Once lauded as a new but vital keystone of American foreign policy, the promotion of democracy in the Middle East is now seen by many as a costly endeavor that has brought few positive benefits for the region or for the United States. As security challenges escalate, and as enduring regional conflicts receive renewed attention, there is a real possibility that democracy promotion will be demoted among the priorities of U.S. foreign policy.

To assess the possible consequences of such a development and to suggest some alternative scenarios, Cairo-based scholar and writer Hugh Roberts will lead a discussion entitled "Rethinking Democracy Promotion in the Middle East." The former director of the North Africa Project at the International Crisis Group, Dr. Roberts has published widely on Algerian, Sahrawi, Egyptian, Mauritanian and Jordanian politics. A noted scholar who has taught at Berkeley, the London School of Economics, and the School of Oriental and African Studies, among other institutions, Dr. Roberts is the author of The Battlefield: Algeria 1988-2002. Studies in a Broken Polity.

This event is co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace, Georgetown University's Democracy and Governance Studies program and Maghreb Center, and the Moroccan American Center.

Archived Audio

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Speakers

• Hugh Roberts
  Consultant
• Daniel Brumberg, Co-chair
  United States Institute of Peace and Georgetown University
• Stephen King, Co-chair
  Georgetown University
• Dina Shehata, Discussant
  United States Institute of Peace
• Matthew Frumin, Discussant
  National Democratic Institute