More than three months into the popular uprisings in the Middle East, the Obama administration faces a complicated balancing act in supporting human rights and democracy along with managing its strategic security interests. How well is the United States doing in responding to the popular uprisings and turmoil in the Middle East? What are the risks and opportunities presented by the intervention in Libya? And how are events likely to unfold in the Middle East in the coming months and years?
Join us for a discussion of these questions with Tom Malinowski, Washington Director of Human Rights Watch, and Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow and Middle East expert at CAP.
PROGRESSIVISM ON TAP is a lecture and discussion series founded by the Progressive Studies Program at the Center for American Progress, focused on the history and intellectual traditions of progressivism and liberalism. The goal of PROGRESSIVISM ON TAP is to provide an informal forum for budding activists and professionals to explore the political values and theoretical debates within the broader progressive tradition and to apply those lessons to contemporary political discourse.
The speakers, lectures, and debates covered within the series are designed to examine why we believe what we believe as progressives, who the most important thinkers and icons are within the movement’s history, where progressives differ on intellectual grounds, and what the theoretical foundations are for many of our current policy and activism efforts.
We aim to help young people and activists engage their traditions not just in Washington but in other similar programs with progressives in communities across the country. As the program develops, we hope to help others launch PROGRESSIVISM ON TAP salons in cities and towns across the country in local settings that are relaxed, inviting, informative, deliberative, and open to new ideas.