Five round tables will gather experts from different countries and with various approaches that will analyse the events which has been taking place in the Arab countries for the last months.

This event seeks to bring together actors and leaders of these dynamic civil societies, whilst also taking stock of opinions from regional analysts. The aim is to exchange views and ideas about the main challenges of the upcoming period. Our wish is to create a forum for open dialogue, in which the Arab world takes centre stage.

This workshop will take place at Madrid’s French Institute [Institut Français de Madrid] (c/ Marqués de la Ensenada, 12), Tuesday May 3rd, from 16.00 to 20.00; Wednesday 4th, from 9.00 to 14.30. Free entrance prior to registration through mail printempsarabe@institut-francais.es. Please specify your name and the round-tables you’re interested in. Simultaneous translation will be available. More information: +34 91 423 89 72.

PROGRAMME

Tuesday, May 3rd 2011

16h00: Inaugural session - Mr. Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo García, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Latin America.

16h30 – 18h00: Round-table 1 – Origins and specificities of the Arab revolutions – The role of the Arab youth.

With Bertrand Badie, Professor of International Relations at Sciences Po Paris; Abdelwahab Meddeb, Professor of comparative literature (Europe/Islam) in the University Paris Ouest/ Nanterre, writer, essayist and presenter of Cultures d’islam (France Culture); Gema Martín Muñoz, Professor of sociology of the Arab-Islamic world at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Director General of Casa Arabe; Mahmoud Saber, blogger, actor of the Egyptian revolution and Ghassan Salamé, Lebanese political expert, director of research at the National Centre of Scientific Research, and professor at Sciences Po Paris. Moderates Rafael Panadero Carnavilla, International Director of information, Cadena SER.

18h30-20h00: Round-table 2 – Censorship and resistance: the role of Medias in the Arab uprising.

Participation of “Cyber-militants”, journalists from Egypt and Tunisia and AlJazeera; Mohammed Al-Oifi, Professor at Sciences Po Paris, expert in Arab Medias and Gerald Sapey, Interational President of Reporters Sans Frontières. Moderates Javier Valenzuela, journalist, El Pais.

Wednesday, May 4th 2011:

09h00 – 10h30: Round-table 3 – Perspectives for democracy and peace in the region; the awakening of civil society, the role of the army, political parties, Islam, and the new regional order. 

Participate Abd al-Monem Abo Al-Fotouh, Representative of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt; Najib Abu-Warda, Professor of International Law and International Relations at the Complutense University of Madrid; Alaa Ali-Din Arafat, expert in international relations, Centre d'Études et de Documentation Économiques, Juridiques et Sociales (CEDEJ, Le Caire); Sana Ben Achour, Professor of public law at Tunis Law and Politics Faculty; Driss El Yazami, President of the National Council for Human Rights, Morocco and Olivier Roy, Director of research at the National Centre for Scientific Research; Associate Professor at the Ecole de Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Moderates Iñaki Gil, Deputy Director, El Mundo.

11h00 – 12h30: Round-table 4 – Women in the Arab Spring. 

With Abd Al-Karim Al-Eryani, ex Prime Minister of Yemen; Lamis Andoni, journalist, Al-Jazeera; Asma Khader, lawyer, ex-Minister of Culture, Kingdom of Jordan and Amina Lemrini, member of the Women’s Democratic Association of Morocco. Moderates Mrs. Lola Bañon, journalist, writer, Vice-president of the « Women Artists’s Platform Against Gender Violence ». 

13h00 – 14h30: Round-table 5 – In the face of a new Mediterranean order, what can and should the European Union do?

With Gustavo de Arístegui, Diplomat, Member of the Spanish Parliament (Partido Popular); Pascal Boniface, Director of Institute of International and Strategic Research (IRIS); François Burgat, Director of the Institut Français du Proche-Orient; Driss Khrouz, Director of the National Library of Morocco; Andreu Claret, Executive Director of Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for intercultural dialogue and Miguel Angel Moratinos, ex-Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain. Moderates: Cristina Manzano, Deputy-Director, FRIDE.