Democratization and the protection of human rights have typically been understood as domestic phenomena. However, popular commentary on the Arab Spring has included reference to the international dimensions of the diffusion of democracy and human rights that began with the self-immolation of a street vendor in Tunisia and the subsequent spread of political protest, conflict, and transformation engulfing the region. Against the background of the recent waves of regime crisis and regime collapse in the MENA region, the importance of new triggers of protest mobilisation such as new social media and their interplay with the international dimension to democracy and human rights becomes evident.

The event addressed the prospects for the promotion of democracy and human rights taking into consideration the various internal and external dynamics that drive their proliferation in the world. The latest research results were introduced to give policy makers and the media a clearer understanding where we stand today with respect to democracy promotion.

In his Key Note, Professor Landman provided an overview of the conceptual, empirical and practical issues surrounding the idea of 'democratic diffusion' in the era of the 'Arab Spring'. He argued that popular commentary on the dramatic developments in the Middle East and North Africa since late 2010 have had a tendency to over simplify both the complexity of the region and complexity of democratisation itself. Simple narratives about the inevitable democratisation of the region ignore the diversity of outcomes across cases such as Tunisia and Egypt (regime change and elections), Libya (international intervention and regime change), Yemen and Bahrain (challenge and crackdown), and Syria (violent and bloody conflict). For Landman, the popular mobilisations in the region came primarily from economic discontent, which was coupled with a larger political critique and desire for regime change, but not necessarily an overwhelming desire for democracy per se.

Programme

• Welcome: Minister Angelica Schwall-Düren
  Government of North Rhine-Westphalia

Key Note:

• Todd Landman
  Director of the Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution at the University of Essex

Panel Discussion:

• Todd Landman
  Institute for Democracy and Conflict Resolution at the University of Essex
• Alexander Graf Lambsdorff
  Member of the European Parliament and Head of the EU Election Monitoring Mission in Libya (in July 2012)
• Nabila Hamza
  President, Foundation for the Future (FFF)
• Jörg Faust (Moderator)
  Head of Department “Governance, Statehood, Security”, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE), Bonn