BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:"\;A Change of Seasons: Egypt\, the ‘Arab Spring’ and the challenges ahead"\; - Demetrius A. Floudas\, Hughes Hall\, University of Cambridge DTSTART:20130610T161500Z DTEND:20130610T180000Z UID:TALK45712@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:28740 DESCRIPTION:*Monday 10 June 2013 5:15 for 5:30pm*\n\n_Hughes Hall Special Seminar_ \n \n*Pavilion Room\, Hughes Hall\, Cambridge\, CB1 2EW*\n\n\nFor several decades the pace of political change in the Middle East had been slow\, hence the revolutionary movements that spread across the Middle Eas t and North Africa in 2011 took everyone by surprise. Drawing on Eastern European precedents\, many in the West refer to these events as the ’Ara b Spring’. People in the Arab world prefer to speak of an ’Arab Awake ning\,’ an expression with clear antecedents in the social\, national\, constitutional and Islamic modernist reforms of the nineteenth and early t wentieth centuries. Whatever its name\, it is clear that the region in qu estion did reach a historic turning point: the rapid regime changes were u niversally hailed as a harbinger of democracy and a factor for rapid socie tal progress and liberalisation.\n\nTwo and a half years after the uprisin gs\, this seminar aims at taking stock of political developments in key Mi ddle Eastern and North African countries. The regimes may have changed\, but the euphoria and revolutionary enthusiasm generated in the first few m onths are now almost obsolete. The political and security scene in most of the countries in the region remains in flux\, often chaotic and more conf using than ever. And the hopes for social evolution appear to have been q uite premature.\n\nDemetrius Floudas revisits the topic\, with a particula r emphasis on Egypt\, which has always been one of the trendsetters for th e region. This lecture intends to present a quick overview of the uprisin gs of 2011\, and will follow with deeper analysis of its causes\, undercur rents and realities. A number of issues will be discussed\, based on opin ions of international analysts as well as the speaker's own experience fro m his personal observations during recent months in Cairo.\n\n_Demetrius A M.-A. Floudas has been advising the Egyptian Competition Authority in Cai ro since September 2012. He has presented his analyses of the topic in a number of countries\, providing his assessment of the unfolding situation in Egypt. Demetrius Floudas is a Senior Associate of Hughes Hall\, a Fell ow of the Hellenic Institute of International and Foreign Law and Visiting Professor at the Faculty of International Law of the Moscow State Institu te for International Relations (MGIMO-University)._\n\n*The lecture will b e followed by a wine reception*\n\n*All are warmly invited to attend.*\n\n _*RSVP* to Rachel Knight\,_\n\n_Events Officer\, Hughes Hall\,_\n\n_Univer sity of Cambridge\, Cambridge CB1 2EW_\n\n_Email: events@hughes.cam.ac.uk_ \n\n_Tel: +44 (0) 1223 768244_\n LOCATION:Pavillion Room\, Hughes Hall\, Cambridge END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR