During the event, Momani will be accompanied by Haizam Amirah Fernández, main researcher for the Mediterranean and Arab World at the Real Instituto Elcano, and Leila Nachawati, a professor of Communication at the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid and co-founder of the portal Syria Untold. The event will be presented by Karim Hauser, who is responsible for the Governance Area at Casa Árabe.

Though it may seem implausible to some readers, despite the wave of negative news reaching us from the Middle East and North Africa, many youths who went out in the streets to demonstrate in 2011 continue to campaign for change. Their efforts seldom make it into the Western news, but there are stories which demonstrate the will of these generations to continue transforming the societies in which they live, from Saudi women publishing YouTube videos of themselves driving in Riyadh to an Egyptian television star exposing cultural hypocrisy by using hidden cameras.

They are much less dramatic stories than the downfall of a dictator at the hands of the raging masses, but they may end up having a greater social impact. Though the wars in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq lead some to see nothing but a lost generation, the Arab world today is an undeniable source of creativity. In her book Arab Dawn, Momani challenges negative stereotypes of the region and proposes a series of positive changes, as well as discussing the hidden potential of Arab youths.