Middle East and North Africa Program

Three years after South Sudan’s peaceful secession, an internal power struggle has turned into a wildfire. Meanwhile, armed conflicts in Sudan continue. A joint symposium by the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) and Media in Cooperation and Transition (MICT) analyzed the situation and discussed policy recommendations.

Twenty young researchers, media practitioners, policy makers, and civil society representatives from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Turkey, and Europe gathered for the 19th New Faces conference in Rabat on November 15–17, 2013 to discuss current developments in the areas of media and freedom of expression. Four plenary sessions featured experts such as historian Maâti Monjib (Mohammed V University, Rabat) and the journalist and media expert Fatima el-Issawi (LSE).

What will become of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt? Is there still a genuine desire for change in North Africa’s streets, squares, and Internet forums? Will countries take the time they need to craft solid constitutions? Summer School participants from North Africa, Turkey, and Europe took a close look at specific political and economic developments in Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco, and also discussed the geopolitical implications of current events in the region.

Some 50 participants and speakers from over ten countries met in Berlin as part of the DGAP’s EU-Middle East Forum. During the two-week program, they examined the political restructurings underway in Tunisia, Egypt, and Libya, discussed the constitution-drafting process and the potential of social participation, and debated the political role of the military and of Islam. They also explored what these upheavals mean for the rest of the region and how external actors should respond.

Etwa 50 Teilnehmer und Referenten aus über zehn Ländern versammelt das EU-Middle East Forum der DGAP für zwei Wochen in Berlin. Sie werfen einen Blick auf den staatlichen Umbau in Tunesien, Ägypten und Marokko und debattieren über den Prozess der Verfassungsgebung, die Möglichkeit gesellschaftlicher Teilhabe, die Rolle des Militärs und des Islam in der Politik. Sie gehen zudem der Frage nach, was die Umwälzungen für den Rest der Region bedeuten und wie externe Akteure darauf reagieren.

In Ägypten überschlagen sich die Ereignisse: Das politische Durcheinander vor und nach dem Sturz Mursis bedroht auch die soziale und wirtschaftliche Situation des 80 Millionen-Volks. Über die Umbrüche in Ägypten, die Zukunft des Landes und die Rolle der EU diskutierten die Menschenrechtsaktivistin Heba Ahmed, Sarah Hartmann, Leiterin des EU-Middle East Forum der DGAP, und Ivesa Lübben, Nahostexpertin der Universität Marburg mit Christian Hanelt von der Bertelsmann-Stiftung.