EU Middle East Forum (EUMEF)

EU Middle East Forum (EUMEF) Pluralism in Egypt and Tunisia How the Political Opening is Changing Islamist Forces 17th New Faces Conference 4 7 October 2012

Conference Brochure 17 th DGAP New Faces Conference Pluralism in Egypt and Tunisia How the Political Opening is Changing Islamist Forces 4 7 October 2012, Cairo In cooperation with German Council on Foreign Relations EU Middle East Forum (EUMEF) Berlin 2012

Established in 1964, the Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH is one of the major German foundations associated with a private company. It represents the philanthropic and social endeavors of Robert Bosch (1861-1942) and fulfills his legacy in a contemporary manner. The Robert Bosch Stiftung works predominantly in the fields of International Relations, Health, and Education. The EU-Middle East Forum, as well as its predecessors, the International Forum on Strategic Thinking (IFST) and the Forum European Foreign and Security Policy, have been realized in close cooperation between DGAP and Robert Bosch Stiftung. The Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, ifa) is an organization operating worldwide to promote intercultural exchange and dialogue between civil societies. With funds from the German Federal Foreign Office, ifa supports with its zivik Funding Programme projects of German, international, and/or local non-governmental organizations to support the transformation of the affected Arab countries from autocratic models to functioning democratic systems reigned by the rule of law and a constructive conflict culture. The Gerda Henkel Foundation was established by Lisa Maskell in June 1976 in memory of her mother Gerda Henkel as a private, non-profit, grant-making institution dedicated to promoting research in the humanities. The Foundation has its headquarters in Düsseldorf and is active in Germany and abroad. In 2008, the Foundation included initiatives on conflict prevention in the program of fields it supports in order for the first time to cover scholarly projects that are not exclusively historical in thrust. Since 2009, Islam, the modern nation state and transnational movements has been introduced as a focal point of supporting activities for the same reason.

The American University in Cairo was founded in 1919 by Americans devoted to education and community service in the Middle East. Today, AUC is a leading English-language university an essential contributor to the social, political and cultural life of the Arab world. It also serves as a crossroads for the world s cultures: a vital, vibrant forum for reasoned argument, spirited debate and understanding across cultures. AUC is an independent, nonprofit, apolitical, non-sectarian, and equal-opportunity institution, fully accredited in Egypt and the United States. AUC enrolls approximately 5,500 undergraduate students and 1,300 graduate students in fields as diverse as the humanities, social and natural sciences, engineering, journalism, and business. It also hosts specialized graduate programs, such as gender and women s studies, international human rights law, migration and refugee studies, and environmental engineering. Freie Universität Berlin is one of nine German universities of excellence. As an international network university, it has established liaison offices abroad in Beijing, Brussels, Cairo, Delhi, Moscow, New York, and São Paulo. The Cairo Office of Freie Universität Berlin at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) was established in 2010. It aims to increase academic and scientific cooperation between Freie Universität Berlin and universities and research centers in Egypt and the Middle East. It highlights the university s outstanding research in many fields including Middle Eastern Studies. Furthermore it informs students and scholars from the region about possibilities of funding from German and European institutions. At the same time it is open to researchers and students of Freie Universität and helps them identify suitable partners for cooperation in the Middle East.

Table of Contents GERMAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS (DGAP)... 3 EU-MIDDLE EAST FORUM (EUMEF)... 4 EUMEF TEAM... 6 DINA FAKOUSSA-BEHRENS (GERMANY)... 6 CHRISTIAN ACHRAINER (GERMANY)... 6 ANJA RUNGE (GERMANY)... 7 MANUELA HAGER (GERMANY)... 7 THE 17 TH NEW FACES CONFERENCE... 8 CONCEPT NOTE... 8 AGENDA... 11 SPEAKERS (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE IN THE AGENDA)... 15 FLORIAN KOHSTALL (GERMANY)... 15 ANN M. LESCH (USA)... 15 GUDRUN KRÄMER (GERMANY)... 16 KHALED HAMZA (EGYPT)... 16 OMAR ASHOUR (UNITED KINGDOM)... 17 DISCUSSANTS/FACILITATORS... 18 CAROLA RICHTER (GERMANY)... 18 IBRAHIM EL-HOUDAIBY (EGYPT)... 18 PARTICIPANTS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)... 19 RABII AGOUJGAL (MOROCCO)... 19 KARABEKIR AKKOYUNLU (TURKEY)... 19 IMAD ALSOOS (GERMANY)... 20 BILLUR ASLAN (TURKEY)... 20 ABDELRAHMAN AYYASH (EGYPT)... 21 AHMED BEN KHALED (TUNISIA)... 21 KATRIN BUCHHOLZ (GERMANY)... 22 CLAUDIA DE MARTINO (ITALY)... 22 KARIMA EL OUAZGHARI (GERMANY)... 23 1

SANAA EL BANNA (EGYPT)... 23 RICCARDO FABIANI (ITALY)... 24 OMAR FASSATOUI (TUNISIA)... 24 ÖZGE GENÇ (TURKEY)... 25 ŞEBNEM GÜMÜŞÇÜ (TURKEY)... 25 EBTISAM HUSSEIN (EGYPT/GERMANY)... 26 ELIF KALAYCIOĞLU (TURKEY)... 26 SHAIMAA MAGUED (EGYPT)... 27 CINDY MAY (UK)... 27 ZIAD AKL MOUSSA (EGYPT)... 28 NEREO PEÑALVER GARCÍA (SPAIN/BELGIUM)... 28 CHIHEB SBAÂ (TUNISIA)... 29 RADAMIS ZAKY (EGYPT/CANADA)... 29 CONFERENCE VENUE... 30 2

