Since the Arab rebellion started in Tunisia a bit less than two years ago, the debate on democracy has gained new momentum in many countries of the Middle East and North Africa. In Tunisia and Egypt elections have brought moderate Islamist political parties to power. In other countries like Syria the struggle between governmental and oppositional forces is still ongoing. This CTTC explores the wider implications of these rapid changes in the region on democratic development. How can we assess the Islamists’ coming to power from a historical and comparative perspective? How is the new Egypt going to reposition itself in the Middle East? How can we describe and analyze the current developments in Syria? Is this era the end of the exceptional status of the Arab/Muslim World and the end of post-colonialism?

Prof. Dr. Gudrun Krämer is Professor of Islamic Studies and Director of the Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies of Freie Universität Berlin. She published books on the history of Islam and Palestine and a biography of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al Banna. In 2010 she received the Gerda Henkel Prize in recognition of her research on the history, culture, religion, and values of Muslims.

Dr. Navid Kermani is a writer and scholar in Islamic studies of Iranian background. He is a member of Academy of Sciences in Hamburg and was a Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin. He has written many books, novels as well as essays on Islam, the Middle East and Christian-Muslim dialogue. He was awarded the Ernst Bloch Prize for his book Gott ist schön - Das ästhetische Erleben des Koran.

The debate is chaired by Julia Gerlach, a journalist and book author living in Cairo.

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