Lecture to Address Popular Upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt

Azzedine Layachi, who teaches politics of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as international relations and international law, will explore the causes and characteristics of the social rebellion in Tunisia, its various dimensions and its implications for the North African and Middle East, and for the world, particularly Europe and the United States.

Layachi will also discuss recent events in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Algeria, Egypt and other Arab countries.

The lecture—Tuesday, April 12 at 4:30 p.m. in Seelye Hall 106—is free and open to the public.

Layachi is the author of several books on North Africa, including The United States and North Africa: A Cognitive Approach to Foreign Policy; Economic Crisis and Political Change in North Africa; State, Society and Liberalization in Morocco: The Limits of Associative Life; and Globakl Studies: Africa.

Layachi is a member of the Executive Board of the American Institute of North African Studies (AIMS) and of the Advisory Board of the Center for Maghribi Studies (UK) and the Maghreb Center (USA). He recently served as associate editor of the Bulletin of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), as associate director of the Center for Global Studies of St. John’s University, president of the US Northeastern Political Science Association, and president of the New York State Policital Science Association.

The event is sponsored by the Smith College Lecture Committee, the Middle East Studies Program and the Kahn Liberal Arts Institute.