Prolific journalist and author Robin Wright enlightened the Whittier College community as she discussed her experiences as a journalist in the Middle East during this year’s Feinberg’s Lecture titled “Rock the Casbah – The Future of the Middle East,” held at the Ruth B. Shannon Center of the Performing Arts.
During the lecture, Wright discussed the role that the Arab Spring has played on the political landscape in Middle East its effects on the fate of the Islamic State of Iraq and ISIS.
Wright discussed how the rise of extremist Islamic groups has led to widespread turmoil among Middle Eastern regions and political fragmentation. “We see parties we did not understand or thought were not as committed to democratic principles, losing their place in society,” Wright said. “There is a yin and a yang in a place of political Islam we are seeing growing extremist Islam the Islamic state in creating caliphate that has had a much stronger influence than al-Qaida did."
According to Wright, the political transition from an oppressive autocratic system to a democratic state continues to be a challenge today. “We see a state of purgatory because people and the youth of these regions do not having means, networks, and resources that allow them to campaign and develop political parties" said Wright. "As a result, we see that communities return to their nationalistic and autocratic ideologies in order to protect themselves because they lack alternatives.”
However, Wright explained that the rise of education and social media has developed a sense of understanding and exposed those newer generations to political tends elsewhere.
“We see in this process for political change in these regions a developing sense of common good and responsibility to balance rights,” Wright added. “We are in a twilight between that period when people in the region understand they have rights in autocratic systems and to fight against it. We see the United States’ 17-nation coalition as a step towards solidifying peacekeeping relations among Arab countries.”
Political Science major and junior Julia Davis, who attended this event as part of her international relations class was inspired at the way in which Wright expressed the personal struggles of families and youth in the Middle East. “We see with cases such as that of the Tunisian justice street vendor who demanded the right to support his family that call for democratic reforms,” said Davis.
Robin Wright is a joint fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the U.S. Institute of Peace. A former correspondent for The Washington Post, her most recent book is Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World.
Did you miss the 2016 Feinberg Lecture? Watch it here.
by Lightmary Flores '17
