The Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria and the

Afro-Middle East Centre (AMEC)

invite you to a public seminar

Strategic, regional and global implications of the Middle East uprisings

Speaker: Alastair Crooke

Date: Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Time: 10.00-12.00
Venue: Seminar Room, HSB, 19-15, University of Pretoria

ABOUT THE TOPIC:
Recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East, the continuing protests in Yemen, Bahrain and Syria, and the civil war in Libya have caught politicians, analysts, and activists off-guard. While most people are still trying to make sense of what is happening in each of these countries, and to attempt to understand what kind of future might be expected, it is also necessary to analyse the implications of these revolts for a changed MENA region and for the rest of the world. How will these revolts affect Israel, Iran, Turkey and other regional players who have closely watching the uprisings to gauge how these fit in with their own strategic interests? With the winds of democracy blowing forcefully through the region, can we expect new alliances that will force us to re-evaluate what we know of the region? How will the uprisings affect the relationship between the Middle East and the West - in particular, the United States and various European countries?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Alastair Crooke (born 1950) was the founder and is the director of Conflicts Forum (www.conflictsforum.org), an organisation that advocates for engagement between political Islam and the West. Previously a British diplomat, he was also a Middle East advisor to Javier Solana, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (CFSP) from 1997 to 2003, and facilitated a number of de-escalations of violence and military withdrawals in the Occupied Palestinian Territory with Islamist movements from 2000 to 2003. He was centrally involved in the diplomatic efforts during the Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Crooke was also a member of the Mitchell Committee into the causes of the Second Intifada in 2000. He held clandestine meetings with the Hamas leadership in June 2002, and is an active advocate of engagement with Hamas.
   Crooke studied at the University of St Andrews (1968–1972), from where he obtained an MA in Politics and Economics. His book Resistance: The Essence of the Islamist Revolution, provides background on what he calls the “Islamist Revolution” in the Middle East, and offers strategic insights into the origins and logic of Islamist groups which have adopted military resistance as a tactic, including Hamas and Hizbullah. The book traces the essence of the Islamist Revolution from its origins in Egypt, through Najaf, Lebanon, Iran and the Iranian Revolution to the present day, and uncovers some of the thorniest issues surrounding stability in the current Middle East landscape.

Date: Tuesday, 12 April 2011
Time: 10.00-12.00
Venue: Seminar Room, HSB, 19-15, University of Pretoria

For more information, call Nazlie - 011 782-6754 or 082 490 7449