The Arab winter

Eight years after the so-called Arab Spring, the Middle East has had to come to terms with even more ferocious dictatorships than of past decades. The case of the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has shown that Western nations continue to maintain relations with authoritarian governments in the region while reacting with caution to the violations of human rights that their business partners perpetrate in their countries. The panel will analyze the new political scenario in the Middle East and consider how Arab activists, many of them in exile, continue their battle for democracy and human rights.