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Two Years After the Arab Spring

Rached Ghannouchi, Islamic thinker, Scholar, former political prisoner, and President of the Nahdha party in Tunisia, to give Keynote Speech at CSID Annual Conference....

Rached Ghannouchi photo

 
Rached Ghannouchi is the co-founder and President of the Nahdha (renaissance) movement in Tunisia, which emerged in the recent elections as the largest party in the National Constituent Assembly (NCA).

Born in the village of El-Hamma in the south of Tunisia in 1941, Mr Ghannouchi was educated in Tunisia's Zaitouna university, and then continued with studying philosophy in Cairo, Damascus, and Paris. Mr Ghannouchi became active in politics by setting up the Islamic Tendency movement in 1981, later changed to Ennahdha (Renaissance). He was imprisoned due to his political activities from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1987 to 1988. After the falsification of the 1989 legislative elections by former president Ben Ali, Mr Ghannouchi left for London where he lived as a political exile for two decades, until his return home on 30 January 2011, after the Tunisian revolution.
Mr Ghannouchi is one of the most important and prolific thinkers in modern Islamic Political thought and theory. Since the early 1980's, he has been an advocate of the compatibility between Islam and the principles of pluralism, freedom, modernity and democratic governance. His views and writings are influential in Tunisia, and the rest of the Arab and Muslim worlds.

He has written many books, which have been translated in several languages, including:
  • Public Freedoms in an Islamic State
  • The right of citizenship in an Islamic state
  • Democracy and Human Rights in Islam
  • Women between the Quran and reality
  • Essays on secularism and civil society
  • From the experience of the Islamic movement in Tunisia
  • Our path to civilisation
  • The Islamic movement and the issue of change
  • Destiny in Ibn Taymiah's thought
 
Upcoming Events
Democratic Transitions in the Arab World: Two Years After the Arab Spring
Dear Friends, Members, and Colleagues: 

CSID is Looking for 6-8 Volunteers to help with the organization and logistics support before and during the conference, on May 29 in Washington DC.  If you are interested in volunteering (volunteers receive a free pass to the conference), please contact Mariem Masmoudi, Conference Coordinator, at [email protected].  CSID is not able to cover travel expenses or accommodations for volunteers.

Also for FREE media passes (limited number), please send an e-mail request, with affiliation, to:  [email protected] or [email protected]


EARLY REGISTRATION ENDS on Friday, May 17th.  Space is limited, and we cannot guarantee that seats will be available after May 17th.

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY
 
14th Annual Conference on Islam & Democracy
 
 
 
 Democratic Transitions in the Arab World: 

Two Years After the Arab Spring 

 
 
 
Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Amphitheater - Ronald Reagan Building

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC   20004



 

 

EARLY REGISTRATION ENDS May 17th
Seats are limited



Register Now




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 - [email protected]

"Why Islam (properly understood) is the Solution: Reflections on the Role of Religion in Tunisia's Democratic Transition" - Nader Hashemi - [email protected]

"The New Political Islam and the Question of Popular Sovereignty" - Juan Cole - [email protected]

"Universal Dimensions of the Qur'an and Historic Specificity of Islam's Theological Sciences" - Ashfaque Syed[email protected]

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 - [email protected]

"Blasphemy, Freedom of Speech and Democratic Transition: The Case of Tunisia" - Joelle Fiss - USA - [email protected]

"Building common ground for democratization in Tunisia through the development of civil society and civil political culture" - Alexander Martin[email protected]

"Building A Stable Democracy in Tunisia - What will it take?" - Radwan Masmoudi - [email protected]



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 - [email protected]

"Social Media and the Arab Spring- The Vehicle that Made the Revolution Possible" - Abdelhamid Abdeljabar[email protected]

"Women and the 'Arab Spring': A Case Study of Yemen" - Maria Holt - [email protected]

"The Arab Awakening and the Security Sector Reform" - Omar Ashour - UK - [email protected]


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 - [email protected]

"The Evolution of U.S. Policy Towards Islamists" - Peter Mandaville - [email protected]

"Islamists in power - How are they faring?" - Marc Lynch - [email protected]

"Problems of Transition: Lessons from Other Countries" - Marina Ottaway - [email protected]



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

__________________________________________________

5:30 - 6:00 p.m.    Keynote Speech:


US POLICY TOWARDS THE REGION - TIME TO REVAMP

TBA


6:00 p.m.    Closing Remarks 



Register Now



For further information, please contact:

Imen Ouederni at:  [email protected]
or
Mariem Masmoudi at [email protected]


____________________________________________________________________

Where & When

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheater

Washington, D.C.