab peoples' sense of empowerment and citizenship. Arabic and English.

http://www.arabreformforum.com/en/index.html
Arab Reform Forum - An Egyptian organization aimed at creating a network of Arab reformers throughout the region. The Forum's main activity is the Arab Reform Conference, whose first meeting took place in 2004 at the Library of Alexandria.

http://www.cihrs.org/Default_en.aspx
Cairo Institute for Human Rights - Press releases, opinion pieces, and other periodicals on civil society and human rights, particularly in Egypt.

http://www.mengos.net/
MENGOS is a gateway that encourages networking among civil society organizations in the Arab Middle East, and is committed to harnessing the potential of information and communication technologies for sustainable and equitable development and for the promotion of human rights and democracy. MENGOS enables the sharing of information, experiences and resources to help highlight initiatives that reduce poverty, empower people, and promote democracy and human rights.

http://www.metransparent.com/english.html
Middle East Transparent - Website containing analysis, commentary, and news on issues related to the Middle East. Also in Arabic.

US Government Programs:

http://mepi.state.gov/
Middle East Partnership Initiative - U.S. Department of State's main body for funding democracy promotion in the Middle East. The Website contains some program information and limited funding information.

http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/
U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) - an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. AID's work supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting economic growth, agriculture and trade; global health; and, democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance.

NGOs working on democratization in the Middle East:

http://www.ned.org/
National Endowment for Democracy -a nonprofit organization that receives US government funding to strengthen democratic institutions around the world. NED funds grants and fellowships, publishes the Journal of Democracy, and coordinates and funds activities of four other democracy NGOs: the National Democratic Institute, the Internatioanl Republican Institute, the International Center for Labor Solidarity and the Center for International Private Enterprise.

http://www.ndi.org/worldwide/mena/mena.asp
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI) - a nonprofit organization working to strengthen and expand democracy worldwide. NDI does a significant and growing amount of work in the Middle East.

http://www.idea.int/arab_world/index.cfm
International Institute for Democracy and Election Assistance - an intergovernmental organization with member states from all continents that has a mandate to support sustainable democracy worldwide.

http://www.ifes.org/home.html
International Foundation for Election Systems - organization dedicated to building democratic societies across the globe through technical assistance. IFES has many programs in the Middle East.

http://www.civility.org.uk/
The Civility Program - an organization out of the United Kingdom that seeks to measure the existence of civil society and develops realistic policy proposals through an engagement with policymakers, journalists, academics and representatives of civil society in the Middle East.

Blogs:

http://www.abuaardvark.com/
Professor Marc Lynch's blog on Arab media. He is a political scientist at William College.

http://faculty-staff.ou.edu/L/Joshua.M.Landis-1/syriablog/
SyriaComment - Blog by Joshua Landis, Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the School of International and Area Studies at the University of Oklahoma on Syrian politics, history and religion.

http://baheyya.blogspot.com/
Baheyya - Commentary on Egyptian politics and culture "by an Egyptian citizen with a room of her own."