​IFI and the Economic Research Forum (ERF) organized a conference on December 15, titled “What Do We Learn from the 2019 Social Movements in Iraq, Sudan, Algeria, and Lebanon?” Its aim was to focus on the intellectual production stemming from the region's social movements as they happened, their legacy so far, and the lessons drawn to shape a more progressive social contract.
The conference started with opening remarks by ERF Managing Director Ibrahim Elbadawi, IFI Director Joseph Bahout, and Ishac Diwan, Director of Research at Finance for Development Lab and IFI Associate Fellow; followed by five sessions, whereby several problematics regarding the social movements were raised and discussed.
During Session 1: “What Happened?” experts discussed the political economy’s underpinnings of the uprisings. According to Jeffrey G. Karam, from the Lebanese American University: “The timing and makeup of Lebanon’s protests was unprecedented. I call it a revolutionary uprising constantly unfolding with ups and downs.” Panelists questioned whether or not these movements were born out of grievances and/or aspirations, and how they compare to the movements of 2011. To clarify Sudan’s stance on the matter, Hassan Alhassan, former speaker of the Sudan Democratic Alliance, noted, “the framework agreement reached in Sudan constitutes the first stage in the political settlement process,” and that “the only guarantor is the continuation of demonstrations.”
Session 2: “The Revolutionary Movement” covered the circumstances of the revolutions in the Arab countries in question, namely Iraq, Sudan, Algeria and Lebanon. Speakers commented on the value of citizen protests, stressing that revolutions in general don’t fail.
Session 3: “The Feminist’s Hirak” dealt with the active role of women as demonstrators and social activists, and how this affected the patriarchal culture and practice. Panelists stressed that women's participation in the Hirak wasn't the first instance of their political activism. They also discussed how social media played a role in giving women a voice and how this participation led them to take part and engage in the public space. On that point, Osman Mirghani, Chief Editor of Sudan’s Al Tayar Daily noted: “In the midst of social movements, the media has a cumulative role, specifically free and responsible media, to raise awareness among citizens.”
Session 4: “The Youth of the Thawra” noted that the youth were on the front lines of protests throughout Arab countries and questioned the extent to which they contribute to cultural-social change.
Finally, Session 5: “A Revolution for Nothing? How Did Things Change?” concluded that the Social Movements of 2019 died out due to Covid-19 and repression, whereas those of 2011 were extinguished by force. However, panelists noted there were still lessons that emerged from the movements and highlighted how new dynamics among the population were born after the protests, in addition to progressive and revolutionary gains made throughout.
Read more about the conference here and the complete agenda here.

 
IFI in collaborating with La Fondation Maison des sciences de l’Homme- Paris (FMSH) and the Berghof Foundation, hosted a policy roundtable titled “Preventing and Responding to Violent Extremism through Community Resilience (PAVE)” on December 9, 2022.  The roundtable aimed to gather representatives of the donor community working on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism” (P/CVE) in Lebanon to share findings and discuss the evidence-based policy recommendations presented by the EU H2020 project PAVE.

The panel included Rudayna Al-Baalbaky - Arab and International Program Coordinator at IFI; Lara Azzam - Senior Project Manager and Research Fellow at the Berghof Foundation; Johanna-Maria Hülzer - Junior Project Manager at the Berghof Foundation; Marie Kortam - Senior Research Fellow at La Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme; and moderated by Josep Garcia Coll – Researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies. Preventing violent extremism on a community level has been an under-researched topic that lacks conceptualization. To overcome this obstacle, the EU funded the three-year PAVE project, which collected data across twelve countries from the Middle East, North Africa, the Western Balkans, and Europe.

 ​“Key outputs of the project include PAVE research reports that have been published on the project website. In addition, we are currently publishing a series of policy briefs compiling key recommendations for each country. We have developed a transnational risk and resilience map on the basis of our thematic work on diaspora communities. We have a forthcoming toolkit for practitioners and policy makers. Also, we are currently developing training tools based on all research findings which can be useful for practitioners.” -Johanna-Maria Hüzler

​In addition to introducing the PAVE project, the policy roundtable presented findings on drivers of both vulnerability and resilience to violent extremism in Lebanon. The research in Lebanon investigated Sunni, Shiite, and Maronite communities based on two main thematic clusters: the interactions between states and religious institutions and online and offline (de)radicalization.

“One of the aspects of the power-sharing system in Lebanon is the structural intersection between the spheres of formal Sunni religion and political parties. The interaction between these official institutions can both act as a factor of community vulnerability and resilience towards the acts and discourse of violent extremism. Variables such as the political affiliation of state and religious institutions, the leadership of the dominant political party, political polarization, and regional powers’ intervention, play a role in this interaction. The effects that these variables produce are determined by the scope (community- or state-level) of the analysis.”  -Rudayna Al-Baalbaky

“In our field site of Majdal Anjar, during the period from 2000 to 2010, radicalization mainly took place offline, such as through the circulation of audio tapes and videos from abroad. Young people from Majdal Anjar would gather to watch violent videos of the war in Iraq that made them feel either collectively victorious or collectively victimized. From 2010 onwards, social media was the main medium of radicalization, particularly on Telegram. This was coupled with the feeling of disenfranchisement that is associated with being a Lebanese Sunni under the perceived Hezbollah domination. Sources of offline radicalization include books through which jihadist theorists Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi and Abu Qatada disseminated Salafi-Jihadi ideology. Those same books became some of the material used for online radicalization, uploaded on social media platforms, circulated and discussed among jihadi circles and referenced in recruitment processes,” -Lara Azzam

The discussed findings are included in PAVE Working Paper 4 and Working Paper 6. By presenting key findings on violent extremism in Lebanon, the policy roundtable aimed to provide context-adaptable policy recommendations to the donors and partners of Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE) in Lebanon.
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The presentation was followed by a Q&A session, with representatives from the Lebanese National PVE Coordination Unit, Australian Embassy, European Union, French Embassy, Japanese Embassy, and International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies.

IFI in collaboration with the Asfari Institute for Civil Society & Citizenship at the American University of Beirut held a book discussion of "Contested Concepts in Migration Studies" with author Ricard Zapata-Barrero Professor at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona.  The discussion was held on December 7 and moderated by Sari Hanafi.

In his opening remarks, Hanafi introduced the book as one that “provides awareness and comprehension to the complex questions of migration studies,” noting that refugees should be considered as a legal concept and not as a sociological concept. During the discussion, Zapata-Barrero emphasized that concepts related to migration and diversity are always contested. He also questioned why certain concepts are more operative in certain regions than others, and why some particular concepts are not welcomed or simply ignored in some regions, all which he hoped his book would shed greater light on.
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Read more on the book here.