The twelfth session of Aula Árabe Universitària and Aula Mediterrània of Casa Árabe, given by Andrea Teti, professor of International Relations at the University of Aberdeen, will take place on Wednesday 7 April at 6 p.m., and will deal with Democratisation versus Democracy: How European Policy Failed the Arab Revolts. In English, without interpretation.
After a timid reaction to the Tunisian revolution that erupted in late 2010, the EU claimed in early 2011 to have learned lessons from the Arab uprisings. What were those lessons, according to the EU? Primarily that previous policy had failed in two ways: first, that support for authoritarian regimes in the name of ‘stability’ and gradual ‘reformism’ was misguided. Second, that support for democracy and development needed to undergo a corresponding ‘paradigm shift’ and be much more inclusive than the EU had thought before the ‘Arab spring’. Unfortunately, these commitments amounted to little more than words. The session can be followed live on the cultural centre’s Youtube channel.
