The

The Hello and welcome to another episode of politics theory.

I've been away this last week, so instead of the regular show, something a little bit different today.

The following is a talk by Gilbert Ashkar, who was recently on the show to talk about his book,

The New Cold War, that he recently gave at the invitation of King's College London.

Thirteen years have passed since the Arab Spring.

The great hopes aroused in 2011 have been overwhelmed by counter-revolution and civil

war. Yet the region is anything but restabilised. Instead of the events of the Arab Spring

heralding a brief period of democratic transition, akin to earlier developments in East Asia and

Eastern Europe, they instead, as Gilbert argues, inaugurated a long-term revolutionary process

based in a deep-rooted socio-economic crisis that is far from played out. In his talk,

Gilbert assesses the dynamics of the Mennon region, the factors hindering regional change,

and he cautions against overly optimistic readings, while nonetheless arguing that there

are main reasons

for hope.

Joubert Ashkar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at Soas, part of the

University of London.

His many books include The Clash of Barbarisms, The Making of the New World Disorder,

The People Want, a Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising, and The New Cold War, the people want, a radical exploration of the Arab uprising, and the new Cold War,

the United States, Russia and China, from Kosovo to Ukraine. The latter was the topic of our recent

conversation, and you can find a link to that episode in the description of today's show.

So, thank you very much.

...