Texas Tech hosted the fourth annual forum on peace and security Wednesday at the International Cultural Center, during which panelists discussed foreign issues relating to the Arab Spring movement.
Members of Tech’s Sigma Delta Pi, a national collegiate Hispanic honor society, coordinated the event.
The discussion panel consisted of three foreign policy professionals, Steven Honley, editor-in-chief of the Foreign Service Journal, Mohammad Maqusi, a professor in the Honors College and former ambassador Tibor Nagy, vice provost for international affairs.
Maqusi said the Arab Spring movement started December 18, 2010, in Tunisia. The Arab Spring movement was caused by numerous factors, including unemployment, inflation, political issues, human rights and poverty.
“There is a saying in Arabic that whatever takes place in Egypt reverberates throughout the whole Arabic and Eastern region,” he said.
He mentioned a few of the goals were to establish political stability, raise employment and ascertain a higher standard of living.
“What is needed in the Middle East is a political reform,” he said.
Honley spoke of the role the U.S. plays in regards to the Arab Spring. He expressed his opinions on what strategy to use and when to take action.
He said the area is of high interest to Americans because of its large oil supply. However, he said the U.S. is reluctant to assist with the Arab Spring movement because of the potential of straining relations further in the region.
“I would be the first to admit that Washington (D.C.) has not always gauged things correctly,” Honley said, “but there’s a (team) leading from behind. The U.S. doesn’t have as much scope for maneuver as it did a decade ago.”
Honley said the U.S. is slow to take action because of the consideration of ally countries. He mentioned the U.S. would be lucky to have half the success in the Middle East as the Bush administration did in Russia.
Nagy said the U.S. influence in the Middle East will decline, which displeases him.
He said the Islamic parties are going to grow tremendously, which will spark a competition between the Turkish model, the Iranian model and the Saudi model.
“Would it be better for the U.S. to support authoritarian regimes if they’re not quite as bad as they appear to be,” Nagy asked.
An attendee asked the panel a question regarding the spread of the movement via social media. He said movements like the Arab Spring would not have been as effective or globally recognized without the use of social media. He argued that the key to influencing the public lies within the hands of technology.
“I think the invention of a cell phone with the social media attached to it, I think it is responsible for all the changes we have seen,” the attendee said.
Nagy spoke of the movement from an internationalist perspective, explaining his ‘What’s going to happen next’ approach. He said he believes in the strength of globalization through communication.
“Progress includes order, but order does not include progress,” Nagy said.