German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) The German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) is Germany s network for foreign policy. As an independent, non-partisan, and nonprofit membership organization, think tank, and publisher DGAP has been promoting public debate on foreign policy in Germany for over 50 years. More than 2.000 members among them renowned representatives from politics, business, academia, and the media as well as more than 70 companies and foundations support the work of DGAP. DGAP s goals are to promote and contribute to foreign policy debates in Germany, to advise decision makers from politics, business, and civil society, and to inform the public on foreign policy questions and issues. DGAP comprises the think tank, the journal IP, the library and documentation center, the platform Young DGAP, and the web portal www.aussenpolitik.net. DGAP s think tank works at the junction between politics, the economy, and academia. Its work is interdisciplinary, policy-oriented, and covers different areas of German foreign policy, which is dynamic due to a globalized and rapidly changing world. The work encompasses research and publications, high-profile conferences and meetings as well as programs for the advancement of Young Professionals. The journal Internationale Politik (IP) appears in German as a bimonthly print magazine and in English as an online magazine on German and European foreign policy. IP Journal offers German perspectives on important foreign affairs issues as well as indepth analyses on central questions of German and European foreign policy by renowned authors and experts in and outside of Germany. The DGAP Library and Documentation Center (BiDok) is one of the oldest and most significant specialized libraries in Germany that is open to the public. It holds substantial collections on German foreign and security policy. The Young DGAP is a new initiative for members of DGAP under the age of 35. The Young DGAP aims at encouraging more young people to take an active interest in foreign and security policy through innovative events such as controversial debates and discussions with renowned decision-makers. The web page www.aussenpolitik.net is DGAP s thematic web-portal. It provides wellgrounded background information and analyses about the research institute s current work. It thereby contributes to the professional and public debates about international politics. 3

EU-Middle East Forum (EUMEF) The EU-Middle East Forum (EUMEF) is one of the core programs for the advancement of young academics and professionals at DGAP. The forum conceptualizes and organizes dialogue and learning conferences, providing a platform for young experts from European and Middle Eastern states to exchange ideas, to debate, to jointly develop solutions to security and developmental challenges, to promote a better understanding and trust between different participants, and to build up a network of high caliber future actors and decision makers. The underlying idea is that security and developmental challenges cannot be tackled by single nation states but require international dialogue and cooperation. EUMEF is carried out in cooperation with its long-standing partner the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa). The program s predecessors, the International Forum on Strategic Thinking (IFST) and the Forum European Foreign and Security Policy, were also realized in close cooperation with the Robert Bosch Stiftung. 1. Topics EUMEF mainly works on soft security issues such as democratization, human rights, climate change, and migration. In 2012, EUMEF focuses on chances and challenges associated with the current transformation processes in Egypt and Tunisia, and EU and German politics towards these developments. 2. Participants Participants of EUMEF s different conference formats come from the North-African countries Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco, from Turkey, and from Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Spain, and the United Kingdom. EUMEF targets students and young professionals from academia, politics, civil society, the media, and the corporate sector. Participants are recommended by a network of experts available to the forum. 3. Conference Formats EUMEF organizes three consecutive but different conference formats. The threepronged approach enables EUMEF to bring together future leaders at different stages of their career and to realize a sustainable network. International Summer School (ISS) For two weeks in summer in Berlin, the ISS gathers 30 highly qualified students or recent graduates (with 1 2 years of work experience). The focus lies on studies related to the fields of Political Science, Economics, Law, and Media and Communication Science. Besides lectures and speeches by international renowned experts, discussions, working groups, and training workshops on different aspects and angles of the 4

transformations in Egypt and Tunisia, open inter-cultural dialogue and social activities are part of the program. New Faces Conference (NFC) The NFC brings together 20 young professionals from academia, politics, civil society, the media, and the corporate sector. EUMEF organizes two to three NFCs per year, mainly in cooperation with different partner institutions in Turkey, Egypt, Morocco or Tunisia. In 2012, EUMEF is cooperating with the American University in Cairo and the Freie Universität Berlin Cairo Office. Each NFC focuses on and deepens a specific aspect of the summer school s main subject. The NFC provides a forum to intensively discuss these issues with like-minded peers and senior experts. At the same time the conference enables participants to expand their network and to initiate joint projects. Alumni Conference Biennially EUMEF invites all former ISS and NFC participants to reconvene in Berlin for three days. The Alumni Conference allows for a strengthening of the network and an exchange among the alumni. Subjects addressed are derived from up-to-date security challenges and topics of the former conferences and summer schools. Participants also get the chance to present initiatives and projects and to explore cooperation channels with other alumni. The next Alumni Conference is scheduled for November 2012. 4. Objectives - Reflection and analysis of security challenges and the sensitization for effective solutions and policies on a national and EU level - Exchange of know-how and experiences - Promotion of an intercultural dialogue to increase understanding and trust between young potential policy makers from Arab countries, the EU, and Turkey - Promotion of a pluralistic, tolerant, and respectful debating environment - Establishing a network of high calibre future actors from North Africa, the EU, and Turkey 5. Team Head of Program: Dina Fakoussa-Behrens fakoussa@dgap.org Program Officer: Christian Achrainer achrainer@dgap.org Program Assistant: Anja Runge runge@dgap.org Program Assistant: Manuela Hager eumef1@dgap.org 5

