The Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies (PIIRS) will co-host a workshop on Arab political development with a public by Saad Eddin Ibrahim, founder and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, titled "The Angst of Arab Dissidents" on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. in Bowl 001 in Robertson Hall. Ibrahim's talk is the inaugural event of the University's Workshop in Arab Political Development, directed by Amaney Jamal, an associate professor of politics at Princeton.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim is founder and chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies. He is currently a Wallerstein Visiting Scholar at Drew University. Ibrahim also serves as secretary general of the Egyptian Independent Commission for Electoral Review, Member of the Club of Rome, trustee of the Arab Thought Forum, and president of the Egyptian Sociologists Association.

An internationally recognized political activist and scholar, Ibrahim has been one of the Arab world's most prominent spokesmen on behalf of democracy and human rights.

Ibrahim completed his undergraduate work at Cairo University, and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Washington.  In 1988, he founded the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, one of the first independent research centers in the Middle East, which remains one of Egypt's preeminent research and advocacy institutions.

He is the author, coauthor, or editor of more than thirty-five books in Arabic and English, including Egypt, Islam, and Democracy: Critical Essays (2002). He has written more than 100 scholarly articles, some of which have been translated into as many as thirteen languages.

He has also been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Jordanian Order of Independence, the Kuwait Award in Social and Economic Sciences, the Middle East Studies Association Award for Academic Freedom, the Freedom House Award for Defending Democracy and Human Right s, and the American Sociological Association Award for Lifetime Contribution to the Social Sciences and Freedom.

His work and activism also led to him being selected as a finalist for the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.

Ibrahim also has taught courses at a variety of American universities including Harvard University, Columbia University, NYU, the University of Chicago, University of Indiana, UCLA, and the University of Washington. He also founded and served as the secretary-general of the Arab Organization for Human Rights and the Arab Council of Childhood and Development.

This event is co-sponsored by the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies and the Department and Program in Near Eastern Studies. 



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