Western-backed President Hosni Mubarak has a lot to answer for what his former foreign minister and now the head of the Arab League, Amr Musa, recently called the Arab broken soul. Mubarak leaves behind an Egypt riddled with poverty, corruption, socio-economic disparities, political uncertainties and foreign policy dilemmas. The popular uprising against him is very much reminiscent of the Iranian revolution of 1978/79 that toppled the pro-Western regime of the Shah and set Iran on a turbulent course of theocratic development, with an anti-US posture. Egypt is a pivotal state in the Arab world. Whatever direction it takes, it is bound to affect the regional status quo, confronting the US and its allies (most importantly Israel) with serious quandaries.
This lecture discusses Mubarak’s legacy and its consequences for Egypt, the region and beyond.
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AMIN SAIKAL is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (the Middle East and Central Asia) at the Australian National University.
Professor Saikal has been a visiting fellow at Princeton University, Cambridge University, and the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, as well as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in International Relations (1983-1988). He was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) in January 2006 for his services to the international community and education as well as an advisor and author. He is the author of numerous works on the Middle East, Central Asia, and Russia. His latest books include The Rise and Fall of the Shah: Iran from Autocracy to Religious Rule (Princeton: Princeton University Press 2009); Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival (London I.B. Tauris 2006); Islam and the West: Conflict or Cooperation? (London: Palgrave 2003). He has also published many articles in major international journals, and Op-Ed pieces in a number of national and international dailies, including the International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Guardian. And he is a frequent commentator on issues related to the Middle East and Central Asia on radio and television.
This lecture is fully subscribed and no more seats are available. A video recording of the lecture will be available on ANUchannel at YouTube in the near future. Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/ANUchannel