Current Affairs
Lindsey Hilsum, Eugene Rogan and David Aaronovitch .
Chaired by Munir Majid
Syria and the Arab Spring
5:00pm | Saturday 15 September 2012Tickets: | Duration: | Venue: |
£N/A | 1 Hour | St Mary Magdalene Church |
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This was an Oxford Literary Festival 2012 Event.
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We have a reputation for covering issues of international significance. A year ago a distinguished panel of speakers debated the ‘Arab Spring’ and asked what to expect from the pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa. One year on and what has happened to the Arab Spring? Is there a transition to democracy and lasting peace or has the promise failed to materialise?
World attention has turned to rapidly changing events in Syria. What are the political consequences of a fall of the Assad dynasty? What government might fill the power vacuum in a post-Assad era – secular, Islamist or coalition, and what are the likely geopolitical consequences? Should the West intervene in Syria and, if so, what form should this take?
These and other questions will be debated by our distinguished panel, Dr Eugene Rogan, director of The Middle East Centre, St Antony’s College, Oxford , and author of The Arabs: A History; David Aaronovitch writer, broadcaster and commentator; and Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News international editor and author of Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution. Discussions will be chaired by writer-scholar Dr Munir Majid, author of 9/11 and the Attack on Muslims, holder of top positions in the Malaysian public and private sectors over the past 33 years, and presently visiting senior fellow at LSE IDEAS (Centre for International Affairs, Diplomacy and Strategy).