Paris, Beirut, Bamako

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Paris, Beirut, Bamako

Local and Global Perspectives on Recent Terror Attacks

An informal conversation in the aftermath of the November attacks, in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo assault last year. The global media has characterized 2015 as a “year of terror” in France. Beginning with the terror attacks launched in Paris in January 2015 against the satirical review Charlie Hebdo as well as a kosher establishment, and a black policewoman, the end of the year saw even more deadly attacks in Paris against a rock concert, sports arena, and restaurants in November 2015. Less well covered by the global media have been a series of relentless attacks in Middle Eastern and African countries that have claimed a far higher number of victims. Among the countries worst affected by terrorism in 2015 were Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Mali. The panelists will speak to the case of three cities: Paris, Beirut, and Bamako. How are they dealing with the insecurity and anguish of global terror attacks? How are the neighborhoods hardest hit living with radicalism? How do the latest generations in cosmopolitan communities shaped by nationalism and post-colonial realities respond to catastrophic violence? Following the shocks of last year, will the global debate over freedom of expression, “states of exception,” and tolerance lead to societies that embrace global connections or shun them?

The informal conversation, moderated by Professors Helen Solterer and Omid Safi, will begin with remarks from Anne-Gaëlle Saliot (Assistant Professor of Twentieth Century French Literature & Film, Duke, Director of the EDUCO program in Paris), Zeina Halabi (Assistant Professor of Modern Arabic Literature & Culture at UNC-Chapel Hill, and an expert on Beirut), and Amadou Fofana (Visiting Professor, Humanities Writ Large Initiative, Specialist in African Cinema, just returned from Senegal).

Free and open to the public. Light lunch served. Co-sponsored by the Center for French & Francophone Studies, the Duke Islamic Studies Center, and the Forum for Scholars and Publics.