The Middle East Institute, in collaboration with The American Tunisian Association, The Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), and the Conflict Management Program at SAIS, is proud to present Duncan Pickard, non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, Dr. Nathan Brown, professor of political science at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, and Dr. William Zartman, distinguished professor emeritus of Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), for a conversation about Tunisia's recently ratified constitution.
Three years after the actions of a 26-year-old Tunisian helped bring about the overthrow of a 23-year-old dictatorship and free elections, the constituent assembly has ratified a historic constitution guaranteeing equality between men and women and freedom of conscience. Three leading experts will explore how "Islamist" and "secular" political parties succeeded in building consensus around the constitution; key debates about executive power and women's rights; and Tunisia's prospects for maintaining a democratic constitutional order.
Bios:
Duncan Pickard is a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center, specializing on Tunisia's constitution, and previously working in Tunis for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
Dr. Nathan Brown is a professor of political science at George Washington University's Elliott School and is an expert on democratization and constitutionalism in the Arab world.
Dr. William Zartman is distinguished professor emeritus of Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies, an expert on negotiation, and author of a number of standard works on North African politics.