Tarek Heggy

Tarek Heggy
Born Port Said, Egypt
Nationality Egyptian
Education Ain Shams University, University of Geneva
Occupation Writer, Intellectual, International Petroleum Strategist
Website
http://www.tarek-heggy.com http://www.tarek-heggy-interviews.com/

Tarek Heggy (Arabic: طارق حجى‎, IPA: [ˈtˤɑːɾˤeʔ ˈħeɡɡi]; born October 12, 1950, Port Said, Egypt) is a liberal Egyptian author, political thinker and international petroleum strategist. His extensive writings advocate the values of modernity, democracy, tolerance, and women's rights in the Middle East – advancing them as universal values essential to the region's progress. As one of the contemporary leading Egyptian liberal theoreticians, he has lectured at universities throughout the world, including Oxford University, the University of Tokyo, the University of Melbourne, Sydney University, Princeton University, Columbia University, King's College London, Colorado University, Colorado School of Mines, The Hayek Institute (Vienna), Erasmus University (The Netherlands), the American University in Cairo, and the University of California Berkeley.[1] Additionally, he has lectured at the European University (Rome), John Cabot University (Rome), and the University of Calabria (Italy) as well as Marrakesh (Morocco), Fes (Morocco), Zaytouna (Tunis) and Manouba (Tunis) universities. Due to his knowledge of the Middle East, he has been called upon to speak at various international institutions and think tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation, the Hudson Institute, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the National Endowment for Democracy, the American Enterprise Institute, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Because of his intellectual project advocating universal human values, he also participates in international organizations addressing the holocaust and genocide, such as Project Aladdin[2] and the Stockholm International Forum.[3]

Tarek Heggy's main themes are the need for economic, political, cultural and educational reforms in Egypt and the Middle East. His liberal voice is part of the small but growing minority that calls for self criticism and massive reforms and that frankly admits the failures of the political ideologies/dogmas dominating Egypt and the Arab world. Moreover, this voice calls the conspiracy theories and overblown rhetoric that pervade the region signs of a cultural crisis that needs resolution. Finally, Tarek Heggy advocates the imperative need to develop a fair political ending to the Arab-Israeli conflict to enable all societies in the Middle East to move towards a pro-active phase of economic and social development. [4]

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Biography

Tarek Heggy was born in 1950, into the Egyptian upper-middle class and hometown of his parents, Port Said. Both his father and mother were fortunate enough to be highly educated, intellectual people who had been widely exposed to Western culture and civilization. They inculcated within him a love of reading and an appreciation of languages at a young age. As citizens of Port Said, Heggy’s parents were the offspring of the Suez Canal community and of an otherwise unique openness to the outside world.[5]

Tarek Heggy studied law (LL.B & LL.M) at Ain Shams University in Cairo, followed by higher degrees in Modern Management Techniques from the International Management Institute of Geneva University. From 1971 until 1979, he taught at the law schools of a number of North African Universities (Algeria and Morocco).[6]

In July 1979, Tarek Heggy joined a major multinational petroleum and gas corporation as a Gas and Oil attorney (1979–1985) and went on to become deputy to the Chairman of its Egypt branch (1985–1988). In 1988 he became the Chairman and CEO of a top oil and gas multinational corporation in the Middle East. He resigned on July 1, 1996 to devote his efforts to a wide range of intellectual and cultural activities.[6]

Affiliations

Honors

2008 Grinzane Cavour Award for cultural and literary achievement [7]

In 2008, Tarek Heggy (along with Professor Naim Mahlab) established the Tarek Heggy scholarship at the University of Toronto for post graduate studies in Comparative Jewish/Muslim relations.[8]

Tenth Anniversary Award Recipients/Arab World Books' Writers.[9]

Tarek Heggy participated in establishing (in 2000) the "Chair of Coptic Studies" at the American University in Cairo.[10]

Published works

Since April 1978, Tarek Heggy has written 17 books In Arabic and 28 overall in four languages. In addition, nearly 500 hundred published articles are posted as essays on his website. Examples of Tarek Heggy's writings may be found in French [1], English [2], Italian [3], Arabic [4], Hebrew [5], and Russian. [6]

Books in English:

Books in Arabic:

Books in French:

Books in Italian:

Interviews and videos

BBC HARDTalk interview with Tarek Heggy (04/07/11) Part One [12]

BBC HARDTalk interview with Tarek Heggy (04/07/11) Part Two [13]

Liberal Egyptian author Tarek Heggy on the phenomenon of Islamism [14]

On the Muslim Brotherhood [15]

Tarek Heggy on Separation of Mosque and State—Part One [16]

Tarek Heggy on Separation of mosque and State—Part Two [17]

Multiple video interviews in Arabic, English, and French [18]

Elaph interview with Tarek Heggy conducted by Sabry Khalil. [19]

The Brain of Tarek Heggy [20]

Rhapsody Face to Face: Tarek Heggy Interview [21]

Debates

Tareq (Heggy) vs. Tariq (Ramadan) [22]

The BBC/Doha Debate on the Separation of Mosque and State [23]

Selected articles

The Egyptian Revolution

Compromise Needed on All Sides [24]

Egypt's Revolution: What Happened? [25]

Placing the Arab Revolutions in a Philosophical Context [26]

A Comment on What Happened [27]

Political Islam

The Reality of the Muslim Brotherhood [28]

Militant Islam: Questions for the West [29]

The Proliferation of the Radical Jinni [30]

The Erosion of the Middle Class...and its Consequence [31]

Islam Today: Interpretations of Islam [32]

On the U.S./Islamists Dialogue [33]

Brotherhood With Ambitions [34]

The worst-case scenario [35]

The Arab Mindset and Reform

Religious Reform: Cornerstone of Reform in the Arab Societies [36]

Ten Random Observations [37]

The Prisons of the Arab Mind [38]

Islam Between Copying and Thinking [39]

The Seven Pillars of Terrorism [40]

Believing in Conspiracy [41]

No More Than A "Refuge" [42]

Religious Education in the Balance [43]

The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Between Reason and Hysteria [44]

Our Need For a Culture of Compromise [45]

Opinion

Three Intractable Dilemmas [46]

Democracy

Beyond the Ballot Box [47]

On Lebanon

Once Again: On Hizbu'Allah [48]

Hamas and Hizbu'Allah: Sub-Contractors [49]

Filled With Grief [50]

Saudi Arabia

The King and the Sword [51]

Let The Sane of Saudi Arabia Unite [52]

If I Were A Shi'ite From Saudi Arabia [53]

Egyptian Christians

If I Were A Copt [54]

The Suffering of the Copts in Egypt [55]

Reflections on the Coptic Question [56]

What others say

See also

References

External links