A conference on the factors that have led to greater, or more restricted, liberties in countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on the role of religious actors, international bodies like the UN, civil society, and developments since the Arab Spring.

Speakers: Dr. Nouzha Guessous (University Honorary Professor, Feminist, Human Rights and Social Activist; A Key Creator of Morocco’s Progressive 2004 Family Code); Dr. Radwan Masmoudi (President, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, Tunisia); Dr. Toby C. Jones (Specialist on Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University);Dr. Tarek Masoud (Egyptian Specialist on Political Transitions, Assistant Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government); Dr. Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro (Chairman, United Nations Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry on Syria).

Discussants: Dr. Alfred Stepan (Wallace Sayre Professor of Government, Columbia University) and Nina zu Fürstenberg (President, Board of Govenors, Reset-Dialogues On Civilizations).

Co-Sponsored by The Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion; The Middle East Institute; and Reset- Dialogues on Civilizations, a Rome-based non-profit that promotes dialogue and intercultural understanding through international conferences and its online magazine.