Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East

About

Jeremy Jones will discuss his forthcoming book, Negotiating Change: the New Politics of the Middle East, which examines the prospects for democratic political development across a range of Middle Eastern countries: Turkey, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and the Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Negotiating Change grew out of research into the history and culture of representative and participatory politics in each country, complemented by a significant body of interviews and meetings with ordinary citizens, political activists, and political leaders across the region, as well as discussions with American officials and activists working to support democracy in the Middle East.

Among the findings, indigenous traditions and cultures are identified as key factors shaping the prospects for change, Islamist movements are seen as likely to be key agents in support of democratic change as well as its primary beneficiaries, and the Shia tradition is forecast to produce the most promising approach to the relations between religion and politics in the region.

Jeremy Jones is British and runs a consulting firm in Oxford, UK, which has been active in the Middle East for twenty-five years. He is also a Research Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and a Senior Research Associate at the Oxford Centre of Islamic Studies.

This event is co-sponsored by The Governance Initiative in the Middle East.

Please join us! Light refreshments will be served.

Everyone is welcome, but admittance will be on a first come – first served basis.