Seismic shift
Subtitle: understanding change in the Middle East
Contributors: Henry L. Stimson Center
Publisher: Henry L. Stimson Center
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Washington, DC
Language: eng
Number of pages: 138
ISBN-13: 9780984521180
Subjects: Politics and government; Protest movements; Social change
Description: For analysts in and out of governments, the upheaval in the Middle East lends itself to reflections about how regional experts with deep knowledge of the Middle East, and those who use distinct political science or other methodologies to understand processes of change, fared in their assessments of the likelihood of change. The Stimson Center invited a group of experts who represent distinct, non-governmental institutional perspectives to look back on the work of these sectors, and evaluate how they looked at prospects for change in the Middle East. The sectors include: university scholars, think tanks, democracy and human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs), journalists, social media, and private business. The study addresses in particular these questions: 1. What were the main judgments about prospects for change in the Middle East from 2005 to 2010? 2. Were there underlying theories or models of change that guided the analysis? 3. What were major turning points or 'light bulb' moments in the analysis? 4. Will the methods of analyzing the region change as a result of the upheaval?
Notes: May 2011.

Title from title screen (viewed on June 3, 2011).

Includes bibliographical references.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements: Adobe Reader.
Table of contents: title: Preface.; title: Timeline of events.; title: Understanding change in the Middle East: an overview.; title: Adademic and International Organizations.; title: The Middle East academic community and the 'winter of Arab discontent': why did we miss it?; title: Socioeconomic studies.; title: Democracy and human rights non-governmental organizations: non-governmental organizations (NGO).; title: Journalism and social media.; title: Media.; title: Blogosphere and social media.; title: Private sector: risk analysis.; title: Think tanks.; title: Appendices.