ISRAEL

The Middle East Initiative has conducted four executive training programs for senior Israeli government officials on leadership and the management of change. Three of these programs were conducted in Cambridge and one in Israel. These programs allowed participants to develop and refine their leadership, management, and analytical skills, while building teamwork around the issues relating to good governance in Israel today.

The participants, including Directors General, Mayors, and other senior officials, discussed the best strategies for creative approaches to public policy problems facing the Government of Israel.

The Israeli programs are made possible through the generous support of the Wexner Foundation and the sponsorship of the Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership.

Executive Programs have included:

Enhancing Municipal Leadership in Israel
June 20-25, 2004
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Leadership and the Management of Change in the Government of Israel: An Executive Program for Israel's Director Generals III
March 3-8, 2002
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Leadership and the Management of Change in the Government of Israel: An Executive Program for Israel's Director Generals II
January 24-25, 2001
Location: Israel

Leadership and the Management of Change in the Government of Israel: An Executive Program for Israel's Director Generals I
September 10-15, 2000
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

KUWAIT

In January 2001, the Kennedy School and the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences launched the Kuwait Program at Harvard, a program of engagement, partnership and intellectual exchange aimed at building bridges, opening and furthering dialogue, advancing scholarship and informed research, training leaders, and developing relationships between Harvard University, Kuwait and the other states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

This Program is designed to complement and reinforce Kuwait's independent efforts and progress towards meeting the global and regional public policy challenges facing Kuwait and the Gulf.

The Program includes specially designed Executive Programs, sponsored research dealing with challenges to public policy and security issues in Kuwait & throughout the Gulf, and fellowships for Executive Education participants from Kuwait & GCC countries attending programs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Business School, and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Since January 2001, MEI has conducted ten Executive Training programs for Kuwaiti leaders from the private and public sectors. Eight of these programs were conducted in Cambridge, one in Kuwait, and one three-phase program that took place in Cambridge, Scotland, and then Kuwait. The programs have addressed issues such as education reform, globalization and security in the Gulf, leadership and management of change, international trade policy, and international diplomacy.

In addition to the custom executive programs, more than 41 fellowships have been awarded to Kuwaitis and members of the GCC to attend executive training at the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Harvard School of Public Health.

Through the established research fund over 23 research grants have been awarded to Harvard faculty doing research on Kuwait and the Gulf. Several of the faculty members who have received this grant traveled to Kuwait to conduct research and share information with their Kuwaiti counterparts.

Executive Programs have included:

Second Kuwait Education Reform Program
Phase I: October 28 - November 2, 2007
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA
Phase II: November 5-7, 2007
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Phase III: December 12, 2007
Location: Kuwait

International Diplomacy for the New Century
April 1-6, 2007
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Education Reform
April 23-May 2, 2006
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Case Study Program
March 20-22, 2006
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

The Practice of International Trade Policy
December 11-16, 2005
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Management of Public Sector Projects and Facilities
May 15-20, 2005
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Leadership and Innovation in the Public and Private Sectors
May 9-14, 2004
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Leadership and the Management of Change
May 11-16, 2003
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Globalization, the Management of Change, and Security in the Gulf
April 7-12, 2002
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Global Challenges and Security in the Gulf
June 11-13, 2001
Location: Kuwait

SAUDI ARABIA

The Middle East Initiative has worked closely with leaders in the Saudi government and business communities on a number of projects that address the management of change in the Saudi economy.

Since October 1999, the MEI has held three rigorous one-week seminars on the implications of managing change in the global economy for the Saudi Kingdom. Participants have included prominent figures in the Saudi business community, including five members of the Supreme Economic Council, and the Ministers of Education and Religious Affairs.

In addition to our Executive Programs on the Management of Change, the Kennedy School has also collaborated with the Jeddah Economic Forum on a series of four conferences on the theme of Globalization in the Middle East. In October 1999, the second of these conferences addressed the effects of e-commerce and information technology for the global economy and for Saudi Arabia. In January 2000, the third conference focused on sustainable growth in the global economy and featured keynote addresses by former U.S. President George Bush and former British Prime Minister John Major.

In February 2007 MEI and CID (Center for International Development) at the Kennedy School hosted representatives from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Economy and Planning to present their plans for Saudi Arabia's Long Term Strategy for 2025 to senior economists from the KSG for their feedback and advice.

Executive Programs have included:

Management of Change III
October 13-18, 2000
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Management of Change II
March 23-28, 2000
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Management of Change I
October 10-15, 1999
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Harvard Kennedy School is in an agreement with the federal government of the United Arab Emirates to train its mid and senior level officials on issues of innovation, leadership, efficiency, and effectiveness in the public sector.

In July 2002, the Initiative launched a series of executive programs to address these issues. MEI has since added an amendment to provide fellowships for government officials to participate in executive education programs offered at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Executive Programs at the Dubai School of Governmnet have included:

Creating a High Performance Government: Public Sector Innovation
December 13-16, 2003
Location: United Arab Emirates

Creating a High Performance Government: An Executive Program for the UAE
May 21-30, 2003
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Public Sector Leadership and Innovation in a Globalized Environment
July 21-August 1, 2002
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Additionally, the Initiative provides executive education programs, in collaboration with Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education and Dubai Initiative, for the Dubai School of Government as part of an institutional agreement signed in 2004 to strengthen the ties of exchange between the Harvard Kennedy School and the Dubai School of Government. To date, the MEI has provided five executive programs for the Dubai School of Government, each held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Executive Programs have included:

Negotiating for Leadership: An Executive Program for Women in Leadership Positions
January 14 - 15, 2009
Location: Dubai School of Government

Leadership for the 21st Century: A Course on Chaos, Conflict and Courage
November 17-20, 2008
Location: Dubai School of Government

Growth, Globalization and the Gulf
June 10-13, 2007
Location: Dubai School of Government

Leadership for the 21st Century
March 18-22, 2007
Location: Dubai School of Government

Public Financial Management
June 10-14, 2006
Location: Dubai School of Government

Innovations in Governance
September 24-28, 2005
Location: Dubai School of Government

E-Government: Leadership in a Networked World
March 26-30, 2005
Location: Dubai School of Government

WEST BANK, GAZA STRIP & EAST JERUSALEM

The Harvard Kennedy School has undertaken a strategic commitment to work with Palestinian leaders to improve democratic governance and strengthen public policy institutions.

The Middle East Initiative has conducted three Executive Training programs for Palestinians from the public and private sectors. The focus of these programs has been on leadership and good governance in the Palestinian Authority as well as leaders in the NGO and private sectors on management of political and economic transition.

The latest Palestinian Executive Program was held at the Athens Institute of Technology (AIT) in Athens, Greece in August 2005. The program was conducted in Greece in an effort to circumvent the need for US visas for the Palestinian participants as well as address concerns resulting from the deteriorating political climate in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. The latter has made it increasingly difficult to conduct regular trainings both in the Palestinian Occupied Territories and Cambridge.

In addition to these Executive Training programs, the Middle East Initiative facilitated a faculty research visit to the Palestinian Occupied Territories in the summer of 2005. Middle East Initiative director, Hilary Rantisi, accompanied Professor Robert Lawrence to the West Bank to conduct research on international trade options for Palestinians.

Executive Programs have included:

Palestinian Leadership in Development: Managing Political and Economic Transition
August 21- 26, 2005
Location: Athens, Greece

Leadership and Good Governance in the Palestinian Authority II
February 11-23, 2001
Location: Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA

Leadership and Good Governance in the Palestinian Authority I
June 27-30, 2000
Location: Gaza Strip