Casa Árabe Organizes Two Seminars in Washington D.C.

At The Brookings Institution, on Sectarianism in the Middle East, and at American University’s School of International Service (SIS), regarding the Legacy of Al-Andalus.

As a part of Casa Árabe’s strategy to take part in global analyses regarding the contemporary Arab world, the institution organized two activities in the capital of the United States. The first took place on April 7 at The Brookings Institution, a world-class think-tank at the cutting edge of analysis on international relations. On the occasion of the recent publication of Awraq No. 8, Sunnis and Shiites: Political Interpretations of a Religious Dichotomy, Casa Árabe and The Saban Center for Middle East Policy organized a seminar on Sectarianism in the Middle East, which was divided into three panels.

The welcoming speech was given by Tamara Cofman Wittes, Director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, followed by the intervention of Eduardo López Busquets, General Director of Casa Árabe, who praised transatlantic cooperation and explained Casa Árabe’s privileged position in being able to help deal with complex problems such as sectarianism.

The first round table discussion, which focused on new sectarianism, with moderation by Tamara Cofman Wittes, gave rise to the speeches by Barah Mikaïl, a senior researcher for FRIDE, and William McCants, a specialist from the Saban Center.

The second session, which focused on the balance of power between Saudi Arabia and Iran, was moderated by Karim Hauser (Casa Árabe) and included participation by Fatiha Dazi-Héni (Institut Politique de Lille), Frederic Wehrey (Carnegie Endowment) and Suzanne Maloney (Saban Center).
 
Geneive Abdo (Stimson Center) then presented her research on the role of Salafists, before moving on to the third panel, which was dedicated to sectarianism in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Moderated by Daniel Byman (Saban Center), the speakers were Bilal Saab (Atlantic Council), Steve Heydemann (United States Institute of Peace) and Kenneth Pollack (Saban Center). The day’s activities were attended by a large number of other specialists and were characterized by top-level, highly informed debate.
 
The next day, Eduardo López Busquets was invited to give a conference on Casa Árabe’s role and the legacy of Al-Andalus at American University’s School of International Service (SIS) in Washington. There, Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Director of the Ibn Khaldun Professorship for Islamic Studies, presented his project of studying the Islamic presence in Europe, in which Casa Árabe will play a strategic role in terms of field research.

In summary, these are two activities at which American institutions acknowledged the importance of Europe, and Spain in particular, in achieving a greater understanding and furthering dialogue with the Arab and Muslim world.