Regional West Asia
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Politics, Economy and State Structure in Syria
Politics, Economy and State Structure in Iran
Iran: An (almost) revolutionary situation
The post-election revolt of June 12 in Iran created a `revolutionary’ potential for confrontation with the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). Almost all authoritarian electoral regimes ultimately produce several crises, like the lack of elite cohesion, crisis of ideological legitimacy, and inability to manage and control the country’s affairs.
Launch Publication West Asia Knowledge Programme
Within the framework of Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia, Hivos in collaboration with NIMD ad University of Amsterdam, will launch on 26 March 2010 the policy paper ‘Beyond Orthodox Approaches, Assessing Opportunities for Democratic Support in the Middle East and North Africa. The launch will take place at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This publication aims to explore what role - if any - external organisations, such as Hivos and NIMD, can play to further demo...
Launch Publication Beyond Orthodox Approaches
Within the framework of Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia, Hivos in collaboration with NIMD ad University of Amsterdam, will launch on 26 March 2010 the policy paper ‘Beyond Orthodox Approaches, Assessing Opportunities for Democratic Support in the Middle East and North Africa. The launch will take place at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.› read more...
Tags: West Asia, Civil Society in West Asia
Date: 26 March : Location: VOC hal, Oost Indisch Huis E0.02, Kloveniersburgwal 48, University of Amsterdam
Tags: West Asia, Civil Society in West Asia
Date: 26 March : Location: VOC hal, Oost Indisch Huis E0.02, Kloveniersburgwal 48, University of Amsterdam
Launch Publication Beyond Orthodox Approaches
Within the framework of Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia, Hivos in collaboration with NIMD ad University of Amsterdam, will launch on 26 March 2010 the policy paper ‘Beyond Orthodox Approaches, Assessing Opportunities for Democratic Support in the Middle East and North Africa. This publication aims to explore what role - if any - external organisations, such as Hivos and NIMD, can play to further democratisation in the region. Hivos and NIMD are fully aware that the political s...
Imitation of the West'? Civil society in the Arab world
On Thursday 28 January 2010, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi declared in a televised address to the General People's Congress that the idea of civil society "is a bourgeois culture and an imitation of the West that has no place here [in Libya]" . Gaddafi's statement last week drew particular media attention because it came on the eve of a proposal due to be announced by his son, Saif al-Islam, which would have permitted the creation of NGOs. Gaddafi's comments were grounded in Lib...
NEWSLETTER Civil Society in West Asia, Issue 2: 'Democratization Industry' and Challenges faced by Civil Society Concept
15/02/2010 Crisis is a much-overworked word in social sciences generally and in politics in particular. Phrases such as ‘democracy promotion is in crisis’ or ‘civil society can never be a force for democratization’ are simplistic overstatements. However, one cannot deny that there are serious challenges on the road to democratization, both of a conceptual and of a practical nature. The second issue of the newsletter of Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia deals with the challenges faced by th...Working Paper: Moth or Flame, the Sunni Sphere and Regime Durability in Syria
02/12/2009 This working paper is written by Teije Hidde Donker and based on the forthcoming academic article “Enduring Ambiguity. The Civil Dynamics of Authoritarian Upgrading in Sunni Syria” Teije Hidde Donker is currently a PhD student at the European University Institute in Florence. During the first half of 2009 he conducted field research in Syria for the Knowledge Programme Civil Society in West Asia
Blogging Toward Utopia
The growth of Internet usage in the Middle East and North Africa is among the world’s fastest: between 2000 and 2007 usage increased almost 500 percent, more than twice the rate of increase in the rest of the world. Just as elsewhere, this has led to Middle Eastern cyber-optimism - among the users of digital tools and Internet watchers alike. It is a widely-held hope that the coming of Web 2.0 can move closed societies towarddemocratic values and governance.Politics, Economy and State Structure in Iran
Iran officially became an Islamic Republic on 1 April 1979, after the 1979 Revolution. The political system of the Islamic Republic is based on the 1979 Constitution. The system comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The Supreme Leader of Iran is Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei while the president is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Supreme Leader of Iran is responsible for delineation and supervision of the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran’s economy is a mixtur...
Facing the Future: 30 years Islamic Republic of Iran
On 20 February a symposium and a roundtable will be organized to reflect on 30 years of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Zem Zem has recently published a special edition entitled Khomeini's erfenis. 1979-2009 (in Dutch).The symposium includes a public lecture and two workshops at the University of Amsterdam (daytime). In the evening a public debate will be held at De Balie in Amsterdam. Speakers include Homa Katouzian, Touraj Atabaki, Anoush Ehteshami, Shervin Nekuee.