EUMEF Team Dina Fakoussa-Behrens (GERMANY) Dina Fakoussa took up the post as Head of the EU- Middle East Forum in March 2011. She had been working for seven years as Project and Program Manager in international development cooperation targeting the Arab region. She was among others Project Manager at the German NGO Media in Cooperation and Transition ggmbh in Jordan, where she conceptualized and realized publications, workshops, and online projects on politics, media, and culture in Iraq and the region. Her last position abroad was at the German Heinrich Böll Stiftung The Political Green Foundation in Lebanon, where she worked for two years as Program Manager. She was in charge of concept development and organization of international conferences and workshops on democratization, human and women rights, conflict resolution, and climate change with a focus on Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, as well as drawing up analysis on political and socio-economic developments in the region. Dina is Egyptian- German. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a Minor in Economics from the American University in Cairo and her Master of Arts from the Freie Universität Berlin. Christian Achrainer (GERMANY) Christian Achrainer has been working as Program Officer for EUMEF since January 2011. Prior, he worked as Program Assistant and Program Officer for EUMEF s predecessor project, the International Forum on Strategic Thinking. He studied Political Science, Sociology, and Media and Communication Science at the Universities of Düsseldorf and Bremen. During his studies, Christian worked for the Politische Vierteljahresschrift (PVS), the flagship journal of German Political Science. Besides his work at DGAP, Christian is currently preparing his PhD-Thesis on German-Egyptian relations. His research is mainly focused on German foreign policy and development cooperation, German-Egyptian relations, political Islam, and the interplay of values, norms, and interests in International Relations. 6

Anja Runge (GERMANY) Anja Runge has been working for the DGAP since 2009, first as an Intern and currently as Accounting Assistant for the Forum. In this capacity, she is responsible for administrative tasks as well as financial project monitoring including variance analysis. Prior to joining DGAP, Anja received her degree in Business Administration from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. In her studies she focused on management accounting and financial reporting based on national and international standards (IAS, IFRS) as well as taxation of national and international transactions of private and incorporated companies. During her studies she worked as a Student Assistant for a non-profit organization that fosters research on and development of small and medium-sized companies, where she improved her knowledge of ERP-systems and data management. Manuela Hager (GERMANY) Manuela Hager is Program Assistant at EUMEF and Graduate Student of Islamic Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. Previously, she interned at the German Near and Middle East Association (NUMOV), a non-profit and independent service provider for the Near and Middle East region supporting bilateral business activities between Germany and the Middle East. Between October 2011 and March 2012 Manuela studied abroad at the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University. Besides, she spent two months in Syria attending a Standard Arabic language course at the University of Damascus (2009) and has travelled to Lebanon and Turkey. Receiving her Bachelor s degree in Islamic Studies at Freie Universität Berlin in 2010, Manuela has learned Arabic and Turkish. In the course of her studies, Manuela has so far focused on feminist readings of the Qur an, Islamic reformists (e.g. arguing for the compatibility of human rights and Islamic values) as well as revivalist movements and political Islam in South Asia. 7

I. General Outline The 17 th New Faces Conference Concept Note Over the past year, Islamist movements have increasingly managed to translate their popular standing into sweeping election successes. With the demise of the authoritarian rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and the current attempted transition from an authoritarian to a democratic system, political forces in general including Islamists gained more freedom allowing them to widen their scope of operations and activities, and to institutionalize themselves by forming political parties to become official actors in the two countries political landscape. With their extremely successful performance in the recent elections, Islamists have clearly moved to the focal point of attention and without doubt they are forces that will have a great influence on politics and society in Egypt and Tunisia in the short and long-run. This reality necessitates scrutinizing and understanding their beliefs, ultimate goals, program/agenda and actions. It is particularly important and interesting to analyze to what extent there are changes in their ideological stands and concretization of standpoints and principles as a result of the new pluralistic structures and of moving from the opposition to the force in power holding the responsibility to govern. Islamists have been subject to evolution over the past decades but this transformation has always occurred under authoritarian or semi-authoritarian systems. Hence, the current unprecedented opening lends their evolutionary path new dynamics. It has to be noted here, though, that certainty about the direction of Islamist movements and about their genuine espousal of liberal values and embracement of democratic principles can only be achieved the longer they are active in parliament and government and are engaged in policy-making. Hence findings of the conference can only be considered a snapshot of the current situation, with a very high probability of new changes as a result of the state of flux both countries are witnessing and which is expected to continue for some time. The three-day conference aims to investigate Islamist movements in Egypt and Tunisia in an interdisciplinary setting, analyze how pluralism and political opening are affecting and changing them, and pinpoint (if possible) concrete policy measures and priorities they are offering their respective citizens. Implications of these developments for the democratic process and for stability in the two countries will equally be addressed. 8

II. Subjects The conference will examine Islamist forces in Egypt and Tunisia by looking at several domains. The focus will be on mainstream Islamist organizations (movements and parties) that have renounced violence and are pursuing their goals by peacefully engaging in political life. The first domain that will be addressed is the one related to 1) changes in their internal dynamics, structure, and power distribution. Questions that pose themselves here are for example: what is the influence and impact of contest, fragmentation, and intergenerational conflict over the proper course to be taken? What are implications of these differences on the strength and cohesion of the movement and party respectively? How does the thinking of younger members differ from the old guard? Are internal structures of the newly formed parties democratic and in line with their alleged support for democracy, or are religious, authoritarian, paternalistic structures prevailing particularly sidelining youth and women? Is there an attempt for a clearer separation between the political and religious wing of Islamist movements? Which conclusion can be drawn here concerning their sincerity of espousal of democratic principles in general? In the context of agenda examination, several other key sensitive issues deserve special attention. Their viewpoints on 2) the nature of the state and civil and political rights need to be thoroughly analyzed. Their constitutional priorities such as the role of Islamic law (sharia) need to be addressed as well as their stand regarding internal governance such as power distribution between the executive and the legislative and the decision-making process of legislation. For example, what do they think about pluralism and tolerance of other opposing views, especially in light of the religious framework (the marji iya) that many pledge needs to be integrated in any decision-making? There is also major concern on the part of liberal non-islamists that once in power, Islamists will severely curb civil and political rights of women, particularly those pertaining to the personal status law, and that the willingness of Islamists to make concessions in this domain will decrease. Doubts about equal citizenship and religious freedom including religious minorities like the Copts in Egypt are as strong and hence require closer examination. The same holds true for other individual rights such as the freedoms of speech and artistic expression. One of the toughest challenges facing any force in power in Egypt or Tunisia is alleviating the socio-economic hardship of the majority of the population, and success or failure in this area will certainly determine the political fate of the new rulers. Hence, what do the new actors have to offer in the domain of 3) social and economic policies? How do they intend to fight corruption, eradicate poverty, create jobs, and offer decent social services? Is their economic and social agenda conducive to realizing social justice, a major demand of the uprisings in both countries? Is an economic system along purely Islamic lines a wish of the past and do they seek a rather mixed system with options and choices? Who do they turn to for assistance, the 9

