Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy

21st Annual Conference

Why the US should Support

Democracy in the Muslim World, and

How?

Thursday, June 1, 2023

The Mayflower Hotel

Washington D.C.

TENTATIVE PROGRAM

8:30 - 9:00 Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 9:15 am Opening Remarks

Prof. Asma Afsaruddin - Chair of the CSID Board

Prof. Dalia Fahmy - Chair of the Program Committee

9:15 - 9:45 AM - Opening Speaker

Islam & Democracy: the Struggle and Debate of the 21st century

John L. Esposito

University Professor of Religion and International Affairs

Georgetown University

9:45 - 11:15 AM - PANEL 1:

The Cost of Authoritarianism: Assessing U.S. Mideast Policy over the Long Term

Moderator: Dalia Fahmy - Associate professor of political science, LIU Brooklyn

Andrew March - Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Shadi Hamid - Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Sarah Leah Whitson - Executive Director, Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN)

Wa’el Alzayat - CEO, Emgage

11:15 - 12:00 PM - PANEL 2:

Middle East Authoritarianism and the subversion of Western democracy

A Conversation with David Kirkpatrick

The New Yorker Magazine

Moderator: Nader Hachemi, Director, The Center for Middle East Studies, University of Denver

12:00 - 1:30 PM - Keynote Luncheon

Keynote Speakers:

Democratic Backsliding and Threats to Democracy in the Arab World

Damon Wilson - President, National Endowment for Democracy (NED)

Amaney A. Jamal - Dean, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs,

Princeton University

Moderator:  Radwan Masmoudi

Founder and President, Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy

1:30 - 3:00 PM - PANEL 3

Political Islam and Democracy:  A 45-year Retrospective

Moderator:  Dan Brumberg, Georgetown University

POLITICAL ISLAM: MORE THAN ISLAMISM

Jocelyne Cesari - Visiting Professor of Religion, Violence, and Peacebuilding at Harvard Divinity School

Ennahdha and Tunisia’s Transition: A Forensic Look at What Went Wrong

Monica Marks - Professor of Middle East politics at New York University, Abu Dhabi

Islam and Democracy: Lessons learnt from the “Arab Spring”

Deina Abdelkader - Assoc. Professor, Political Science Dept., University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tunisia Still Survives…?

William Scott Harrop - Doctoral candidate, Department of Politics, University of Virginia

Consolidating Democracy in Tunisia: Uncertain Future for Democratic Institutions and the Role of the United States

Ismail Numan Telci, Vice President, Center for Middle eastern Studies, ORSAM, Turkey

3:00 - 3:15 PM Coffee and tea break

3:15 - 4:45 PM - PANEL 4

The Role of Islamic Values in Building a Just Society and Political System

Moderator:  Asma Afsaruddin - University of Indiana

What Does Islam Really Say about the Rights, Status and Behavior of Women? The Interpretations of Islam Embraced by Ordinary Muslim Citizens in the Arab World

Mark Tessler - Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan

How Islamic values can contribute to building a free society

Mustafa Akyol - Senior fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity

Inheritance Laws and the Limits of (and Prospects for) Gender Equality in the MENA

Youssef Chouhoud - Assist. Professor, Political Science, Christopher Newport University

What Explains Voter Preferences in Tunisia's Transitional Elections?

Lindsay Benstead - Director, Middle East Studies Center, Portland State University

WHY DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE ARAB WORLD IS IMPORTANT FOR THE BALKANS?

Marko Veković - Professor and Executive Editor Politics and Religion Journal, Belgrade, Serbia

4:45 PM - 5:30 PM - Keynote Speech

What lessons can be drawn from the failure of the revolution and the counter-revolution in Tunisia?

Keynote Speaker:

Mohamed Moncef Marzouki

Former President of Tunisia

5:30 pm - Closing Remarks

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Co-Sponsored by:

Emgage

Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)

The Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University