The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) convened the second academic conference on “Islamic Movements and Democratic Governance: Experiences and Prospects”, held from October 6-8, 2012. The conference was held in the context of the transition period for Arab countries in which revolutions and protest movements have erupted, and is directly linked with the ACRPS’s policy to link research work in the social sciences and the humanities to society and current tangible Arab issues. This critical conference came at a crucial transitional phase in the history of the Arab countries, given the string of dictatorial Arab regimes that had been toppled in succession following a series of forceful popular revolutions unprecedented in Arab history, modern or ancient.