FULLY BOOKED FIRST WEDNESDAY SPECIAL: What now for Egypt and its neighbours in the Middle East?

Following the tumultuous events in Egypt we are holding a special First Wednesday debate to both take stock and to look at the impact that the ousting of president Hosni Mubarak could have on Egypt and its neighbours in the Middle East.

We will be joined by experts on the region and journalists fresh from reporting the remarkable events in Egypt to discuss the nature of the protests and what lies ahead for the country.

With the constitution suspended, parliament dissolved and power is in the hands of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, can the people’s hope of Democracy be fulfilled?

What inspiration will people in other countries in the Middle East take from the fact that Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and the Egyptian president have both been forced to step down?

Join us as we discuss the prospects for democracy throughout the region.

Chaired by Paddy O’Connell of BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House.

With:

Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor for Channel 4 News;

Dr Omar Ashour, lecturer in Middle East politics and the director of the MA in Middle East Studies Program at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, author of The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements and a pro-democracy activist close to the youth movement in Cairo;

Peter Beaumont, foreign affairs editor at the Observer;

Dr Maha Azzam, Associate Fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House;

Ahdaf Soueif, political and cultural commentator and author of the bestselling The Map of Love which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1999 (via Skype from Cairo).

 

Picture credit: Adam Makery, Al Jazeera English