The Arab Uprisings One Year Later: Examining the Possibilities and Risks

The Hilton Singapore, Ballroom, Level 3

To read the abstract for a talk, click on the speaker’s name.

THURSDAY, MAY 24

8:45                   Registration, reception and coffee

9:15                   Participants seated

9:30—9:45       Guest of Honor arrival and introductory remarks: Professor Michael Hudson, Middle East Institute Director

9:45—10:00    Welcome address: Mr. Masagos Zulkifli, Singapore’s Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs

10:00—11:30   Panel I: Explanations: Governance, Economics and Society

Chair: Mr. Anthony Teo, Management Board Member, Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, and Advisor, Special Projects, President’s Office, Nanyang Technological University

Anton Minkov and Peter Tikuisis: Analysis of Popular Unrest and Political Outcomes: The Political and Socio-Economic Origins of the Arab Spring

James L. Gelvin: What History Explains: The Arab World at the Intersection of the National and Transnational

Dina Hosni: From Silence to Action: The Egyptian Revolution and the Rise of “Islamist” Youth as a Subculture

11:30—11:45  Coffee/tea break

11:45—1:15    Panel II: Explanations: The Global Context

Chair: Professor Prasenjit Duara, Raffles Professor of Humanities and Director, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore

Donnacha Ó Beacháin & Abel Polese: Mapping the Revolutions: Locating the Arab Spring in Current Protest Tends

Mark Farha: The Arab Revolts: Local, Regional and Global Catalysts and Consequences

Erin Snider: Aiding the Revolution or the Status Quo? Reconsidering Western Aid for Democracy in the Middle East after the Arab Spring

1:15—2:45      Lunch and Performance by Evergreen Secondary School

2:45—4:15      Panel III: Network Effects: Media and Social Communication

Chair: Dr. Fahed al-Sumait, Research Fellow, Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, and Assistant Professor of Communication, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait

Adel Iskandar: Free at Last? Fourth Estate Flourishes and Falters in the Arab Spring

Silvana Toska, Shaomei Wu, Noona Oh: Using Twitter to Predict and Track Protest Diffusion in North Africa and the Middle East

Ryan Calder: Acting Like a State: Media Centers as Informational Embassies of the Arab Spring

4:15—4:30      Coffee/tea break

4:30—6:00      Panel IV: Cross-national Perspectives and Reciprocal Relations

Chair: Ambassador Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Rector, Tembusu College, University Town, National University of Singapore

Leila Piran: The Impact of the Arab Uprisings on Iranian Politics

Nazry Bahrawi: Let a Hundred Flowers Blossom: From the Jasmine Revolution to the Quiet Springs of ASEAN

Anat Goldman: Rothschild Corner of Tahrir  - The Arab Spring and the Israeli #J14 Social Protest: Inspiration and Implications

FRIDAY, MAY 25

8:45                  Registration and coffee

9:30—11:00    Panel V: Case Studies I

Chair: Dr. Hooman Peimani, Principal Fellow and Head, Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore

Leon Goldsmith: Resilience of Alawite ‘Asabiyya and Implications for the Syrian Uprising

Stephan Rosiny: Power Sharing in Fragmented Societies: Lessons from Lebanon and Iraq for the “Arab Spring” in Syria and Bahrain

11:00—11:15   Coffee/tea break

11:15—12:45   Panel VI: Case Studies II

Chair: Professor Peter Sluglett, Visiting Research Professor, Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, and President-Elect, Middle East Studies Association (MESA)

Lilia Labidi: Gender Parity and the Tunisian Elections

Nouri Gana: Dissident Tunisia: Mapping and Remapping the Tunisian Revolution

Lars Berger: From Tahrir Square to Dakhliyya Square – The Role of Identity in Shaping Jordanian Perceptions of and Reactions to the Arab Spring

12:45—2:15    Lunch and Performance by Pei Tong Primary School

2:15—3:45      Panel VII: Implications for the Regional and Global System

Chair: Dr. Matthew Weiss, Research Fellow, Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore

Raymond Hinnebusch: The Arab Uprising and Regional Alignments

Ergun Özbudun: The Turkish Experience in Constitution-Making: Relevance for the Arab World?

Kelsey V. Lundgren: Unintended Consequences of the Arab Uprisings: The Rise of Xenophobia Against, and New Protection Concerns for, Asylum-seekers and Refugees in the Middle East

3:45—4:00      Coffee/tea break

4:00—5:50      Panel VIII: The Future of the Arab Uprisings

Chair: Mr. Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman, Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore, and Chairman, Shell Companies in Singapore

Hussin Mutalib: Governance in the Post-“Arab Spring” Era: Modeling Options and Future Challenges

Robert Bianchi: The Future of the Arab Uprisings

Abdelilah Bouasria: The Arab Spring: When Imperialism Goes Green

Larbi Sadiki: The Arab Spring: Reclaiming Peoplehood

5:50—6:30      Keynote Address: Rami Khouri, Director of the Issam Fares Institute, American University of Beirut

6:30—6:45      Closing remarks and thanks