PUBLIC LECTURE: The Arab world: between Collapse and Transformation

Seminar/Public Talk by Professor Shafeeq Ghabra, Kuwait University

Since the rebellions of 2011 and more so since 2012, the Arab order is actually in a state of disorder, sitting atop a time bomb made up of youth, who constitute the overwhelming majority. Today’s youth, in stable and in non-stable states, want more freedom, dignity, jobs, and security — in short, more fulfilling lives. The state’s desire for unaccountability and security cannot satisfy their aspirations and in fact pushes them in the opposite direction. If the present trends dominated by unaccountable and non-responsive security-oriented regimes continues, the next wave of Arab revolutions will be more radical in its thinking and methods.

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Shafeeq Ghabra is a Professor of Political Science at Kuwait University. He is currently Visiting Scholar at the Arab Centre, Doha, Qatar. From 1996 to 1999 he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the Social Sciences at Kuwait University. Dr Ghabra has been a Visiting Professor at The College of William and Mary and a Visiting Scholar at George Mason University’s Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. He has also been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Denver. His most recent books include: Kuwait and the Dynamics of State and Society (2011) and Unsafe Life: The Generation of Dreams and Disappointments (2012). Professor Ghabra is visiting the Centre for Muslim States and Societies as part of ANU's Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies project sponsored by the International Speakers Program supported by the Australian Government through the Council for Australian-Arab Relations of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Entry free, but registration via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/cmss-seminar-series-religion-state-and-society-2017-tickets-32521886839