Middle East and North Africa Archives | Page 2 of 2

Regions

AnalysesMiddle East and North Africa

The connection between religion and violence has long been seen as a political and sociological certainty. In recent decades, particularly after the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution and the September 11, 2001 attacks, religions have returned to the center of the international political stage, and not always for the right reasons. Examples abound: conflicts in Bosnia, Algeria, Kashmir, Palestine, and Sudan; as well as violent Islamism, Hindu nationalism, the Christian Evangelical right, and extremist Jewish parties. The return of religion to international politics has been linked to the broader theme of identity politics. Religions have often been considered an emblematic case of the encroachment of irrationality into international security.

Videos Middle East and North Africa

Ruth Hanau Santini, associate professor of Politics and International relations at the University of Naples L’Orientale, discusses how Tunisia’s democratic backslide stemmed from unimplemented reforms and an elite-driven process that sidelined public trust. These issues ultimately paved the way for populist influence, culminating in Tunisia’s current political crisis.

ConveningMiddle East and North Africa

December

2023

Palermo, Italy

The conference will examine why democracy has struggled to take root in the Arab world: historical factors such as the consequences of oil resources, autocratic regimes, the inability to effectively implement economic reforms, the historical legacy of the alliance with the Soviet Union and the effects of colonialism, and in more recent times the negative parabola of the “Arab Springs” and in particular the failure of the compromise between Islamic and secular political forces that had made possible the beginning of a democratic path for Tunisia, now dominated by an autocratic power that arrests opponents.