TIMEP Announces Selection of Tenth TIMEP Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow

TIMEP Announces Selection of Tenth TIMEP Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow TIMEP November 17, 2025 November 17, 2025 The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) is pleased to announce the selection of Jad El Dilati as the tenth recipient of the Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellowship. Jad’s mandate will focus on governance, politics, and narrative in Lebanon. Amid shifting international, regional, and geopolitical dynamics and across conversations on reconstruction, disarmament, and accountability, Lebanon finds itself in a unique and deeply consequential moment for the country’s political and economic reform trajectory. It is in this incredibly important context that Jad will be joining TIMEP to offer insightful research, solutions-oriented programming, and actionable policy recommendations on Lebanon. Jad will travel from Beirut to Washington, DC, to participate in a six-month in-person fellowship where he will be housed at TIMEP’s office between mid-November 2025 and mid-May 2026. You can read Jad’s full bio here. The Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellowship was established in memory of Egyptian political writer and commentator Bassem Sabry. The fellowship is awarded to a young professional who is committed to the principles of democratic and inclusive change; values that Bassem promoted and espoused during his lifetime. The fellowship affords rising stars working in and on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region the chance to immerse themselves in the world of policymaking in Washington, DC, while producing programming and analysis that furthers democratic and inclusive societies in the MENA region. Following Bassem’s passing in April 2014, TIMEP joined Bassem’s loved ones and friends to announce the creation of the eponymous fellowship. The fellowship is hosted in partnership with the Atlas Corps Fellowship at Cultural Vistas. Through the Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellowship, early and mid-career advocates and experts from and in the MENA region have the unique opportunity to advance the policy conversation on a topic of their choosing through analysis and programming, to engage with and inform the work of policymakers, to build and cultivate a network of like-minded organizations, to develop a series of practical and critical skills to advance them in their leadership journey, and to be integrated as full-time members of a global policy institute headquartered in the nation’s capital. As the tenth Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow, Jad joins a cohort and a community of prior fellows who have conducted critical work on timely topics of policy importance ranging from political parties in Egypt to personal freedoms in Tunisia. Cairo native Bassem Sabry was an Egyptian writer, commentator, and political strategist who rose to prominence during the 2011 Egyptian revolution. His thoughtful and balanced approach made him a trusted voice at a challenging, yet consequential, moment for the region. At a time when many Egyptian commentators were falling prey to the easy politics of polarization, exclusion, and violence, Bassem was respected by all for his sober analysis that rejected partisan polemics and relied on understanding and engaging genuinely with the full spectrum of views in society. His blog, “An Arab Citizen,” became an essential resource for Egyptian readers and foreign diplomats alike, and his commentary and writings were widely sought after and featured in local, regional, and international news outlets, including Al-Masry Al-Youm, Al-Monitor, The Atlantic, and Foreign Policy. Through his example, Bassem inspired an entire generation of young thinkers, researchers, and advocates who envisioned an alternate, more democratic, and more just future for the region. *** Journalists and members of the press looking to get in touch with Jad for expert analysis and insights on Lebanon can do so by contacting press@timep.org. For more information regarding TIMEP’s fellowship programming, please check out our website. For general inquiries regarding the Bassem Sabry Fellowship, please contact fellowships@timep.org. To make a financial contribution to support the fellowship program, please visit our giving page.