Democratization and Conflict in the Arab World: Challenges, Opportunities and Dangers

Over the last four months, mass protests have rocked the Arab world. Protestors seek democracy, the rule of law and greater social justice. In Egypt and Tunisia, youth-led movements have forced rulers from office. In Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and Libya, democratic rebellions have provoked brutal repression from regimes determined to hold on to power. While it is too early to predict the outcome in any one of these cases, one vital challenge facing the region's youthful protestors is to confront-and where possible, transcend-the escalating ideological, social, and religious or sectarian tensions that have been exacerbated by democratic change itself. Whether democracy will be the harbinger of internal conflict and instability, or instead will provide the institutional, legal and normative framework for domestic reconciliation and peacemaking is the key question that will animate this one-day conference.

In addressing this complex question, the conference organizers hoped to offer concrete, policy-relevant insights that will be of benefit to political leaders in the Arab world, as well as to policy makers and activists in the United States working in the areas of human rights, democratic change and the rule of law.

Agenda

10:00am | Panel 1 - Security, Conflict and Democracy: Analytical Vistas

• Steven Heydemann, Chair
  Vice President, Grant and Fellowships Program, U.S. Institute of Peace
• Daniel Brumberg
  Democratic Innovation and Managing Conflict"
  Senior Adviser, U.S. Institute of Peace and Co-Director, Democracy and Governance Studies, Georgetown University
  Read Dan Brumberg's latest "On the Issues: U.S. Policy and the Arab World"
• David Waldner
  "The Limits of Political Engineering"
  Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics, University of Virginia
• Peter Mandaville, Chair
  Policy Planning Staff, U.S. Department of State

11:30am | Panel 2 - Live Hook Up: Conflict and Media in the Arab World: Youth, Democratic Peace Making and Media in Egypt

• Sheldon Himelfarb, Chair
  Director, Centers of Innovation, U.S. Institute of Peace
• In Cairo: Dina Shehata and Ibrahim El Houdaiby, Nadine Wahab
  Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Deputy Campaign Manager for Mohamed Elbaradei
• In Washington: Adel T. Iskandar
  Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University

12:45am | Lunch Address - The Human Rights Dimension: Assistant  Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Michael H. Posner

 2:00pm | Panel 3 - Countries, Cases and Challenges

• Manal Omar, Chair
  Director, Iraq Program, U.S. Institute of Peace
• Noureddine Jebnoun
  Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University
• Samer S. Shehata
  Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University
• Toby C. Jones
  Department of History, Rutgers University
• Mona Yacoubian Discussant
  Special Adviser, U.S. Institute of Peace

3:30pm | Coffee Break

3:45pm | Panel 4 - Foreign Policy:  Managing Conflict and Change

• Robin Wright, Chair
  Senior Fellow, U.S. Institute of Peace
• Robert Malley
  Program Director, Middle East and North Africa, International Crisis Group
• Jennifer L. Windsor
  Associate Dean, Programs and Studies at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
• J. Scott Carpenter
  Keston Family Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• Joe Stork
  Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa division, Human Rights Watch
• Gilles Kepel
  Sciences-Po, Paris, France
• Kenneth Wollack, Discussant
  President, National Democratic Institute

Explore Further

• Eye on the Middle East and North Africa - Experts from the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) are closely following developments throughout the Middle East and North Africa. In a series of reports and interviews, they cover a wide range of issues.
• U.S. Policy and the Arab World
  On the Issues by Dan Brumberg | May 2, 2011

Related Academy Courses

• Rule of Law Practitioners Course
• Governance and Democratic Practices in War to Peace Transitions
• Economic Reconstruction in Conflict-Affected States