CSID Set to Tackle Key Policy Challenges in the Middle East and North Africa

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "In recent years, Washington DC has begun to revert to old-fashioned thinking that presents a false choice between stability and democracy," according to Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) President Radwan Masmoudi. "But a central lesson of the Arab Spring, that dictatorship cannot sufficiently address popular demands nor create sustainable security, must be remembered."

To address the growing gap between security imperatives and the need to nurture democracy, CSID's 15^th Annual Conference will bring together leading practitioners and regional experts on June 12 to develop recommendations for U.S. policy towards the entire MENA region, with a focus on Syria, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

Key remarks will be delivered by Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), Special Adviser to President Obama and Coordinator for the MENA Region Philip Gordon, and former Tunisian Prime Minister Aly Larayedh (2013-4), who will lead a delegation of Tunisian parliamentarians including both progressive, secular and conservative members to the conference, including leading opposition figure Nejib Chebbi. Syria recommendations will be developed by Special Representative to the U.S. of the Syrian opposition Najib Ghadbian, Syrian activist Mohammed Ghanem, George Mason Middle East Director Bassam Haddad and Middle East Institute Vice-President Paul Salem. Egyptian analysis will be proffered by dissident scholar Emad Shahin, Freedom and Justice Party Founder Abdel Mawgoud Dardery, and top-tier analysts Dalia Fahmy, Yasser El-Shimy, and Mokhtar Awad. Views on solving Libya's political and security crisis will be offered by Center for Libyan American Studies Founder Essam Omeish, well-known Libyan commentator and World Bank advisor Hafed al-Ghwell, and former International Crisis Group North Africa director and George Washington University professor William Lawrence. Senior State Department and White House officials will be participating fully in the event, and a concluding sessions will include former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy Human Rights and Labor Lorne Craner, Jocelyne Cesari of Harvard and Georgetown universities, and POMED Executive Director Stephen McInerney. 

As Annual Conference Program Chair William Lawrence notes, "Stability for stability's sake is destabilizing. We need creative and well informed pathways away from conflict and political impasse and towards inclusivity and respect for the rights and views of others."

The conference is open to the public and free to accredited representatives of the media.  The link to register for the conference is: 
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-struggle-for-democracy-in-turbulent-times-practical-solutions-for-us-policy-tickets-11798209763

Contact:
William Lawrence (617) 605 7774
Radwan Masmoud (202) 604 1290.

SOURCE Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy