Democratic Transitions in the Arab World: Two Years After the Arab Spring

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY
14th Annual Conference on Islam & Democracy
TENTATIVE PROGRAM

8:00 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Registration
8:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Opening Remarks
Tamara Sonn, CSID Program Committee Chair
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 p.m. Panel 1
How a Proper Understanding of Islam Can Help Democracy?
Chair:

"Can Islam of the Islamic parties in the Arab Spring lead to democracy? Text and Textualism" - Abdulaziz Sachedina - asachedi@gmu.edu
"Why Islam (properly understood) is the Solution: Reflections on the Role of Religion in Tunisia's Democratic Transition" - Nader Hashemi - Nader.Hashemi@du.edu
"The New Political Islam and the Question of Popular Sovereignty" - Juan Cole - jricole@gmail.com
"Universal Dimensions of the Qur'an and Historic Specificity of Islam's Theological Sciences" - Ashfaque Syed - ashfaque.u.syed@gmail.com

10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Coffee and Tea Break

11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Panel 2
Can Tunisia Succeed as a Model?
Chair:

"Electoral Formula and the Tunisian Constituent Assembly" - John Carey - John.M.Carey@dartmouth.edu
"Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech and Democratic Transition: The Case of Tunisia" - Joelle Fiss - USA - FissJ@humanrightsfirst.org
"Building common ground for democratization in Tunisia through the development of civil society and civil political culture" - Alexander Martin - a.p.martin@durham.ac.uk

"Building A Stable Democracy in Tunisia - What will it take?" - Radwan Masmoudi - masmoudi@islam-democracy.org

12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Keynote Luncheon

US-Arab Relations:
A Vacuum of Leadership?

Robin Wright
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
John L. Esposito
Georgetown University
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson
College of William & Mary

2:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. PARALLEL SESSION - Panel 3

Democratic Transitions in the Region - Challenges and Opportunities

Chair:

"The Legacies of Protection Racket Politics: Egypt and Tunisia in Comparative Perspective" - Daniel Brumberg - dbrumberg@gmail.com
"Social Media and the Arab Spring- The Vehicle that Made the Revolution Possible" - Abdelhamid Abdeljabar - hamidabd@rci.rutgers.edu
"Women and the 'Arab Spring': A Case Study of Yemen" - Maria Holt - M.C.Holt01@westminster.ac.uk
"The Arab Awakening and the Security Sector Reform" - Omar Ashour - UK - O.Ashour@exeter.ac.uk

2:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. PARALLEL SESSION - Panel 4
What the U.S. Can Do to Support Democratic Transitions in the Middle East
Chair:

"The Obligation of the International Community Towards the Syrian People" - Radwan Ziadeh - radwan.ziadeh@gmail.com
"The Evolution of U.S. Policy Towards Islamists" - Peter Mandaville - pmandavi@gmu.edu
"Islamists in power - How are they faring?" - Marc Lynch - marclynchgwu@gmail.com
"Problems of Transition: Lessons from Other Countries" - Marina Ottaway - Marina.Ottaway@wilsoncenter.org

3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Coffee and Tea Break

4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Keynote Speech

VISIONS FOR A NEW TUNISIA:
How Islam & Democracy Can Support Each Other

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Rached Ghannouchi
Founder and President of the Nahdha Movement in Tunisia

Event Date: 
Wednesday, May 29, 2013 - 8:30am to 6:00pm
Institution(s): 
Sponsored By: 
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy
Contact: 
Imen Ouederni at: ouederni@islam-democracy.org
Location: 
Amphitheater - Ronald Reagan Building 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004