The Higher Center of Research, in collaboration with the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities and the Higher Institute of Political and Administrative Sciences at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, organized on May 6, 2011 a round table on the theme of “The Arab World and Revolution”.

This round table aimed at examining the current situation in the Arab countries, its different dimensions and repercussions, in an attempt to trace the future of the region and the fate of Arab citizens. The participants from Lebanon and several Arab countries presented a definition of the concept of revolution from a large perspective and dealt with the current revolutions in the Arab countries, presenting the various causes and latest developments.

Following the opening speech of Rev. Fr. Youhanna Akiki, USEK Vice-President for Research, in which he wondered if we have become close enough to a new Middle East, Dr. Taher Labib, from Tunisia, stated that “we cannot and do not know how to define our revolution, since the Tunisian revolution happened all of a sudden”, whereas Prof. Hoda Nehme, Dean of Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities, approached the concept of revolution within the framework of interaction between peoples and their regimes. MP Farid El Khazen stated that the current revolutions are taking place following a period of stagnation in the Arab world, considering that Arab countries are going through the era of globalization and democratic changes, heading towards a better socio-economic situation. In turn, Prof. Hanafi from Egypt considered that the Egyptian revolution was a very difficult experience which led Egyptians to revolt against the bitter reality. He concluded that the real makers of revolution are those who write and think and not those who fled in the streets”. Finally, Dr. Shahal emphasized in her speech that “the stagnation of Arab peoples in previous years was the result of a “brainwashing” done by authorities that were trying to convince their peoples that they are unable to do a revolution and provoke change, and therefore, these peoples accepted the status quo and did not dare to carry out a coup d’état”.