Events

Arab Center Washington DC organized its fourth annual conference dedicated to exploring the role of media and new technologies in human rights and democracy in the Arab world. Conference sessions and topics will include: Arab democracy in the information age; Cyber geopolitics and digital warfare in the Arab world; New media and new authoritarianism; Press freedom and the prospects of digital activism; Identity politics and the weaponization of social media; Silencing dissent and the politics of cyber espionage; Accountability and ethical policies in cyber space.

On September 11, 2019 Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) hosted a panel discussion at the National Press Club titled “The Future of Yemen: Between Internal Divisions and External Interference.” The speakers were Nabeel Al-Nowairah, research associate at the Gulf International Forum; Sama’a Al-Hamdani, director of the Yemen Cultural Institute for Heritage and the Arts and a nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute; and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Middle East fellow at the Baker Institute, Rice University, and a nonresident senior fellow at ACW.

This book illustrates how Arab women have been engaging in three ongoing and parallel struggles before, during, and after the Arab Spring, on three levels: the political struggle to pave the road for democracy, freedom, and reform; the social struggle to achieve gender equality and fight all forms of injustice and discrimination against women; and the legal struggle to chart new laws that safeguard both political and social gains. The contributors argue that while the political upheavals were oftentimes more prevalent and visible, they should not overshadow the parallel social and legal revolutions that are equally important, due to their long-term impacts on the region. The chapters shed light on the intersections, overlaps, and divergences between these simultaneous and continuous gendered struggles and unpacks their complexities and multiple implications locally, regionally, and internationally, across different countries and through various phases.

Arab Center Washington DC held a briefing on August 8, 2019 to discuss the current tensions in the Arabian Gulf, the possibility of war between the US and Iran, and the prospects for talks. Speakers included: Daniel Brumberg, Shireen Hunter, Kenneth Katzman, Assal Rad, and Barbara Slavin.

Donald Trump's attitudes toward Islam became a key point of contention on the campaign trail, and in power Trump has continued his war of divisive words and deeds. In this book, acclaimed journalist Lawrence Pintak scrutinizes America's relationship with Islam since its foundation. Casting Donald Trump as a symptom of decades of misunderstanding and demonization of the Islamic world, as well as a cause of future tensions, Pintak shows how and why America's relationship with the world's largest religion has been so fractious, damaging, and self-defeating.

In spring 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned to his friend and army commander, Manaf Tlass, for advice about how to respond to Arab Spring-inspired protests. Tlass pushed for conciliation but Assad decided to crush the uprising, an act that would catapult the country into an eight-year-long war, killing almost half a million Syrians and fueling terrorism and a global refugee crisis. Assad or We Burn the Country examines Syria’s tragedy through the generational saga of the Assad and Tlass families, once deeply intertwined—and now estranged—in Bashar’s bloody quest to preserve his father’s inheritance. By drawing on his own reporting experience in Damascus and exclusive interviews with Tlass, Dagher takes readers inside palace walls to reveal the family behind the destruction of a country and the chaos of an entire region.

On June 18, 2019 Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) held an event titled “The Kushner Plan and the Bahrain Economic Workshop: An Official Palestinian Perspective,” at the National Press Club with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, who is a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, a Palestinian legislator, human rights activist, and scholar.

Arab Center Washington DC (ACW) hosted a panel discussion at the National Press Club titled “The Future of Libya: Between Internal Rivalry, Regional Influence, and US Policy.” The speakers were Karim Mezran, Director and Resident Senior Fellow, North Africa Initiative of the Atlantic Council; Najla El Mangoush, Graduate Lecturer at George Mason University and Adjunct Faculty member at Northern Virginia Community College; Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Non-resident Senior Fellow at ACW and Baker Institute Fellow for the Middle East, Rice University; and Federica Saini Fasanotti (via video-conference), Non-resident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution and Senior Associate Research Fellow, Italian Institute for International Political Studies. ACW Executive Director Khalil Jahshan served as moderator.