NED/CSID EVENT: Backsliding on Reforms in the Middle East:A Short-Term Detour or a Dead-End?

Special Event:

The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) & The Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy organized a joint luncheon discussion on:

BACKSLIDING ON REFORMS IN THE MIDDLE EAST: A Short-Term Detour or a Dead-End?”

To view the recording of the event click here

Speakers: Amr Hamzawy, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Shadi Hamid,Project on Middle East Democracy, andRadwan Masmoudi, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. Moderator: Abdulwahab Alkebsi, National Endowment for Democracy

Date: Thursday, March 22, 2007.

Time:12:00 – 2:00 PM

Location:NED Main Conference Hall

Address:1025 F Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC

In 2004 and 2005, there was much talk about, and enthusiasm for, political reforms and democratization in the Arab world. However, 2006 was a year of undoing much of that progress. Does this backsliding reflect the insincerity of the regimes, lack of will of the international community, or weakness and lack of vision on the part of the opposition movements? Can Arab democrats (Islamists and secularists) work together for a better and democratic future for their countries? Or are oppressive and authoritarian regimes, supported by the West, the destiny of the Arab world?

Speakers:

Amr Hamzawy,

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Shadi Hamid,

Project on Middle East Democracy

Radwan Masmoudi,

Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

Moderator:

Abdulwahab Alkebsi,

National Endowment for Democracy

Amr Hamzawy, a noted Egyptian political scientist, previously taught at CairoUniversity and the Free University of Berlin. His research interests include the changing dynamics of political participation in the Arab world, the role of Islamist opposition groups in Arab politics, with special attention both to Egypt and the Gulf countries.

Shadi Hamid is a founding board member of the Project on Middle East Democracy. He served as a program specialist on public diplomacy at the State Department as well as a Legislative Fellow at the Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein. A Marshall Scholar, he is currently writing his Ph.D. dissertation on Islamist electoral behavior at Oxford Univ.

Radwan Masmoudi is the Founder and President of CSID, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting freedom, democracy, and good governance in the Arab/Muslim world, the Editor-in-Chief of the Centers quarterly publication, Muslim Democrat, and a Founding Member of the Network of Democrats in the Arab World (NDAW).

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