With the world watching the latest uprisings in Syria and the continued intervention in Libya, the media has largely turned its attention away from the catalyst of the Arab spring, Tunisia and the next country to oust its president, Egypt. But what does the future hold for these fledgeling democracies?
The combination of Tunisia’s ‘gerontocracy’ and its high youth demographic has been a diminishing trust in the new government. There is also a constant conflict between the idealists, who want all traces of the former regime erased, and the realists, who are concerned that further political upheaval will result in an increase in military power.
In Egypt, protesters have returned to Tahrir Square in a bid to salvage the revolution with a fresh set of demands including the curbing of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’ powers, an end to military trials and scrapping of new anti-protest laws.
Join us at the Frontline club with a panel of experts to discuss what the future holds for Tunisia and Egypt.
Chaired by Steve Crawshaw, international advocacy director, Amnesty International and co-author of Small Acts of Resistance How courage, tenacity and ingenuity can change the world.
With:
Khalid Abdalla, is a British-Egyptian actor, producer and activist. His films include United 93, The Kite Runner, Green Zone, and the upcoming Egyptian film In the Last Days of the City, filmed during the last two years of Mubarak’s Rule. Co-founder of Zero Production, an independent film and documentary production house based in Cairo, earlier this year he launched Mosireen, a non-profit media centre in downtown Cairo to support filmmakers and citizen journalists through the revolution.
Rosemary Hollis, professor of Middle East policy studies and director of the Olive Tree Programme at City University.
Dr Maha Azzam, Associate Fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.
Brian Whitaker, journalist for The Guardian since 1987 and its Middle East editor from 2000-2007. He is currently an editor on the paper’s "Comment Is Free" section. Author of What’s Really Wrong with the Middle East.
