1. Conferences and debates

Index / Videos / Aula Árabe 3.17. Quo Vadis, Lebanon?

Aula Árabe 3.17. Quo Vadis, Lebanon? Play

Aula Árabe 3.17. Quo Vadis, Lebanon?

Published at 46 30,,, 22 2022
Next Tuesday, April 5, this conference will be held at Casa Árabe’s headquarters in Madrid and on our YouTube channel (in Spanish and English). It will be given by Karim Bitar, a researcher at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques and is taking part within the framework of the Aula Árabe Universitaria program. Going from bad to worse, Lebanon has been plunged into one crisis after another since 2020: from the financial sector, due to major depreciation by the Lebanese pound and hyperinflation, to the weakened humanitarian aid sector. Added to the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic was the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut, which killed 250 people and wiped out important port infrastructures. With the current war in Ukraine, the wheat imports on which the Lebanese depend to survive will most likely lead to a rise in hunger rates. Over half of the country has fallen below the poverty line, and 20% live in extreme poverty. The parliamentary elections to be held on May 15, 2022 are viewed as anopportunity to respond to the year 2019 protests, which demanded an end to ruleby the political elites who have run the country since the end of the civil war andsunk it into the current state of crisis. Despite the people’s protests, however, thereligious party-based regime has resisted yielding power and continues its fight toremain in place. Observers warn of high levels of corruption and manipulation in an atmosphere of chaos and illegitimacy, exacerbated by international pressures not to postpone the election. Within this context, the likelihood of a post-election debacle resulting in major difficulties is very high. This session of Aula Árabe Universitaria is being held with the cooperation of the Master’s degree program in Political Science and Public Affairs at Saint Louis University’s Madrid campus. The event will be presented by Barah Mikaïl, director of the Political Science and International Relations program at Saint Louis University, and moderated by Karim Hauser, Casa Árabe’s International Relations Coordinator. Karim Bitar is a researcher at the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS) in Paris and editor of the French monthly magazine L’ENA hors les murs. He is an associate member of the Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) and an associate researcher at the Institut Medea in Brussels. He is a professor of International Relations and History of Political Thought at several universities. He also frequently testifies before the Foreign Affairs Committees of the French and European Parliaments. He has authored various chapters and articles in Le Monde diplomatique, Libération, Le Monde, Informed Comment, Atlantico, La Vanguardia, An Nahar, L’Orient-Le Jour, etc., as well as editing and co-writing the collective book Regards sur la France, in which 30 personages from around the world analyze France’s strengths and weaknesses. Foto: Gregor Enste ( Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung en Flickr)

ALL VIDEOS IN THIS CATEGORY

  • (FRANÇAIS) 29/10 - PROGRAMME RAISA "Différentes mais égales"Show video

    (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"Show video

    (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 TúnezShow video

    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 mediatorShow video

    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
  • (FRANÇAIS) 5th Annual Forum of the MedThink 5+5 network - 14 Octobre 13:00hShow video

    (FRANÇAIS) 5th Annual Forum of the MedThink 5+5 network - 14 Octobre 13:00h

    Se plaçant dans le contexte de la co-présidence espagnole 2021 du Dialogue 5+5 et se basant sur la Déclaration de Tunis adoptée le 22 octobre 2020 lors de la 16e réunion des ministres des Affaires étrangères du Dialogue 5+5, l’Institut européen de la Méditerranée (IEMed) et l’Union pour la Méditerranée (UpM) organisent le 5e forum annuel du réseau MedThink 5+5 en partenariat avec Casa Árabe à Madrid, en Espagne. PROGRAMME Jeudi 14 octobre 9h 30 Session « Assurer la sécurité de l’eau pour un futur durable : les défis de la gestion intégrée de l’eau en Méditerranée occidentale » Présidence Octavi Quintana, directeur du Secrétariat, Fondation PRIMA Intervenants Alain Meyssonnier, président, Institut méditerranéen de l’Eau (IME) Ramiro Martínez Costa, coordinateur général, Réseau méditerranéen des organismes de bassin (MENBO). Coordinateur de la Stratégie de l’eau en Méditerranée occidentale Mosbah Helali, président directeur général, Société Nationale d’Exploitation et de Distribution des Eaux (SONEDE). Président du Comité directeur, Association des Services d’eau des pays arabes (ACWUA) Maroua Oueslati, responsable de projet et de l’information, Système Euro-Méditerranéen d’Information sur les savoir-faire dans le Domaine de l’Eau (SEMIDE/EMWIS) Commentaires Francisco Pedrero Salcedo, chercheur senior, CEBAS-CSIC. Ancien coordinateur, Réseau des jeunes méditerranéens pour l’eau (MedYWat) 11h 30 Session « Vers des villes intelligentes en Méditerranée occidentale : exploiter le potentiel de la transformation numérique pour un développement urbain durable » Présidence Carmen Magariños, directrice de la coopération avec l’Afrique et l’Asie, Agence espagnole de coopération internationale pour le développement (AECID) Intervenants Cecilio Cerdán, directeur général en charge de la coopération et de la citoyenneté globale, Municipalité de Madrid Borhene Dhaouadi, président, Tunisian Smart Cities Aawatif Hayar, présidente, Université Hassan II de Casablanca Victoria Jiménez, responsable de secteur Développement urbain, Secrétariat de l’Union pour la Méditerranée (UpM) Commentaires Oriol Barba, directeur, MedCités 13h 00 Remarques de conclusion et clôture Isidro González, secrétaire général adjoint, Union pour la Méditerranée (UpM) Roger Albinyana, directeur général, Institut européen de la Méditerranée (IEMed) Cristina Juarranz, directrice adjointe, Casa Árabe Pour plus d'information (en anglais): https://en.casaarabe.es/event/5th-annual-forum-of-the-medthink-5-5-network
    Published at 11 14,,, 21 2021