LSE Middle East Centre Podcasts

This event was the launch of Marwa Daoudy's latest book 'The Origins of the Syrian Conflict: Climate Change and Human Security'. Does climate change cause conflict? Did it cause the Syrian uprising? Some policymakers and academics have made this claim, but is it true? This study presents a new conceptual framework to evaluate this claim. Contributing to scholarship in the fields of critical securi...

This event, as part of the Middle East Centre's Kurdish Studies Series, was a discussion around Zeynep Kaya's latest book Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism. Since the early twentieth-century, Kurds have challenged the borders and national identities of the states they inhabit. Nowhere is this more evident than in their promotion of the 'Map of Greater Kurdistan', an...

This event was a discussion around Marc Owen Jones' latest book Political Repression in Bahrain. Exploring Bahrain's modern history through the lens of repression, this concise and accessible account spans the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, looking at all forms of political repression from legal, statecraft, police brutality and informational controls. Considering several episodes of conten...

This event was a discussion around Gerasimos Tsourapas' latest book The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt: Strategies for Regime Survival in Autocracies. In this ground-breaking work, Tsourapas examines how migration and political power are inextricably linked, and enhances our understanding of how authoritarian regimes rely on labour emigration across the Middle East and the Global South. Tso...

Co-organised with Jadaliyya and the Arab Studies Institute, this roundtable focuses on environmental justice, analysing the ways in which approaches to environmental studies—across disciplines ranging from international law to geography and urban planning—have traditionally overlooked and under-emphasised the critical roles of communities directly impacted by environmental injustice. Focusing on e...

This event was a discussion around Wolfram Lacher's latest book Libya's Fragmentation: Structure and Process in Violent Conflict. After the overthrow of the Qadhafi regime in 2011, Libya witnessed a dramatic breakdown of centralized power. Countless local factions carved up the country into a patchwork of spheres of influence. Only the leader of one armed coalition, Khalifa Haftar, managed to over...

Following the signing of the US-brokered "Abraham Accord" between the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Israel in September 2020, this webinar will explore the background and implications of this agreement for the Middle East and Arab-Israeli relations. It will address the reasons for exposing long-clandestine Israeli-Gulf links, the possible impact of this development on Israeli-Palestinian relat...

This event will be a discussion around the Omani Union (1952-1965), an overlooked political group that represents a seminal stage in the emergence of the leftist current in Oman. While the Dhofar Revolution has received increasing scholarly attention, comparatively little is known of the Jabal Akhdar (or Green Mountain) Uprising of the 1950s and early 60s, which sought independence for inner Oman...

This event is the launch of Dr Jessica Watkins' latest paper Iran in Iraq: The Limits of 'Smart Power' Amidst Public Protest. Post 2003, Iran has shown greater aptitude than Western states for penetrating Iraqi politics and society, producing ‘smart power’ by manipulating the combination of identity politics, patronage networks, and coercion which have become prevalent in both. But Iranian interfe...

As the threat of further foreign military intervention looms over Libya, this webinar will explore the complicated relationships and tensions that exist amongst European states as well as actors such as Egypt, Turkey and Russia. The panel will also discuss the most important next steps to be taken by domestic and international actors to ensure a meaningful political settlement for Libyans. Jalel H...

This is an online launch for Simon Mabon's latest book Houses Built on Sand: Violence, Sectarianism and Revolution in the Middle East. The events of the Arab Uprisings posed an existential challenge to sovereign power across the Middle East. Whilst popular movements resulted in the toppling of authoritarian rule in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, other regimes were able to withstand these pressures. Thi...

This is an online launch for Ben Hubbard's book 'MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman'. MBS is the untold story of how a mysterious young prince emerged from Saudi Arabia’s sprawling royal family to overhaul the economy and society of the richest country in the Middle East—and gather as much power as possible into his own hands. Based on years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, MBS...

This webinar will assess the current state of affairs in MENA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Speakers will look at the effects of the virus in the context of a region already in need of reformed healthcare institutions that not only improve quality, but enable access for all. Speakers will also assess the economic impact of the virus, highlight country examples such as Yemen and the Occupied Palest...

This webinar will be the launch of Pejman Abdolmohammadi and Giampiero Cama's latest book Contemporary Domestic and Foreign Policies of Iran. Although Professor Abdolmohammadi will be leading the talk, Professor Cama will also be in attendance to answer any questions during the session. This book is a comprehensive analysis of the domestic and foreign politics of Iran, focusing on its complex natu...

Urbanisation is one of the central forces shaping social life in the Arab region. As cities grow, disappear, and organise new realities, critical debate on urban policies, histories and everyday life becomes crucial. Arab Urbanism is a new online platform that gives space for urbanists to document, debate and disseminate knowledge on the past, present and future of cities in the region. This panel...

PLEASE NOTE: Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties towards the end of the webinar which meant that the recording had to be cut off early. Since 2003, despite an abundance of resources and a more pluralistic political settlement, Iraq’s economic reform process has failed to take off. Alexander Hamilton's new paper explores the link between the evolution and consolidation of Iraq’s post-2...

With three inconclusive elections and a political stalemate eventually leading to the formation of a unity government, all under the spectre of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption charges, this event will analyse Israel's unprecedented political crisis. Speakers will discuss what to make of the deal between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz of the Blue and White Party, and what this means for P...

This webinar was a discussion around Fanar Haddad's latest book Understanding 'