Knowledge & Change Spotlight: Authoritarian regimes

Parallel session: The upgrading and resilience of authoritarian regimes & international context

Tags: West Asia , Civil Society in West Asia

The ‘spotlight session’ provides a daily preview of key events of our upcoming Knowledge Dialogue. Today we would like to highlight the parallel session on the upgrading and resilience of authoritarian regimes & international context and Steven Heydemann who extensively wrote on the phenomenon of upgrading authoritarianism.

During this session, experts will look into practices of upgrading authoritarianism. Authoritarian regimes are not irrational, outdated rulers, doomed to fail. They have been quick learners, adapting their own strategies in manifold ways to changing circumstances. They actively fill the space occupied by civil society, present themselves as the only safeguard for stability and sovereignty, provide now and then some space for hope for more lenient behaviour in the future, and masterfully play a divide and rule strategy. International sanctions against such regimes can hardly topple them, on the contrary: they support the narrative of authoritarian rulers and help to silence opposition. Contributions by Marlies Glasius (UvA), Steven Heydemann (USIP), Reinoud Leenders (UvA) Yulia Poskakukhina (EuropeAid).

Steven Heydemann serves as vice president of the Grant and Fellowship Program of the US Institute of Peace, and as special adviser to the Institute's work on the Muslim world. His research and teaching interests focus on the Arab world, and include authoritarian governance, economic development, social policy, political and economic reform and civil society. From 2003 to 2007, Heydemann directed the Center for Democracy and Civil Society at Georgetown University. He has also served as director of the Social Science Research Council’s Program on International Peace and Security and its Program on the Near and Middle East (1990-1997). From 1997 to 2001, he was an associate professor in the department of political science at Columbia University. Heydemann has served on the board of directors of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) of North America and is currently a member of MESA’s Committee on Public Affairs. He is the author of Authoritarianism in Syria: Institutions and Social Conflict, 1946-1970. (sheydemann@usip.org).

Date: 30 September. Time:14.00-15.45 hours. To participate in the Knowledge Dialogue, you can register here.