Ilyas Saliba
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A Semester at the EUI in Florence

9/15/2014

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Picture
view over Firenze from the EUI terrace

Long time no post. As you can imagine there is a reason. I have been rather busy with some conferences (ECPR Graduate conference in Innsbruck), a Summerschool (Comparative Authoritarianism in Oslo), teaching (Political Theory seminar at Humboldt University) and writing a reworked and extended dissertation prospectus on my PhD including a literature review.

I hope that I can soon make up for that and deliver some posts on those events and experiences. However the main point of this post is my stay at the European University Insitute (EUI) in Fiesole (just of Florence) that has just began a week ago. 

I am staying at the EUI until mid December as a visiting scholar at the Department for Social and Political Sciences and will primarily work with Donatella Della Porta on Diffusion effects among regimes during the Arab Uprisings and Ulrich Krotz on coordinated international effects on regime (in)stability and with Olivier Roy to get some insights on elite interviews and fieldwork in the Maghreb region. All three of them are based at the Robert Schumann Center for Advanced Studies.

The first week after my arrival was much about setting my self up and getting to know the people and the possibilities the EUI has to offer. Let me assure you there are loads. However as my primary aim dunring my limited time in Italy is to proceed with my dissertation and get two current work in progress papers to the next stage I have decided not to take too many courses or the like but to rather partcipate in selected courses and workshop and use the opportunity to present some of my current work in progress in some of the working groups here over the course of my stay. 

From my first impression the EUI seems like a great place for exactly that and I have already caught myself wishing I could stay longer. But as my fieldwork is up next in the beginning of the next year I will have to return to Berlin for at least a month before leaving yet again.

I will surely post more regularly during my stay at the EUI and report form the workshops and the academic environment on the over the next months. Exiting times are also ahead as I am going to visit my first conference in the US in november at the Middle Eastern Studies Association yearly gathering in november in Washington DC and I am invitied to the opening conference of the newly founded Center for Advanced Studies South Eastern Europe (CAS) in Berlin with the title:  "What makes New Forms of Authoritarianism so Attractive? Rethinking the Shades between Authoritarian and Democratic Rule" to speak on the topic of: Morocco as a role model for constitutional monarchy for the 21st century? (big questionmark). 

I will close with some another foto from the EUI campus to give you an idea of what the charme of this truly unique institution is all about.

Picture
courtyard of the Villa Badia
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Former Tunisian Prime Minister Jebali in Berlin

1/6/2014

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Picture
Mr Jebali during his keynote speech at the Freie Universität

On Decemeber 1st Mr Hamadi Jebali the former Tunisian prime minister gave a keynote speech at the campus of the Free University of Berlin.
The topic of the talk was an analysis of the current situation of Tunisia.
Unfortunately Mr Jebalis picture of the situation in Tunisia remained very superficial. On the contrary he went on at length about the international environment around Tunisia and the imminent dangers and problems connected with it. His sometimes involute speech (maybe this was also due to the translators) Mr Jebali painted a picture of Tunisia as an isle of democracy in the middle east that is endangered from all sides (geographically) and dimensions (political, economic, security). the notion of terror triangles situated close to Tunisian boarders was the highlight of this talk (see foto).

The whole story telling finally concluded in Mr Jebali teklling teh audience at the FU that Tunisia is in desperate need for support from Germany & Europe and it could not cope with the challenges it is facing without European support.

To be honest I would have preferred a keynote focussing on the primarily domestic issues and ongoing political developments in the post-revolutionary Tunisia. The challenges do not only lie at Tunisias boarders as implied by Mr Jebali but also in the very heart of Tunisias capital and its constitutional assembly. Three years after the ousting of the cleptocratic autocrat Ben-Ali Tunisia is still struggling to give itself a new jurisiticial foundation for its new polity. Alongside this long lasting process political violence against members of the non islamic political elite is growing. None of these challenges were sufficiently addressed in Jebalis speech.
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Discussion with Claus Leggewie & Remi Brague on the mediterranean Space at the Berlin Academy of Science

9/24/2013

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Picture
©Susanne Hauer

Picture
©Susanne Hauer
On tuesday evening I was moderating an event at the Berlin Brandenburg Academy of Science (BBAW). It was the first event of a series called "Zukunftsorte Europas" (future places in Europe) and was dedicated to the "Mittelmeerraum" ergo the mediterranean space. The first speaker was the french philosopher Remi Brague a Prof at Universite Paris 1 and the Ludwigs Maximilian Universität München. He talked about the history of the medierranean region and its mystification as an aerea of multicultural exchange. He criticised precisely this backward looking and in his view incorrect view on the mediterranean. Arguing that looking into history there has barely been a true exchange through dialogue between the three main monotheistic religious cultures around tghe mediterranean sea. The Only thing that did have positiv impacts in terms of civilisatory improvements were products of imperialism or chance such as the translation of the great greek philosophers from arabic into latin. Furthermore he argued that a truly mutual multicultural dialogue can only be reached through beginning it focussing on common interests not on cultural or religious matters.
The second talk was given by Prof Claus Leggewie who is the director of the Institute for advanced study in the humanities in Essen. He had less of an historical perspective on the mediterranean but more of an utopic vision for the future arguing from an assesment of todays situation around the central sea. Criticizing the negative images of the southern sea (from german perspective) especially during the ongoing economic crisis. He developed a future vision for the region that entails sustainable investment in green energy, eco-tourism, infrastructure, environmental protection and scientific and educational exchange throughout the mediterranean region. His main arguments can be found in the book "Zukunft im Süden".
The following discussion was focussing especially on the remarks of Prof Leggewie and the audience engaged in a lively debate about the crisis management, multiculturalism and the future of the mediterranean region. Moderating the event was an inspiring and exciting experience overall.
The Deutsche Welle Radio had a short report about the event that can be found here.
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    Ilyas Saliba

    is a researcher and PhD student in political science, freelance journalist and photographer interested in Democracy, Transition, Authoritarianism and Security especially in the MIddle East and North Africa.

    From time to time I will publish links, comments and thoughts relating to my research, events, current political issues and the life as a PhD student on this Blog.

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