Radicalization in the Mediterranean Region:
Old and New Drivers
A New-Med Conference
in cooperation with the center for middle eastern strategic studies (Orsam), Ankara
Ankara, 14 December 2015
Büyükhanli Park Hotel
Simon Bolivar Caddesi, 34 - Lycia Hall
8:30 Registration of Participants
9:00-9:30 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
Şaban Kardaş, ORSAM
Massimo Carnelos, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
9:30-11:00 Session I – How It Was, How It Is: Root Causes of the Current Regional Instability
Key questions: What is the mix of root causes and contingent factors behind processes leading to instability and violent radicalization in the Mediterranean region? Are these causes linked, as often claimed, to a “Middle Eastern exceptionalism”? What role does religion play? What role do unsolved conflicts play? What is the link between the macro level (geopolitical competition, weak governance, conflict) and the micro level (individuals and groups embracing radicalization in their respective communities)? How the equilibrium between the local regional “minorities” and “majorities” were in the past? What are the main new aspects, if any?
Chair: Emiliano Alessandri, OSCE, Vienna
Panelists: Toby Matthiesen, Oxford University: "Sectarianism in the International Relations of
the Middle East: Does it matter?”
Moshe Ma’oz, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem: “Religious-Nationalistic
Radicalization in Israel/Palestine: A Disastrous Syndrome?”
Lorenzo Kamel, Harvard University/IAI: “Ethnocentric Drives in the Middle East: an Historical Perspective”
Benoit Challand, New School for Social Research, New York: “Thinking Beyond
‘Regional Stability’. The Destabilizing Factor of International and Regional Aid”
11:00-11:30 Coffee Break
11:30-13:00 Session II – The Phenomenon of “Foreign Terrorist Fighters” Explained
Key questions: What do we know and what lessons have we learned from the apparently burgeoning phenomenon of so-called “foreign terrorist fighters” leaving their homes in neighboring countries and regions to join conflicts in the Middle East? Is this phenomenon truly new or have only the scope and the modalities evolved? In which way radicalization processes intersect with the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters? What role can anti-radicalization policies and campaigns play in the mix of strategies aimed at stemming the phenomenon?
Chair: Murat Yeşiltaş, SETA Foundation
Panelists: Lisa Watanabe, ETH Zurich: “Foreign Fighters and North African Countries”
Dietrich Jung, University of Southern Denmark: “The search for meaning in war’: Foreign fighters in comparative perspective”
Haldun Yalçinkaya, TOBB University of Economics and Technology: “Foreign Terrorist Fighters and Turkey”
Cemil Kilinç, Hedayah Center : “Lessons Learned on FTF Phenomena from Hedayah’s Perspective”
13:00-14:30 Buffet-Lunch
14:30-16:00 Session III: De-Radicalization and The Dynamic Interaction Between
Religion and Politics
Key questions: Which roles do religion, nationalism and religious nationalism play in the processes unfolding in the MENA? Do religions explain dynamics of conflict or merely provide manifestations of it? What role can religious traditions and religious leaders play in countering radicalization processes? In which ways interreligious and intra-religious dialogue help?
Chair: Necati Anaz, UTSAM
Panelists: Matteo Legrenzi, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice: “Iran, Saudi Arabia and the
New Religious and Political Proxy Wars in the Middle East”
Saban Ali Düzgün, University of Ankara: “Islam and Radicalization”
Paolo Branca, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan: “The Caliphate Between History and Myth”
Mohammad Abu Rumman, Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan:
“What Went Wrong with the ‘War on Terrorism’?”
16:00-16:30 Concluding Remarks
Emiliano Alessandri, OSCE, Vienna
Fatma Ceren Yazgan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey
Lorenzo Kamel, Harvard University/IAI
16:30 End of the Conference