1. Conferences and debates

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Syria: Prospects ten years after the outbreak of revolution

Published at 10 11,,, 21 2021

On Tuesday, March 16, we will be showing the eleventh conference in our event series Aula Árabe Universitaria 2, given by the director of the Arab Center for Political Research and Studies of Paris (CAREP), Salam Kawakibi, on our YouTube channel. The war against Syria’s civilian population has been ongoing since 2011, and its impact is profound. Although it is impossible to provide exact figures, the toll has been devastating: it has caused the death of half a million human beings, the destruction of 60% of all infrastructures and the disability of 1.5 million people, with another 200 thousand people in jails and arbitrary detention centers, the internal displacement of half of the country’s inhabitants and the exile of more than six million to different countries in the neighboring region. Although the violence has decreased over the last two years, the situation persists. However, neither the humanitarian catastrophe nor the Syrian people’s demands appear in the headlines anymore. The consequences of this conflict are enormous in terms of international security, and the role of regional and international role-players is undeniable in the Syrian disaster. Within this context, what prospects are there for a potential solution? Casa Árabe has organized this conference given by Salam Kawakibi, a researcher in Political Science and International Relations. It is the eleventh session in the Aula Árabe Universitaria 2 (AAU2) program, offered with the cooperation of the Master’s degree program in International Relations and African Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). The session will be introduced by Itziar Ruiz-Giménez Arrieta, coordinator of the Master’s Degree program in International Relations and African Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and is moderated by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator. Salam Kawakibi co-founded the organization The Day After: Supporting a Democratic Transition in Syria (www.tda-sy.org). He is a senior researcher at the University of Saint Andrews’ Centre for Syrian Studies, a co-founder and member of the advisory board of the Mediterranean Citizens Assembly Foundation (MCAF) (www.fundacionacm.org), a member of the board of the Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab World and Mediterranean in Paris, and a member of the scientific committee of Confluences, a Parisian journal which focuses on the Mediterranean region. From 2009 to 2011, Kawakibi was the head researcher at the University of Amsterdam’s Department of Political Science. Prior to that, from 2000 to 2006, he was director of the Institut Français du Proche-Orient in Aleppo. He earned his Advanced Studies Diploma (DEA) in Political Science from the Aix-En-Provence Institute of Political Studies and another in International Relations from the University of Aleppo, as well as his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Aleppo. He has had numerous articles and essays published in specialized journals and various works in Arabic, French, Spanish, German and Turkish. More info: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/syria-prospects-ten-years-after-the-outbreak-of-revolution Photo: Anthony Gale on Flickr

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(FRANÇAIS) 26/10 - PROGRAMME RAISA "Différentes mais égales"

(FRANÇAIS) 26/10 - PROGRAMME RAISA "Différentes mais égales" Casa Árabe is hosting a meeting of the “Raisa” program, organized by the Women for Africa Foundation on 26 and 29 October at its headquarters in Madrid. It will be bringing together 20 women leaders from African and Mediterranean countries. Women are diverse in general. So are their approaches, perspectives and demands, and above all the environments in which they live, and this inevitably affects their thinking and actions. But there are many things which, despite physical distance, different cultures, beliefs and situations, unite all committed women. Of course, we all want the inequality gap separating men and women to close, and for women to achieve a status of full citizenship all over the world. As part of the “Raisa” program promoted by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (MAEUEC), which is bringing 20 women leaders from 20 African and Mediterranean countries to Spain, the Women for Africa Foundation is carrying out an activity titled ”Different But Equal.” In this frank, open dialogue with Spanish women who are outstanding in their professions or fields of activity on the keys to their diversity and similarity, they will be presenting their own conclusions to us at Casa Árabe on Tuesday, October 26 at 3:30 p.m. This meeting of the “Raisa” program will also be ending at Casa Árabe on Friday, October 29, at 11:30 a.m. at an event where these 20 leading women will discuss the image they have of our country. Further information: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/different-but-equal

Published at 30 27,,, 21 2021
(FRANÇAIS) 29/10 - PROGRAMME RAISA "Différentes mais égales"

