Only until a few months ago the Middle East had been said to be widely 'democracy-resistant'. Any attempts to promote a democratization of the authoritarian regimes in the region from the outside seemed futile. However, these assumptions were shattered during the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, just as the well-established regimes in these countries.
On the occasion of the "Arab Spring", PRIF's 2011 Annual Conference evaluates international democracy promotion in general and asks for opportunities and limitations of external support for a political change in North Africa and the Middle East.
Speakers:
Prof. Dr. Harald Müller, Executive Director, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt
Lothar Quanz, Hessian State Parliament
Dr. Hans-Joachim Spanger, Head of Research Department 'Governance and Societal Peace', Peace Research Institute Frankfurt
Dr. Jonas Wolff, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Merkel, Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB)
Dr. Ernst Kerbusch, Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES)
Dr. Muriel Asseburg, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (German Institute for International and Security Affairs - SWP)
Prof. Dr. Oliver Schlumberger, Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen
Ambassador Volkmar Wenzel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Berlin, Head of Department for Democracy and Change in the Arab World (requested)
Please note that the conference language will be German.