The Second Arab Awakening: Caabu and Legatum Institute book launch with Marwan Muasher

23 Apr 2014 18:30 - 20:00
Legatum Institute,
11 Charles Street, London
W1J 5DW
Green Park, Bond Street, Oxford Circus

The Second Arab Awakening

Please join Caabu and the Legatum Institute for a joint book launch with Marwan Muasher, vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment and former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Jordan in conversation with Michael Binyon, leader-writer, columnist and former foreign correspondent for The Times. 

You can read more about Marwan's book, The Second Arab Awakening and the Battle for Pluralism here.

If you are unable to attend the event, you will be able to watch it live, or follow #ArabAwakening2, @Caabu and @LegatumInst on Twitter. You can also keep up to date with the event on Caabu's Facebook page.

When: Wednesday, 23 April, 6:30pm

WhereLegatum Institute, 11 Charles Street, London W1J 5DW

Click here for directions.

You need to confirm your attendance before hand. RSVP to Joseph Willits ([email protected]). 

About the speaker:

Marwan Muasher is vice president for studies at Carnegie Endowment, where he oversees research in Washington and Beirut on the Middle East. Muasher served as foreign minister (2002-2004) and deputy prime minister (2004-2005) of Jordan, and his career has spanned the areas of diplomacy, development, civil society, and communications.

Muasher began his career as a journalist for the Jordan Times. He then served at the Ministry of Planning, at the prime minister's office as press adviser, and as director of the Jordan Information Bureau in Washington.

In 1995, Muasher opened Jordan's first embassy in Israel, and in 1996 he became minister of information and the government spokesperson. From 1997 to 2002, he served in Washington again as ambassador, negotiating the first free-trade agreement between the United States and an Arab nation. He then returned to Jordan to serve as foreign minister, where he played a central role in developing the Arab Peace Initiative and the Middle East roadmap.

In 2004, he became deputy prime minister responsible for reform and government performance and led the effort to produce a ten-year plan for political, economic, and social reform. From 2006 to 2007, he was a member of the Jordanian Senate.

From 2007 to 2010, he was senior vice president of external affairs at the World Bank.

He is the author of The Arab Center: The Promise of Moderation (Yale University Press, 2008).

You can read more about Muasher on his Carnegie profile. He tweets @MarwanMuasher.

About the chair:

Michael Binyon has been a leader-writer, columnist and foreign correspondent for The Times since 1971. For 15 years he was based overseas, reporting for the paper from Moscow, Washington, Bonn and Brussels before returning to London to be diplomatic editor in 1991 and then becoming the chief foreign leader-writer in 2000.

After graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in English and Arabic, he spent a year teaching English for the British Council in Minsk, USSR, in 1967 and in 1968 began as a reporter on The Times Educational Supplement, moving to the BBC Arabic Service in 1970 and becoming a founder reporter on The Times Higher Education Supplement in 1971. He covered the 1973 Middle East war for The Times in Jordan and Egypt.

He speaks French, German, Russian and some Arabic and is a frequent broadcaster on BBC radio and television, and also appears regularly on French, German, Canadian and Middle Eastern radio and television, including Al Jazeera and Al-Arabiya.

A winner of two British journalism prizes, he wrote "Life in Russia" in 1983, and was awarded an OBE in 2000. He formally retired from The Times in November 2009, but has continued to write regularly for the paper and other publications.

About the book:

"Scholar, statesman, and diplomat Marwan Muasher has served as Jordan's first ambassador to Israel, ambassador to the US, foreign minister, and deputy prime minister in charge of reform. He played a key role in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians for decades, and has long been a voice for tolerance across the Arab world.  While most books about recent events in the Arab world have been written by journalists, Muasher's book is founded on his long experience as a diplomat and on a deep understanding of Arab history. Many in the West are profoundly disappointed that the euphoria of the "Arab Spring" has not yielded clearer, faster results, but Muasher takes a much longer view.

His book offers hope that vigorous democracy, tolerance for dissent and political difference, and peaceful rotation of power can be achieved.  And he provides specific guidance, both for Arab activists and for outside nations hoping to influence the process, for making that hope a reality. Muasher assesses each Arab state's progress toward pluralism, the economic and social issues it must address, the key players in its current political scene, and the potential third forces that might drive reform. He provides essential information on each Islamic party's historical and current positions, highlighting differences that are often overlooked. He makes clear the ways misguided Western efforts to combat Islamism have strengthened it, and provides the most thorough analysis available of the ways the Israeli-Palestinian conflict interferes with the development of pluralism and peace in the region.

Written by a veteran diplomat with years of experience in governance in the Middle East, The Second Arab Awakening is both a practical guide and a wakeup call, urging all people who care about democracy toward more informed positions and effective actions on behalf of pluralism.

You can keep track of the event by following @Caabu on Twitter. Keep up to date with Caabu's work by 'Liking' ourFacebook page

If you would like to attend this event with Marwan Muasher, please RSVP to Joseph Willits ([email protected]).