Institute for Social Sciences of Sakarya University is pleased to announce "Middle Eastern Congress on Politics and Society" which will be held between 9 and 11 October, 2012 in Sakarya, Turkey.

The Middle East is under spotlight thanks to the Arab Awakening. The latter refers to a groundbreaking chain of events that require radical reworking not only in the Middle Eastern politics but also in the groves of academe, which have largely been caught off guard and oblivious of the new social dynamics of the region. This congress invites students of the region to reconsider and rework not only the highly topical events of the day but also several phenomena that include citizenry, political action, state building, democratic politics, social legitimacy of authority, social justice, social media, new political consciousness, national self-determination and the post 9/11 international politics of the Middle East. While Europe and the US needed several centuries to develop modern political governance and civil society, the challenge for the Middle Eastern peoples is to press on the means of democratic politics in a much lesser time frame and under perilous conditions. Sakarya University invites scholars, public figures and activists of all stripes to join the panels and colloquiums for advancing our understanding of the region. The language of the Congress will be English, Arabic and Turkish with simultaneous translation provided.