19/06/2023 20/06/2023
09:00 19:00

Face-to-face event 

Governing through counterterrorism in the Arab world
Production, circulation and (mis)uses of counterterrorism policies from the Maghreb to the Gulf

Venue : Les Salons scientifiques (B108), 1 place Saint-Thomas d'Aquin - 75007 Paris 

Since September 11, 2001, the fight against terrorism has been at the heart of global governance. Attacks perpetrated in Europe during the 2010s reinforced this trend, pushing to the fore both an assortment of “deradicalization” initiatives as well as larger paradigms for “countering” or “preventing” a phenomenon rechristened as “violent extremism”. While showing strong intra-European disparities, the diversity of these terms and policy interventions reflects both a semantic imprecision around the notion of radicalization and the emergence of a de-radicalization market within the wider counter-terrorism industry. For researchers, these notions are not self-evident and their omnipresent use reflects forms of political instrumentalization, especially in the Arab world. The ambition of this conference is thus to bring historical and sociological dimensions back into the debate on counter-terrorism (CT) by critically assessing the circulation and reappropriation of CT measures, discourses and practices. Panels will focus on the different narratives produced by governments, the media and experts, and their practices. The conference will facilitate the emergence of comparative perspectives by looking at similar practices in Western contexts and also in China. Finally, a roundtable discussion at the end of the conference will bring experts and practitioners into the debate and see how far it is possible to bridge the realm of critical theory on CT with the one of practice. 

CONFERENCE PROGRAM

DAY 1 

8:30 I Registration
8:45 I Welcome address
 
9:00 – 10:00 I Opening discussion Under the moderation of Stéphane Lacroix, SciencesPo / CERI
Joseph BAHOUT, Issam Fares Institute, American University of Beirut
Olivier ROY, European University Institute / PREVEX
 
10:00 – 12:00 I Panel 1: Critical approaches and knowledge production on “terrorism”
Under the moderation of Christian Olsson, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Jeroen GUNNING, King’s College London — Critical terrorism studies, an introduction
Omar ACHOUR, Doha Institute — Critical Terrorism Studies and Decolonisation
Jamil MOUAWAD, American University of Beirut — Researching Security from the Arab world
 
12:00 – 14:00 I Lunch break
 
14:00 – 16:00 I Panel 2: Counter-terrorism and governance in the Arab world : Historical continuities and present evolutions
Under the moderation of Colin Powers, NORIA Research
Ahmed M. ABOZAID, University of Southampton — Post-colonial security studies: Historical perspective on counter-terrorism in Egypt
Khansa BEN TARJEM, Université de Lausanne — Repressing through exceptional measures: the case of Tunisia’s police service
Steven HEYDEMANN, Smith College & The Brookings Institution Center for Middle East Policy —The misuse of counter-terrorism measures as a strategy for authoritarian upgrading
 
16:00 - 16:30 I Coffee Break
 
16:30 – 18:00 I Panel 3: Transplantations, Reappropriations and diffusion of counter-terrorism norms in the Arab world
Under the moderation of Merouan Mekouar, York University
Christian Olsson, Université Libre de Bruxelles — Leading from behind? US counter-insurgency and the transfer of military know-how during operation "New Dawn" in Iraq (2010-2011)
Amr MAGDI, Human Rights Watch — The misuse of anti-terrorism laws: the case of Egypt
Leila SEURAT, CAREP Paris — A tool of fight against "terrorism": the transfer of community policing in Lebanon
 

DAY 2

9:00 I Welcome of participants with coffee
 
10:00 – 12:00 I Panel 4: EU counter-terrorism policies in the MENA : what went wrong?
Under the moderation of Nadia MARZOUKI, CNRS/ SciencesPo
Wolfram LACHER, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin — Local and external drivers behind the decline of Libya’s jihadist movements
Djallil LOUNNAS, Al-Akhawayn University/ PREVEX — The impact of EU counter-extremism response on regional stability in the Sahel
Erik SKARE, University of Oslo / Sciences Po Paris — The possibilities and constraints of the EU in the MENA : Between democratic ideals and autocratic reality
 
12:00 – 14:00 I Lunch break
 
14:00 – 16:00 I Panel 5: Comparative approaches: thinking the coproduction of counter-terrorism measures and discourses beyond the MENA
Under the moderation of Juliette Galonnier, SciencesPo / CERI
Jérôme DOYON, Sciences Po / CERI — ‘Community-focused’ counter-extremism and forced assimilation in China
Ibrahim BECHROURI, City University of New York — The City "Must be Defended" : Counter-insurgency and the War on Terror at Home
Sarah C. PERRET, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris — The effects of counter-terrorism policies on Muslims in France
 
16:00 - 16:30 I Coffee Break
 
16:30 - 18:30 I Roundtable discussion: “From knowledge to practice: preventing the misuse of counter-terrorist policies”
Under the moderation of Isabel Ruck, CAREP Paris
Andreas HATZIDIAKOS, Counter-terrorism Unit, EEAS
Jean-Pierre FILIU, Sciences Po / CERI
Morten Bøås, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs & PREVEX project leader
 
18:30 - 19:00 I Conclusion

Here is the full programme in pdf format, available for download by clicking here



Scientifics coordinators: Isabel RUCK, Leila SEURAT and Stéphane LACROIX

Organisé par : CERI