West or the Gulf countries and other Muslim majority countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey? The last point is related to one of their blurriest, most unpredictable agenda parts, namely the one on their 4) foreign policy orientation. What kind of foreign policy will they pursue? How will they deal with international agreements and conventions? Who will be their allies and what kind of policy will they adopt towards the Israelis and the Palestinians? Which implications does their foreign policy orientation have on domestic and regional politics? Finally, the conference will 5) draw on experiences of other Islamist forces in the region and relevant findings as well as address 6) the EU s politics and policies towards these developments and actors and whether there is need for an alteration or revision of these very ones or a simple recognition that an emancipation on the side of some North African countries is occurring that will translate into a redefinition of relations and power dynamics, which the EU can hardly influence. 10

Agenda Thursday, 4 October 19.00 Meeting in the Hotel Lobby 19.30 Welcome Dinner at Sequoia Restaurant in Zamalek Friday, 5 October 09.30 10.30 Opening of the Conference Dina Fakoussa, Head of EUMEF, DGAP Florian Kohstall, Head of the Cairo Office, Freie Universität Berlin Ann M. Lesch, Associate Provost for International Programs, American University in Cairo 10.30 12.00 Plenary Session: Dealing with Difference - Islamist Positions on Equality and Citizenship 12.00 12.30 Coffee Break Gudrun Krämer, Professor of Islamic Studies and Director of the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, Freie Universität Berlin 12.30 14.00 Working Group Session Group I - Discussant: Carola Richter, Assistant Professor for International Communication at Freie Universität Berlin Input Presentations by: Şebnem Gümüşçü: To Proselytize or to Represent - Islamic Political Movements in Egypt and Tunisia Billur Aslan: The Connective Power of Islamist Parties - How does the Internet shape the Activities of Islamists in Egypt? 11

Friday, 5 October (continued) 14.00 15.00 Lunch Group II - Discussant: Ibrahim El-Houdaiby, Senior Researcher at House of Wisdom Center for Strategic Studies and Lecturer at AMIDEAST, Cairo Input Presentations by: Ebtisam Hussein: Changes and Continuities of Islamic Political Activism after the 25th of January Revolution Ziad Akl Moussa: Institutionalizing the Muslim Brotherhood - The Movement and the Party 15.00 16.30 Working Group Session 16.30 17.00 Coffee Break Group I - Input Presentations by: Cindy May: Deterioration in the Sinai and its Implications for Egyptian- Israeli Relations Abdelrahman Ayyash: The Muslim Brotherhood's Foreign Policy in Egypt Group II - Input Presentations by: Radamis Zaky: The Hopes and Expectations of Religious Minorities and the Supporters of a Secular State in Egypt after the Revolution Claudia De Martino: The New Egyptian Agenda versus the Israeli-led Status Quo 17.00 18.30 Plenary Session: New Approaches of understanding Islamists and Authority 19.00 Dinner at the Hotel Khaled Hamza, Chief Editor of www.ikhwanweb.com and Founding Member of the MB s Think Tank 12

Saturday, 6 October 09.30 11.00 Plenary Session: The Impact of the Revolution on the MB 11.00 11.30 Coffee Break Ibrahim El-Houdaiby, Senior Researcher at House of Wisdom Center for Strategic Studies and Lecturer at AMIDEAST, Cairo 11.30 13.00 Working Group Session 13.00 14.00 Lunch Group I - Input Presentations by: Sanaa El Banna: Shifting Confrontation Lines through Political Contestation From Secular vs. Islamist to Islamist vs. Islamist Karima El Ouazghari: Islamist Movements from a Social Movement Theory Perspective - The Tunisian An-Nahdha within Changing Opportunity Structures Group II - Input Presentations by: Ahmed Ben Khaled: The Democratic Transition in Tunisia Transitional Justice and the Ennahda Party Chiheb Sbaâ: The Evolution of the Islamists Economic Vision 14.00 15.30 Working Group Session 15.30 16.00 Coffee Break Group I - Input Presentations by: Omar Fassatoui: Keeping the Tunisian Legal Exception - A Postrevolutionary Challenge Shaimaa Magued: The AKP and the Democratization Process in Turkey Between the Civilianization and the Desecularization of the State System Group II - Input Presentations by: Riccardo Fabiani: To the Right of Ghannouchi The Salafi Challenge to Ennahda Elif Kalaycıoğlu: Citizenship and Public Space Conceptualizations by Muslim Women s Associations in Turkey 13

Saturday, 6 October (continued) 16.00 17.30 Plenary Session: Jihadism and Post-Jihadism in Egypt and Libya Omar Ashour, Senior Lecturer in the Politics of the Modern Arab World and Director of the MA Program in Middle East Studies, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter 18.30 Dinner at Abu El Sid Restaurant in Zamalek Sunday, 7 October 09.30 11.00 Plenary Session Input presentations by: 11.00 11.30 Coffee Break Özge Genç: Religious Politics in Contemporary Turkey - Rupture or Continuity? Karabekir Akkoyunlu: The 'Moderate Islamist' Experience and the Politics of Reform and Power in Turkey 11.30 13.00 Plenary Session - Input Presentations by: 13.00 14.00 Lunch Rabii Agoujgal: The Party for Justice and Development in Morocco - Participation and Democratic Transition Imad Alsoos: The Dynamics behind Hamas Political Activism in Gaza - The Shift from a Social and Militant Movement to Demobilized Government Administration 14.00 15.30 Plenary Session - Input Presentations by: Nereo Peñalver García: EU engagement with Islamist Movements - A New Beginning after the Arab Uprisings? Katrin Buchholz: A Myriad of Gaps does not make a Canyon - EU vs. Bilateral Engagement in Tunisia 15.30 16.30 Plenary Session - Evaluation 14

