January 23, 2012: 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.
January 1, 2012: 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. National Public Radio (NPR) Host Audie Cornish talks with Isobel Coleman of the Council on Foreign Relations about women in the Arab uprising and their role going forward.
Oct 26, 2011: Isobel Coleman speaks with Foxnews.com’s DEFCON3 with KT McFarland about whether the election victory by the Islamist party in Tunisia is a cause for concern.
October 26, 2011: 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.
Sep 28, 2011: 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.
July 6, 2011: 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.
Jun 11, 2011: Within the ongoing war on terrorism in the Middle East, a quiet revolution of Islamic feminists is unfolding; with both men and women searching for answers to extremists who feel a woman’s role within the religion involves no educational or economic rights. Isobel Coleman highlights the quest of Islamic feminist activists for change in Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East. In this interview on Southern California Public Radio (KPCC), Coleman talks about how these efforts towards a more tolerant Islamic community are playing a key role in maintaining stability and decreasing extremism within Muslim countries. But can a sweeping movement for women’s rights actually end the war on terrorism? What exactly is the link between economic and political freedom for women and widespread peace and stability in the Middle East?
On February 23, 2011, Isobel Coleman was featured on the Fox News show DEFCON-3 with KT McFarland in a segment titled “How Women are Transforming the Middle East.”
This book review originally appeared in The Browser. The review was written by Zainab Salbi, the founder and CEO of Women for Women International.
This is a brilliant book. There are not many books out there that deal with Muslim women in a respectful way. This book looks at them with objectivity, respect, dignity and integrity. I am very impressed and touched by Isobel Coleman’s writing. It is a page-turner. I am coming at this from a Muslim woman’s perspective and from a woman from the Middle East. It is so touching and deeply endearing that for once we have someone talking about Muslim women with such integrity.
She is very good at showing what women are doing in the Middle East and breaking their silence. She moves beyond the common stereotypes of women in the Middle East. There is this idea that they are all the same and they all wear the burqa. Instead she looks at all the different complexities and nuances of these women from Iran, Afghanistan, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. It is eye opening for those who don’t know much about this subject and a refreshing take for those that do.
On February 2, 2011, Isobel Coleman was featured on CNBC’s Street Signs where she discussed recent turmoil in Egypt.