(FRANÇAIS) 29/10 - PROGRAMME RAISA "Différentes mais égales" Casa Árabe is hosting a meeting of the “Raisa” program, organized by the Women for Africa Foundation on 26 and 29 October at its headquarters in Madrid. It will be bringing together 20 women leaders from African and Mediterranean countries. Women are diverse in general. So are their approaches, perspectives and demands, and above all the environments in which they live, and this inevitably affects their thinking and actions. But there are many things which, despite physical distance, different cultures, beliefs and situations, unite all committed women. Of course, we all want the inequality gap separating men and women to close, and for women to achieve a status of full citizenship all over the world. As part of the “Raisa” program promoted by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (MAEUEC), which is bringing 20 women leaders from 20 African and Mediterranean countries to Spain, the Women for Africa Foundation is carrying out an activity titled ”Different But Equal.” In this frank, open dialogue with Spanish women who are outstanding in their professions or fields of activity on the keys to their diversity and similarity, they will be presenting their own conclusions to us at Casa Árabe on Tuesday, October 26 at 3:30 p.m. This meeting of the “Raisa” program will also be ending at Casa Árabe on Friday, October 29, at 11:30 a.m. at an event where these 20 leading women will discuss the image they have of our country. Further information: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/different-but-equal

Published at 29 27,,, 21 2021
(ENGLISH) 29/10 - RAISA PROGRAM "Different but equal"

(ENGLISH) 29/10 - RAISA PROGRAM "Different but equal" Casa Árabe is hosting a meeting of the “Raisa” program, organized by the Women for Africa Foundation on 26 and 29 October at its headquarters in Madrid. It will be bringing together 20 women leaders from African and Mediterranean countries. Women are diverse in general. So are their approaches, perspectives and demands, and above all the environments in which they live, and this inevitably affects their thinking and actions. But there are many things which, despite physical distance, different cultures, beliefs and situations, unite all committed women. Of course, we all want the inequality gap separating men and women to close, and for women to achieve a status of full citizenship all over the world. As part of the “Raisa” program promoted by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation (MAEUEC), which is bringing 20 women leaders from 20 African and Mediterranean countries to Spain, the Women for Africa Foundation is carrying out an activity titled ”Different But Equal.” In this frank, open dialogue with Spanish women who are outstanding in their professions or fields of activity on the keys to their diversity and similarity, they will be presenting their own conclusions to us at Casa Árabe on Tuesday, October 26 at 3:30 p.m. This meeting of the “Raisa” program will also be ending at Casa Árabe on Friday, October 29, at 11:30 a.m. at an event where these 20 leading women will discuss the image they have of our country. Further information: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/different-but-equal

Published at 29 27,,, 21 2021
Mesa redonda multisectorial: Cómo beneficiarse del potencial económico de Túnez

El pasado mes de junio organizamos esta jornada online para empresas sobre el potencial de Túnez en distintos sectores de interés, en particular el agroalimentario y las energías renovables. Pese a años complicados de transición política y económica, a los que se ha venido a unir el impacto del covid y la crisis económica mundial, Túnez es un país que presenta buenas expectativas de estabilidad política y un incipiente crecimiento económico, que sería importante consolidar. En la actualidad, España es el cuarto proveedor europeo del país (la UE en su conjunto es origen del 52% de las importaciones tunecinas), tras Italia, Francia y Alemania, y el séptimo global, con una cuota del 4,11% (ficha país MAUC, 11/04/21), además de cuarto cliente, con también un 4,0% de cuota de las exportaciones tunecinas, tras Francia, Italia y Alemania. Si las relaciones comerciales podrían tener todavía mucho margen de crecimiento, las inversiones podrían igualmente presentar resultados más positivos en ambas direcciones. Con los últimos datos disponibles de 2018, España fue el 10º país inversor en términos de flujo, representando sólo un 1,1% de la IDE total en el país (excluida la energía), aunque en términos de stock se sitúa en la cuarta posición. En este sentido, las relaciones económicas entre ambos países presentan un importante potencial de crecimiento en distintos sectores, como el agroalimentario, las renovables, el sector automovilístico y el farmacéutico, entre otros, en los que Túnez quiere posicionarse y ha puesto en marcha importantes planes de desarrollo y donde las empresas españolas tienen experiencia y son competitivas a nivel mundial. Este potencial de mutuo interés fue analizado en la mesa redonda online organizada por Casa Árabe con la Agencia para la Promoción de las Inversiones Tunecina (FIPA) y en colaboración con el Icex y la Cámara Oficial de Comercio, Industria y Servicios de Madrid. La jornada explora el potencial de desarrollo en general de distintos sectores para centrarse luego en las posibilidades que ofrece el sector agroalimentario, productos biológicos y ecológicos, así como las energías renovables en Túnez, de la mano de las agencias de desarrollo sectorial del país. Tras las mismas se exponen algunos casos de éxito, con la participación de empresas españolas con inversiones y proyectos en Túnez. La clausura corrió a cargo del embajador de España en Túnez, Guillermo Ardizone García, y la inauguración la realizó el director general de Economía Pública del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación, Luis Óscar Moreno García-Cano, junto al director general de FIPA, Abdelbasset Ghanmi, y la embajadora de Túnez en España, Fatma Omrani Chargui. Más información: https://www.casaarabe.es/eventos-arabes/show/mesa-redonda-multisectorial-como-beneficiarse-del-potencial-economico-de-tunez