Speakers (in order of appearance in the agenda) Florian Kohstall (GERMANY) Florian Kohstall is the Head of Freie Universität Berlin (FUB) Cairo Office at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), representing the university in the Middle East and North Africa region. Prior to joining FUB he was a Research Fellow with the Centre d'études et de Documentation Économiques, Juridiques et Sociales (CEDEJ) and Lecturer at Sciences Po Aix en Provence. Kohstall holds a PhD from Freie Universität Berlin and Institut d Études Politiques d Aix-en-Provence entitled International Cooperation and Authoritarian Consolidation: Higher Education Reforms in Egypt and Morocco". His research interests comprise university reform, political change, and the role of international donor organizations in the MENA-region. He published among others La fabrique des élections en Égypte Cedej, Cairo 2011 (with F. Vairel). Kohstall is a frequent contributor to the media on recent events in Egypt, Libya, and Morocco. Ann M. Lesch (USA) Ann M. Lesch is a Professor of Political Science and the Associate Provost of International Programs at the American University in Cairo (AUC). In her research, she mainly focuses on Sudanese, Palestinian, and Egyptian politics. Before joining AUC, Lesch has been a Research Associate at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia (1972-1974), the Associate Middle East Representative for the American Friends Service Committee (Jerusalem, 1974-1977), a Program Officer at the Ford Foundation (New York and Cairo, 1977-1984), the Middle East Associate for Universities Field Staff International (Cairo, 1984-1987), and a Professor of Political Science at Villanova University (Philadelphia, 1987-2004). In Fall 2004, she joined AUC as Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences and became Associate Provost for International Programs in Fall 2009. Besides, Lesch serves on advisory committees for Human Rights Watch (Middle East Program), Middle East Report (MERIP), and the Palestinian American Research Center, which she co-founded in 1998 and directed from 2001 until 2004. 15

Gudrun Krämer (GERMANY) Gudrun Krämer is Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies and Director of the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, both at Freie Universität Berlin. Besides, she is a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (BBAW) and an Executive Editor of The Encyclopaedia of Islam Three. She has an honorary doctorate from Tashkent Islamic University and in 2010 she was awarded the Gerda-Henkel-Preis. Gudrun Krämer has been a visiting scholar in Bologna, Erfurt, Paris, Beirut, Cairo, and Jakarta. She has published widely on Middle Eastern history, Islamic movements, and Islamic political thought. Her monographs include Demokratie im Islam (Munich 2011), Hasan al-banna (Oxford 2010), A History of Palestine (Princeton 2008; Munich 2002), Speaking for Islam. Religious Authorities in Muslim Societies (ed. with Sabine Schmidtke, Leiden 2006), Anti-Semitism in the Arab World (Die Welt des Islams, 46 (2006) 3) and Geschichte des Islam (Munich 2005). Khaled Hamza is the Chief Editor of the Muslim Brotherhood s main website, ikhwanweb.com and a founding member of the Muslim Brotherhood s Think Tank. He is a Pro-Democracy Activist and has been arrested in February 2008 after he led an international campaign against military trials for civilians in Egypt. Additionally he is a committed Human Rights Activist and Member of the Arab Committee for Human Rights. As part of Muslim Brotherhood delegations he represented the movement in many different parts of the world. Khaled Hamza holds a Bachelor s degree in Civil Engineering from Mansoura University and a BA in Philosophy from Tanta University. Khaled Hamza (EGYPT) 16

Omar Ashour (UNITED KINGDOM) Omar Ashour is the Director of the Middle East Graduate Studies Programme at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom and a visiting scholar at Brookings Doha Center, Qatar. He is the author of The De-Radicalization of Jihadists: Transforming Armed Islamist Movements, the first book on transitions from armed to unarmed activism by Islamist organizations in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and elsewhere. His other published works focus on security studies, Islamist movements, and democratization. He currently works on two research projects on security sector reform (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia) and on comparative civilmilitary relations in North Africa before and after the Arab Awakening. Ashour authors biweekly op-eds on the transitional periods in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia, and the armed struggle in Syria. His most recent Brookings policy papers are entitled Libyan Islamists Unpacked, in which he maps out the Libyan Islamist scene in the aftermath of Qaddafi and Security Sector Reform in Egypt: Dilemmas and Challenges (forthcoming), in which he analyses the official and unofficial security reform initiatives and hurdles to their implementation. Ashour obtained his BSc and MA from the American University in Cairo (AUC) and his PhD from McGill University in Canada. 17

Carola Richter (GERMANY) Discussants/Facilitators Carola Richter is Assistant Professor for International Communication at Freie Universität Berlin. From 2004-2010 she was a Teaching and Research Assistant for International Communication at the University of Erfurt, Germany. Her research focuses on Arab media systems and political communication in the Muslim world. In 2010 she finished her PhD thesis on media strategies of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Among her recent English publications are: The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood Movement and its Media Strategies: the Mobilising Effect of Religion in Contentious Politics, in: Haynes, Jeffrey/Hennig, Anja (eds.), 2011, Religious Actors in the Public Sphere. Means, Objectives and Effects; Virtual Mobilisation. The Internet and Political Activism in Egypt, in: Orient 1/2010, pp. 16-24; Has Public Diplomacy failed? The U.S. Media Strategy towards the Middle East and the Regional Perception of U.S. Foreign Policy, in: Kaim, Markus (ed.), 2008, Great Powers and Regional Orders: The United States and the Persian Gulf, Asghate. Richter received an MA in Middle Estern Studies, Journalism, and Political Sciences from the University of Leipzig. Ibrahim El-Houdaiby is a Senior Researcher at the House of Wisdom Center for Strategic Studies and Lecturer at AMIDEAST (America-Mideast Educational and Training Services Inc.). His research focuses on Islamic movements, democratisation, and political economy of the Middle East. Besides, El-Houdaiby writes a weekly column for the Arabic Daily Shorouk and is a freelance columnist for Al-Ahram Online. A graduate of the American University in Cairo, he holds a BA in Political Economy and an MA in Political Science and Development Studies. He is currently pursuing his MA in Islamic Shariah at the High Institute of Islamic Studies where he also earned a diploma in Islamic Studies in 2010. Ibrahim El-Houdaiby (EGYPT) 18

