America needs to listen to the Arab Spring protestors in Egypt and engage with their vision of the future rather than trying to impose a way of life, according to new research from the University of Warwick.

In a paper just presented to state department staff at the Library of Congress in Washington DC and due to be personally presented to former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright next month, research fellow Oz Hassan claims the American idea of democracy is too focused on economics and there is a lack of innovation in US Middle East policy.

Hassan spent time conducting research among the protesters in Tahrir Square in Egypt before the police cleared it in August 2011.

Following the Arab Spring and the overthrow of Mubarak, Hassan said a multitude of Egyptian definitions of freedom were emerging.

He said: “All want to move away from the tyranny of the Mubarak regime, and some are more politically liberal and secular than others. Yet, the Obama administration would be better supporting these positive trends, rather than promoting an approach derived from the distant shores of Washington DC.”

Notes to editors

Oz Hassan’s full paper is available here http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/csgr/green/papers/lectures

To contact Oz Hassan, call 07909 902200 or email O.A.Hassan@warwick.ac.uk

The research is part of the GR:EEN project (Global Re-ordering: Evolution through European Networks) based at the University of Warwick. This is a new study aimed at examining the role that Europe will take in the new global order. For more information on the GR:EEN project visit http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/csgr/green/