The Maghreb Center Inaugural Symposium
February 8, 2007
Marriott Georgetown Conference Center, Leavey Center, Salon H
Cosponsors: Department of Government, Center for Contemporary Arab Affairs, World Bank InfoShop
Listen to Audio Recordings of the Sessions
Fifty years ago this year, in 1956, Morocco and Tunisia, two former French protectorates, gained their independence. Mauritania proclaimed its own independence from France in 1960, and Algeria remained under colonial yoke until 1962. Libya declared its sovereignty from Italy earlier in 1951.
Since then, in spite of numerous difficulties and setbacks, the five countries of the Maghreb, each one according to its own trajectory, shaped by its socio-historic specificities, have achieved substantial progress in modernizing their societies, structuring them as nation states, while struggling to achieve socio-economic development, and more recently to insert their respective economies into the global economy.
The symposium reviewed the current political and economic state of affairs of the five countries of the Maghreb, in light of these countries' respective histories and achievements. Panelists provided tools for a better understanding of these developments with suggestions on how to meet the current challenges.The symposium included four panels:
Trends in Political Reform and New Developments in Political Islam in the Maghreb
The Security Environment in the Maghreb
Economic Development Issues
International Relations: The EU and US relations with the Maghreb / Maghrebi Regional Integration
For more information about this event: click here