Rabii Agoujgal (MOROCCO) Participants (in alphabetical order) Rabii Agoujgal has been working as Web Editor in an online English-language magazine in Morocco since 2009, dealing among others with politics and social policies. Most recently, he designed a social marketing campaign to promote education in Moroccan rural areas and is now preparing for its implementation. He is active in a number of NGOs and is currently Advisor on foreign relations for the International Forum of Independent Press. Moreover, Rabii founded a communication and new media agency specializing in digital journalism, translation, web design, and social media. Besides, he is an active member of the Association of Research and Pedagogical Innovation. Rabii has been working on different civil society projects and he is also an experienced translator, editing and translating for the British Chamber of Commerce of Morocco since July 2011. He has also joined the team of volunteer translators working on the Arabic version of the social networking website Twitter. Rabii graduated from Cadi Ayyad University in Marrakech with a BA in Linguistics and an MA in Communication Studies. He is currently working on his PhD research proposal. Karabekir Akkoyunlu (TURKEY) Karabekir Akkoyunlu is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Government, London School of Economics, where he teaches classes on democratisation and Middle East politics. He also works with South East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX) as a Research Associate. His PhD thesis focuses on the politics of change in hybrid regimes and the institutions of guardianship in Iran and Turkey. Previously, Karabekir worked at a London-based political risk consultancy and taught at Atma Jaya University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He is a contributor to Oxford Analytica on Turkish politics and has also contributed to several international media. He is the author of Military Reform and Democratisation: Turkish and Indonesian Experiences at the turn of the Millennium. His latest publications include a chapter on Turkish Iranian relations in an edited volume on Turkey s foreign policy under the AKP government and a forthcoming chapter on security sector reform in Turkey. Karabekir holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge and a BA in History and International Relations from Brown University. 19

Imad Alsoos (GERMANY) Imad Alsoos has been a PhD Candidate at the Otto-Suhr- Institute of Political Science at Freie Universität Berlin since 2009 and is currently working on his thesis entitled The Mobilization of Islamic Movements Hamas and the Islamic Action Front of Jordan. He holds a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). His academic interests include Middle Eastern politics, social movements, and Islamic movements. Imad participated and presented papers on Hamas and the Palestinian politics in international conferences such as DAVO (2011) and MESA (2009). He published two articles, one on The Emergence of Islamic Movements in the Arab World at the University of Basque Country (2007) and one on The Palestinian National Movement in the Context of the Arab Spring at Freie Universität Berlin (2011). Imad holds a BA in English Language and Literature (2001) and an MA in International Studies (2004) from Birzeit University/Palestine. Moreover, he graduated with an MA in Public Law and International Relations from the University of Basque Country, Spain in 2008. Billur Aslan (TURKEY) Billur Aslan joined the Department of Politics at Royal Halloway University in 2011 to pursue her PhD thesis, which is facilitated by the Crossland and College Research Award. Her thesis is entitled Interactional Dynamics among Political Institutions: How Actors Adapt to the Internet in Democratic and Non-Democratic Regimes and supervised by Professor Ben O Loughlin. Her publications deal with the relationship between social networks and government control in authoritarian systems and implications of the internet on political and social actors. Previously, Billur worked as a Producer in Turkish media from 2010-2011. She holds an MSc in International Relations from Royal Holloway and a BA in Communication from Galatasaray University in Istanbul. 20

Abdelrahman Ayyash (EGYPT) University. Abdelrahman Ayyash is a political researcher and activist, specialized in political Islam. As a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, he worked for the group s English language website and created and managed several other websites including ikhwanophobia.com, which addresses the Muslim Brotherhood s relations with the Western world. Abdelrahman was arrested twice during Mubarak's regime, especially due to his activism for the campaign against military trials for civilians. He is currently working on a project titled Tahrir Observatory to monitor the political and media discourses of different political players in Egypt. He studied Computer Engineering at Mansoura Ahmed Ben Khaled is a lawyer, registered at the Tunisian Bar Association, since 2011. Besides, he is currently preparing a thesis in order to obtain a doctoral degree in International Law at the Institut du Droit de la Paix et du Développement at the University of Nice - Sophia Antipolis. His thesis is entitled The State s Bankruptcy: A Study of the Internal and International Aspects. Ahmed obtained his Maîtrise in Law at the Faculty of Juridical, Political, and Social Sciences of Tunis in 2009 and his Master s degree in International and European Public and Private Law at the Institut du Droit de la Paix et du Développement. Ahmed Ben Khaled (TUNISIA) 21

