The Middle East Institute is pleased to host Egyptian journalist Ashraf
Khalil for a discussion of his new book, Liberation Square: Inside the
Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation, and the political
landscape in Egypt on the first anniversary of the revolution. This
book is the first account of the Tahrir Square uprisings from someone
who was on the ground and witnessed the protests firsthand. Ashraf
Khalil will analyze the status quo in Egypt today and reasons for both
Mark N. Katz, examines the impact of the current and future US withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan on Islamic radicals. Katz argues that the US withdrawals from both countries will lead radicals to conclude they have defeated the US in the "War on Terror" and that US regional strength is on the decline. This, he argues, will spur Islamic radicals to seek further gains elsewhere. But regardless of the boost to their cause that the withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan may provide, they will likely meet three key obstacles in their pursuit of increased power and influence.
Afghanistan: Looking Ahead to the Next Fighting Season
Andrew Exum, Fellow at the Center for A New American Security, assesses the possibility of a new Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and its ramifications for U.S. strategy there. The past six months have seen some remarkable successes in southern Afghanistan. But if hard-won security gains collapse in the face of a renewed Taliban offensive in 2011, the NATO strategy to secure Afghanistan will be in grave danger. Andrew Exum will discuss the situation in southern Afghanistan as well as how the American public can know whether the strategy is succeeding or failing this summer.
Ten months after a young fruit seller set himself alight in a small, marginalized town in central Tunisia, his compatriots will be voting in what many are hoping will be the country’s first free and fair elections. In the poll set for October 23, Tunisians will be electing a national constituent assembly that will be charged with writing the rules of the new political era. That assembly will spend up to a year writing a new constitution and deciding which form of government the country will have.
