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National Reconciliation and the Search for Peace and Stability in the Post-Arab Spring Middle East
Thursday, September 26th
3:00 to 4:30
Metropolitan Building 5th Floor, room 5183
Part 1: Presentation
Part 2: Q & A
Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia have each, in their own way, struggled to achieve sustainable peace and stability. In many ways, toppling these countries’ dictators was the easy part. Now they must address historical divisions or otherwise descend into civil strife. This research project looks at the critical importance of national reconciliation in each of the three countries if they are to avoid violence and achieve sustainable stability. To understand the challenges facing national reconciliation and prospects of peaceful transition in the post-Arab Spring Middle East, the speaker conducted over 160 interviews in Yemen, Libya, and Tunisia talking to senior government officials, heads of political parties, revolutionaries and military councils, civil society organizations, tribal shaikhs, and IDPs. The speaker will share his research findings and compare progress made in all three cases.
Dr. Ibrahim Sharqieh is a Foreign Policy Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Deputy Director of the Brookings Doha Center, and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Qatar. Sharqieh taught Conflict Resolution at George Washington University, George Mason University, and The Catholic University of America. He has published extensively on conflict resolution in the MENA region, with articles appearing in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Financial Times, CNN, and Aljazeera. Widely quoted on Middle East politics in Reuters, AFP, and Associated Press, he is a frequent commentator on news channels, including NPR, CNN, Aljazeera, and BBC. Sharqieh received his Ph.D. from George Mason University in Conflict Analysis and Resolution in 2006. Follow Ibrahim on Twitter: @sharqieh and Facebook: Ibrahim Sharqieh.