Katrin Buchholz (GERMANY) Katrin Buchholz works in the German Federal Foreign Office, where she is in charge of the transformation partnership and other bilateral relations with Tunisia. Prior, she worked in the Political Department of the German Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. Katrin founded the choeur diplomatique of the Federal Foreign Office. In the framework of a study on European Security Foresight in 2011, she was associated to the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, a Berlin based think tank. Katrin studied Law at the University of Vienna and Political Sciences at Sciences-Po in Paris. Claudia de Martino (ITALY) Claudia de Martino works as a Researcher in Mediterranean Affairs for the Rome-based Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED), which promotes the exchange of students and researchers and organizes thematic workshops. Besides, she has been teaching at Roma Tre University since 2008. Claudia is also a regular contributor on Middle Eastern affairs at the Aspen Institute s Italian language online journal. Her publications deal among others with Israeli politics and Isreali-Palestinian relations. Prior to her current positions, she did a six-months-internship at the Italian Representation to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 2002-2003 and worked at the Centre of European Policy Studies in Brussels. In 2009, Claudia started her PhD on the Social History of Israel at the Ca Foscari University of Venice and defended her thesis in May 2012. She is a pro-european activist and has been a member of YEF (Young European Federalists) since 2003. She got elected in the organization s International Board in 2007. Moreover, she is an active member of a trans-european network called European Alternatives. Claudia studied Middle Eastern History and Politics at the University of Roma Tre and holds an MA in Middle East and Islamic Studies from Hebrew University, Jerusalem. 22

Karima El Ouazghari (GERMANY) Karima El Ouazghari is a Research Associate at the Peace Research Institute (PRIF) in Frankfurt, Germany and a PhD candidate at Goethe University Frankfurt. Her research project is entitled Islamist Movements from a Social Movement Theory Perspective: The Jordanian Islamic Action Front and the Tunisian An-Nahdha within Changing Opportunity Structures and deals with the issue of contextuality in shaping the political positions of Islamists. The project explores the extent to which these can be explained as a result of the different experiences Islamists made with the respective regimes. In this context she conducted fieldwork and interviews with Islamist leaders in Jordan and Tunisia. Karima has published numerous academic as well as policy oriented articles in German and English. Besides working with the German Foreign Office as Political Consultant, she has participated in several international academic conferences. Her expertise and research interests include Near and Middle Eastern politics, political Islam, Islamist movements and democratization (especially in Jordan and Tunisia), social movement theory, and secularization. Karima studied Political Science and German Language and Literature at Goethe University in Frankfurt. Sanaa El Banna (EGYPT) Sanaa El Banna is a Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University since 2008. Besides, she is a Researcher in Social Sciences and worked as professional translator. Her research focuses on emerging youth movements in Egypt, such as the 6 th of April Movement, the Ultras football communities, and Salafist movements. She helped organizing the Arab Turkish Conference of Social Sciences in Istanbul and the 2012 summit of the International Model of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in cooperation with the Islamic Conference Youth Forum and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Sanaa holds a BA in Political Science from Cairo University and a Master s degree in Political Science and a Diploma in Public Administration from the American University in Cairo. 23

Riccardo Fabiani (ITALY) Riccardo Fabiani is an Analyst in Eurasia Group's Middle East Practice, a London-based risk consultancy, where he focuses mainly on Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Prior to joining Eurasia Group, Riccardo worked as a Senior Economist on the Middle East and North Africa at D&B Country Risk Services and as a Remote Analyst on North Africa for Exclusive Analysis as well as at Reuters and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, an MA in Political Science from the University of RomaTre, and also spent some time during his studies in Paris, Jerusalem, Istanbul, and Cairo. Omar Fassatoui (TUNISIA) Omar Fassatoui is a lawyer, registered at the Tunis Bar Association, since 2008. He primarily works on the relationship between religion and law with a particular interest for bioethical questions. He is currently preparing a doctoral thesis at the Institute of Political Sciences in Aix en Provence and the Faculty of Law in Tunis (FDSPT). In his thesis he will focus on the integration of religious positions regarding biomedicine into positive law as well as the social reception of these positions. This will be done in a comparative study on Tunisia, Egypt, and Israel. Omar also teaches on legal and commercial collaboration with the Arab world in Marseille as well as on human genetics in Tunisia. Omar holds a Master's degree in Health Law from Paul Cézanne University, Marseille, France. 24

Özge Genç (TURKEY) Özge Genç is currently a PhD candidate in Political Science at Istanbul Bilgi University where she is researching on Turkish secularism. Moreover, she joined the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) in 2006 and is currently the Program Officer of TESEV s Democratization Program. As such she is managing the research and advocacy activities for constitutional reform, religion-state-society relations, and minority rights. She previously worked as a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University's Middle East Institute (MEI) between August 2009 and 2010. Özge has published on the headscarf ban and Turkey's new constitutional process. Additionally, she is the editor of TESEV's website on the new constitution (www.turkeyconstitutionwatch.org/). She received her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. Thereafter, she received her Master's degree in International Politics and Middle East Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London with the joint support of British Chevening Scholarship and the Turkish Study Foundation (TEV). Şebnem Gümüşçü (TURKEY) Şebnem Gümüşçü is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Sabancı University and will hold a joint appointment at the Istanbul Policy Center at Sabancı University starting from September 2012. Her research focuses primarily on Islamist movements in the Middle East, in particular in Turkey, Egypt, and Tunisia. In her most recent work she is analysing the relationship between institutional structures and democratic consolidation under predominant parties. Her articles and op-eds on Islamist movements, Turkish politics, and the Arab Spring appeared in a number of academic and non-academic journals. Şebnem received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Virginia in 2010. Subsequently she spent six months as a Research Fellow at the Council of Middle East Studies at Yale University in 2010-2011. 25

Ebtisam Hussein (EGYPT/GERMANY) Ebtisam Hussein currently holds a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to pursue her PhD studies at the Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies. Since 2002, she has been working as Teaching Assistant at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at Cairo University. Moreover, she has been working voluntarily for the Liberal Forum in Egypt since 2004. In 2007, she co-organized two regional conferences with the Friedrich-Naumann-Foundation in Cairo and in July 2008 she started to take part in events sponsored by the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS). In April 2012, she lectured in the European Parliament on Islamic movements in Egypt after the revolution. Ebtisam holds a Bachelor in Political Science (2002) and a Master in Political Science (2007). Elif Kalaycıoğlu (TURKEY) Elif Kalaycıoğlu is a first-year PhD Candidate in Political Science at Sabancı University in Istanbul. Her research interests are critical internal relations, notions of political emancipation, and non-hegemonic approaches to politics and citizenship. Prior to starting her PhD at Sabancı University, she worked for think-tanks in Turkey and the UK focusing on issues of human and minority rights. From 2010 to 2011, she worked as a Producer for BBC World Service's Turkish desk. Her work at BBC coincided with the first six months of the Arab Spring, leading to her taking a close interest in the unfolding of the uprisings as well as the international response to and engagement with it. Elif holds a BA in Political Science from Vassar College and a Master's degree with distinction in European Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). 26

