RELEASE EMBARGO DATE: April 22, 2014 at 9:00 AM

Panel: Back to Winter in the Middle East? (G2)
Date/Time: Tuesday, April 22, 2014 / 13:00-14:15
Talking Points for: Salah Eddin Elzein, Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
 

The Arab spring signaled the beginning of a difficult and long journey towards a new MENA in which people enjoy more dignity, freedoms and prosperity. The last hundred years of the region have generally been characterized by humiliation and failure. First, it was colonialism then nation states which, not only failed to deliver dignity to the majority of people, but also failed to stop humiliating interferences by western powers in the region. Aggravated discontent and anger among people of the region led to the uprisings of the 2011, which took the world by surprise and began to shake balances of power in the region. With the battle lines between the pro- and anti-change forces are being drawn, the stage appears to have been set for a turbulent transition that could last for long. The events in MENA have been, and are likely to remain, connected to the broader globe.