On March 30-31, the Valdai Discussion Club, in partnership with the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, holds its 10th Middle East Conference. The theme for this year’s meeting is “The Middle East in Search for Lost Awakening”. The conference was opened by Andrey Bystritskiy and Vitaly Naumkin. The speakers of the first session discussed the prospects of the new Arab revival.
Session 1. The New Arab Revival: To Be or Not to Be?
For the Middle East, the past decade was a period of conflicts, wars, revolutions and protests; democratization of political systems and social reforms; change of political elites and new political movements; economic crises and humanitarian catastrophes; foreign interventions and ad hoc alliances; technological breakthroughs and heated social debates; rise and fall of non-state actors, consolidation of civil society.
It did not bring prosperity and justice for all, but may have brought freedom and development for some.
Can all this be a prelude to a new Arab revival? And if so, what will it be like? Will it be like the 19th century’s Nahda of the mid-20th century’s Arab Awakening? It not, what should we expect?
Speakers:
Ali Alahmad, Politician and Public Figure, Syria
Youssef Cherif, Director, Columbia Global Centers |Tunis
Joost Hiltermann, Program Director, Middle East & North Africa, International Crisis Group
Daniel Levy, President, US/Middle East Project
Moderator:
Vasily Kuznetsov, Head of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Head of the Department of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Oriental Faculty of the State Academic University for the Humanities.