Elizabeth F. Thompson and Ozan Ozavci discuss Arab agency and exclusion at Lausanne, and its implications for the history of the wider Arab world, past and present.
Elizabeth is Professor of History at American University, Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth F. Thompson’s chapter in They All Made Peace – What is Peace? (Gingko, 2023) surveys the Arab exclusion at Lausanne as a critical juncture in the history of the wider Arab world. In this TLP podcast episode, recorded on 15 June 2022, Elizabeth explains to Ozan Ozavci the political trajectory that the diverse Arab groups followed after October 1918. Elizabeth argues that at Lausanne issues of immense importance to the Arabs were discussed, in their absence. She concludes that reinstating Lausanne in the history of the wider Arab world is necessary, not least because those who live under dictatorships today might retrieve the memory of civilian activists who stood up for democracy more than a hundred years ago.
Ozavci also asks Elizabeth about the contents of her recently published and acclaimed book How the West Stole Democracy From the Arabs: The Syrian Congress of 1920 and the Destruction of Its Historic Liberal-Islamic Alliance.
Episode 17 – Arab Exclusion at Lausanne
Podcasts are published by TLP for the purpose of encouraging informed debate on the legacies of the events surrounding the Lausanne Conference. The views expressed by participants do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of TLP, its partners, convenors or members.
MAIN IMAGE: Photo of the Syro-Palestinian Congress taken at Geneva in 1921. Seated, second from left is Rashid Rida. Seated on the extreme right is Shakib Arslan. SOURCE: SyrianHistory.com, Courtesy of Elizabeth F. Thompson and Sami Moubayed.
The Lausanne Project 