Fawaz Gerges

Political scientist Professor Fawaz Gerges argues that an authoritarian status quo maintained by political leaders, meddling by the west and regional conflicts is holding back political change and social progress in the Middle East.

Gerges argues there is a widening chasm between state and society in the region. Governing elites are failing to address the genuine grievances of their citizens and there is massive economic mismanagement. He ranges from the end of the Ottoman Empire to the European carve-up of the Middle East and the more recent Arab Spring to explain how people have been systematically denied self-determination, political representation and effective government. Gerges says that hope for an optimistic future lies with young people who are demanding to be treated as citizens not subjects.

Gerges is professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of What Really Went Wrong: The West and the Failure of Democracy in the Middle East and Making the Arab World.