The project, which came about through the Spanish government’s desire to relaunch its commitment to the Euro-Mediterranean and Euro-Arab regions, fits in with Casa Árabe’s mission to offer spaces for debate, dialogue and thought in order to strengthen the political and sociocultural links which unite Europe and the Arab world, as well as exploring migratory phenomena and the new plural societies to which they give rise.

An open society is characterized by having a flexible structure in which freedom of belief is enshrined and there is widespread dissemination of information. At present, the advancement of populist movements in democratic societies, violent extremisms and exclusionary ideologies, as well as the advent of the “post-truth” in the world of information, are all creating major challenges for open societies. It is essential to begin debating and promoting dialogue on topics which affect the present and future, which can often be done by analyzing our past.

As highlighted in the prologue by the event series’ co-directors, Domènec Ruiz-Devesa and Pedro Martínez-Avial: “Taken as a whole, the chapters gathered in this volume provide wide-ranging material for reflection by groups, politicians and individual citizens about such fundamental questions as who we are and who we have been in the past. It is a starting point which helps us breach the imaginary gap existing between East and West in both past and present.”

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