The Arab Spring Discussed at a Roundtable

At a roundtable meeting titled "The Arab Spring and Recent Developments in the Middle East," the Bahçeşehir University Center for American Studies hosted RAND Corporation senior analysts Stephen Larrabee and Ali Nader and Middle East Institute analyst Gönül Tol.

At the meeting, which was also attended by many distinguished academics and journalists, many subtopics were addressed, such as the effects of recent developments in the Middle East, Türkiye's position in the region, and the impact of Türkiye's recent developments with Israel on Turkish-American relations.

At the meeting, the impact of the "Arab Spring" in the region and the political choices of the region's states in determining who holds power were evaluated, and the periods before and after the revolution were assessed based on the examples of Tunisia and Egypt. It was emphasized that Türkiye could be a role model for Middle Eastern countries and could share its experience of democracy.

One of the important conclusions of the meeting was the identification of Iran, Israel and Syria as the losing countries of the Arab Spring. The relationship of Iran's regime with the USA, Israel's recent relations with its former partners Türkiye and Egypt, and, in Syria, the chaos in the country as a result of the oppression of the Assad regime were cited as the reasons why these three countries are among the losers of the Arab Spring..

At the meeting, where it was emphasized that Türkiye has increased its sphere of influence in its region both economically and politically, it was said that it is still too early to judge whether Türkiye is a loser or a winner of the Arab Spring. It was stated that the countries experiencing the Arab Spring have different dynamics from one another, and that Türkiye also has different relations with the countries in the region.