ΚΕΝΤΡΟ ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΑΚΩΝ, ΜΕΣΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΩΝ & ΙΣΛΑΜΙΚΩΝ ΣΠΟΥΔΩΝ

Το βίντεο της διάλεξης του Anthony O' Mahony (Reader του Heythrop College του University of London) με θέμα «Οι Χριστιανοί και η τρέχουσα κρίση στη Μέση Ανατολή», που συνδιοργάνωσε το ΚΕΜΜΙΣ με το Ινστιτούτο Εναλλακτικών Πολιτικών ΕΝΑ (14 Ιουνίου 2018).

Το βίντεο της διάλεξης του Anthony O' Mahony (Reader του Heythrop College του University of London) με θέμα «Οι Χριστιανοί και η τρέχουσα κρίση στη Μέση Ανατολή», που συνδιοργάνωσε το ΚΕΜΜΙΣ με το Ινστιτούτο Εναλλακτικών Πολιτικών ΕΝΑ (14 Ιουνίου 2018).

Tο Κέντρο Μεσογειακών, Μεσανατολικών και Ισλαμικών Σπουδών (ΚΕΜΜΙΣ) του Τμήματος Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και Διεθνών Σχέσεων του Πανεπιστημίου Πελοποννήσου και το Ινστιτούτο Εναλλακτικών Πολιτικών ΕΝΑ σας προσκαλούν στην ομιλία/συζήτηση του Anthony O' Mahony, Reader του Heythrop College του University of London με θέμα:

«Christians and the current crisis in the Middle East»

H ομιλία θα διεξαχθεί στην Αγγλική γλώσσα.

Η εκδήλωση θα πραγματοποιηθεί την Πέμπτη, 14 Ιουνίου (5.00 μ.μ.) στην Αίθουσα Εκδηλώσεων του Ινστιτούτου Εναλλακτικών Πολιτικών ΕΝΑ, Ζαλοκώστα 8, Αθήνα.

Lebanon’s size has always been inversely proportional to the magnitude of its turbulence. More of a mirror of the region’s intricacies than a catalyst, the country offers a unique regional case; although in ever-simmering tension, it manages to escape the contours of a country-wide flare-up. This is more often than not attributed to the country’s bitter memories of the civil war (1975-1990). For others, it is the product of an ill-thought out, yet relatively balanced consociational mechanism of power-sharing.

Διαβάστε επίσης τη βιβλιοκριτική του Klaus Wivel, The Last Supper: The Plight of Christians in Arab Lands, New Vessel Press, 2016

Klaus Wivel's book is one of those books that, as per Franz Kafka, resemble the axe hitting the frozen sea. In the post-9/11 world there has been no shortage of bibliography regarding the Mediterranean/ Middle East. By contrast, one could make the case that there has often been an abundance of bibliography, focusing excessively on issues such as terrorism, Western attempts at a normative reconstruction of the region and the intricacies of political Islam.

Lebanon is a small and internally complicated country, so why should anyone on the outside bother? And since at present it is also tranquil then maybe it is wise just to leave good enough alone. These realities, while true, cannot constitute valid reasons for open-ended benign neglect. Hidden corrosive forces in and around the tiny country are constantly at work, and sudden calamitous setbacks as happened on many occasions in Lebanon's recent past remain a menacing possibility at all times. What sits quietly and unobtrusively on the sidelines could merely out of carelessness find itself sliding into turmoil and thus be swiftly catapulted to center-stage with ugly fallout on the immediate surroundings and possibly far beyond. In this respect Lebanon may not exactly be a ticking time-bomb since it does exhibit a healthy "been there, done that" resilience, but it persists as a delicately cobbled polity with much about it that is unfinished or unresolved, thereby harboring built-in vulnerabilities that are potentially worrisome.