ICORN co-hosts meeting with Nordic ministers of foreign affairs on the Arab Spring

They are gathering to discuss the changing nature of the relationship between the Nordic countries and the Middle East. They plan to address the topics of women's rights within the region and the ongiong results of the Arab Spring revolutions as well. Mansur Rajih, a former ICORN Guest Writer in Stavanger, will read a selection of his poetry and ICORN Programme Director Elisabeth Dyvik will moderate the discussion.

The Norwegian government realizes that the world is changing rapidly and going in unorthodox directions, which requires new policy ideas and initiatives and a great deal of thinking 'outside the box.' The ministers will explore the possibilities of decreasingly secular rule in favor of politcal Islam in key countries such as Egypt and Tunisia and the extent to which Nordic countries should continue to invest in the new, fledgling governments that may develop throughout the Arab world.

Sølvberget is proud to host this event, which the Foreign Ministry specifically requested to hold in Stavanger, as a result of the success of the National Forum on Europe that took place in cooperation with the kulturhus in October.