Published at 05 25,,, 21 2021
Qatar: Middle power and mediator

Casa Árabe has invited Neil Quilliam (Chatham House), Andreas Krieg (King's College London), and Emma Soubrier (George Washington University), to analyze the emirate’s current role, at a conference to be held on October 18. You will be able to watch the conference live on YouTube. Despite Qatar’s small size, covering less than 12,000 square kilometers, its geostrategic position has made it a key role-player in the Gulf. Economically powerful, Qatar is also vulnerable, though, as one of the least populated countries in the region. After the Arab Spring, all of the Gulf monarchies were forced to rethink their foreign policies, choosing to protect themselves from the winds of change blowing through the Middle East and North Africa. Doha took advantage of this situation to increase its presence and influence in the Arab regional arena by taking on a more active and independent role. This shift from its role as a mediator to an active role also meant expanding the soft power tools that had characterized its action abroad, including mediation in conflicts and the international outreach of the Al Jazeera channel, factors which have contributed to strengthening its international image while raising its prestige. Consequently, “the modern state of Qatar” conceived by Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in 1995 has led the small emirate to become a state with a global reputation, a wide range of interests and investments, and powerful global allies. It is now able to exercise significant regional influence and mediate in complex conflicts, as it recently did between the Taliban in Afghanistan and the United States. The talk between the experts will be moderated by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe's International Relations Coordinator, and will be conducted in English with simultaneous interpretation. Neil Quilliam is an associate fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House. At the same institution, he has worked as a senior research fellow on the project "Future Dynamics in the Gulf" (2016-2019), and he directed the project "Syria and Its Neighbours" (2014-2017). He has been a MENA region energy advisor at the UK Foreign Office, an analyst at Control Risks in London and a program officer at the United Nations University in Amman. Neil has lived in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, and he has travelled extensively throughout the MENA region, working on a variety of projects in development, education and research. He has published several books and articles on international relations and the political economics of Syria, Jordan, Iraq and the Gulf Cooperation Council states. Andreas Krieg is a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, Royal College of Defence Studies and fellow at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies. He has spent more than ten years living, studying and working across the MENA region. Andreas was able to complement his years in the Levant, i.e. Lebanon, Syria, Israel and Palestine, with four years in Qatar where he was involved in delivering a strategic contract between the State of Qatar, the UK Ministry of Defence and King’s College London. In his research Andreas looks at violent non-state actors in the MENA region and their competition with state authority to provide communal resilience. From his research on the Gulf Divide, sprung the idea of his current project looking at the internal and external weaponization of narratives in the Middle East, which has not only distorted civil-societal discourse in the region but also the academic debate on where the region is going. He edited the book "Divided Gulf. The Anatomy of a Crisis" (2019). Emma Soubrier is a professorial lecturer and a visiting scholar at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, where her class focuses on U.S. policy in the Gulf. She is also a non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Her research focuses on the security strategies and foreign policies of the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, particularly the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, and the political economy of arms trade in the Gulf. Her work looks to promote a renewed approach to security that includes human dimensions, particularly societal security and environmental security). Her forthcoming book, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates: Diverging Paths to Regional and Global Power (Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2022), is based on her PhD thesis, which received a Dissertation Award from the Institute for Higher National Defense Studies (France) in 2018. Further information: https://en.casaarabe.es/event/qatar-middle-power-and-mediator Photo: Doha (Canva)

Published at 52 14,,, 21 2021