Shaimaa Magued (EGYPT) Shaimaa Magued has been a PhD candidate in International Relations at SciencesPo Aix since 2009. She earned a Master s degree in Public Policy and Administration and in International Relations from the American University in Cairo (AUC) and Sciences Po Paris respectively. Moreover, she holds a BA in Political Science from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science at AUC and a French language diploma (DELF). Shaimaa interned at the French Institute of Anatolian Studies (IFEA) in Istanbul, the Arab League, the Arab National Security Sector, and the Economic, Political and Juridical Documentaries and Studies Center (CEDEJ). Besides, she has published several articles on Turkish foreign policy, Middle East politics, and political economy. Cindy May (UK) Cindy May is currently a doctoral candidate in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, Trinity Hall College. Her research interests include Salafi-Jihadist terrorism, Middle East politics, US foreign policy, and security studies. Her PhD focuses on presidential decisionmaking and the United States use of military force in the Middle East and North Africa, utilizing the Iran Hostage Crisis (1979), the Bombing of Libya (1986), the Gulf War (1991), and the Iraq War (2003) as case studies. Cindy studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo in 2008 as a US State Department Critical Language Scholar. She worked as an intern on two occasions at the US State Department in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Political and Military Affairs Bureau. Cindy is also a researcher for the UK Defence Forum Defence Viewpoints publication. She received her BA degree in Political Science, Spanish, and International Studies from Butler University in Indiana, USA and her MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge. 27

Ziad Akl Moussa (EGYPT) Ziad Akl Moussa is a full time Researcher at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies since June 2005. He was the Research Coordinator for the Program of Democratic Transition from 2005-2007 and the Program for Securitizing Arab Development from 2010-2011. Ziad specializes in Egyptian politics and society, social thought, and Middle East politics. His published work includes Regime Collapse and Priorities of State Building in Libya, The Culture of Piracy in Somalia, Access Culture and Freedom of Information in Egypt, The Egyptian Revolution: Origins and Outcomes and Solidarity and Political Behavior in Egyptian Parliamentary Elections. He writes a weekly column for the Daily News Egypt and a weekly editorial for Al Ahram Online. Currently, he is the editor of the forthcoming book Egypt: the Mechanics of Political Change published by the Danish-Egyptian Dialogue Institute. He holds a Bachelor s degree in Middle East Politics and a Master s Degree in Political Science from the American University in Cairo (AUC) and is currently pursuing further graduate studies in Political Sociology at AUC. Nereo Peñalver García (SPAIN/BELGIUM) Nereo Peñalver García has been the Adviser to the Director General for External Policies at the European Parliament since December 2010. Prior to his current duties, Nereo worked as a Research Analyst on foreign policy issues at the Policy Services Unit, a think tank within the Directorate General for the Presidency of the European Parliament. Previously, he was a Junior Expert in the political section of the European Commission Delegation to Tunisia and Libya in Tunis. He served as Head of the Parliamentary office of Josep Borrell, Chairman of the European Parliament s Development Committee and former President of the European Parliament. Nereo has also worked in the Cabinet of Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, where he assisted Solana s spokesperson and at the United Nations Regional Information Center for Western Europe in Brussels, where he was an Assistant to the Director. He holds an MA in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium, an MA in Political Sciences and Public Administration at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, and he has also studied Political Sciences at the Institut d Études Politiques in Toulouse, France and at Beijing University in China. 28

Chiheb Sbaâ (TUNISIA) Chiheb Sbaâ is an activist in the centrist Al Jomhouri Party with a particular interest in economic issues, and an IT Consultant at Vermeg, a Tunis-based financial software supplier, since April 2011. At Vermeg he is in charge of the development of a business process manager. Previously, Chiheb worked as a Study and Development Engineer in Génitech Tunisia, where he participated in the development of administrative online services. He was also in charge of developing tools for a human resources application. From July to August 2009 he interned at Power Multimedia, where he participated in the development of an e- commerce website. Chiheb studied Computer Engineering at the National School of Informatics Sciences of Tunis (ENSI) from September 2007 to July 2010, and at the School for Engineering Studies of Bizerta from September 2005 to July 2007, specializing in Mathematics and Physics. Radamis Zaky (EGYPT/CANADA) Radamis Zaky is currently conducting his MA studies at the Communication Department of the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His thesis is on the media s role in framing the Arab Spring and the Occupy Movement. Previously he participated in different human rights projects and campaigns that took place in Egypt. Radamis has a special interest in women and minority rights, and he was one of the founding members of the Kefaya Movement that was established in 2004. Moreover, he was one of the team members of a project organized by the German NGO EMYB in cooperation with NGOs from Egypt, Turkey, and Latvia. The project lasted for two consecutive years (2006 and 2007) and its main outcome was the invention of simple methods for teaching human rights to children. 29

Conference Venue Golden Tulip Flamenco Hotel Cairo 2 El Gezira El Wosta Street 11211 Cairo - Zamalek Tel. 00202 27350815 www.goldentulipflamenco.com 30

Herausgeber: Forschungsinstitut der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e. V., Berlin Rauchstraße 17/18 10787 Berlin Tel.: +49 (0)30 25 42 31-0 Fax: +49 (0)30 25 42 31-16 info@dgap.org www.dgap.org und www.aussenpolitik.net 2012 DGAP