Casa Árabe and the publishing firm Los Libros de la Catarata have organized this conference, which will deal with the current state of the popular movements in the Arab countries, as well as the expansion of “Daesh,” or the Islamic State.

It will includes talks by Reem Khalifa, an activist and founder of the newspaper Al Wasat in Bahrain; Javier Martín, delegate of the Efe Press Agency in North Africa and author de “Estado Islámico: Geopolítica del caos” (“Islamic State: Geopolitics of chaos”) and David Perejil, a journalist and the editor of “¿Qué queda de las revueltas árabes?: Activistas, cambios y claves” (“What Is Left of the Arab Uprisings?: Activists, changes and essentials”). The event is presented by Karim Hauser, who is responsible for the Governance Area at Casa Árabe.

The outbreak of the Arab uprisings in 2011 has gradually been replaced by wars and Jihadist attacks and has now almost vanished off the radar, at least in the main media. However, the demands for social justice made in what is known as the Arab Spring are far from being satisfied. Moreover, the frustration created by the revolutions’ failure has accelerated a return by old ghosts in the region: the uprise of the so-called Islamic State, dictatorships and military interventions.

Understanding the different realities from Rabat to Damascus requires an analysis of the changing geopolitics in the region, while also taking into account the demands of activists, needed to do away with the old systems that have dominated politics in this part of the world.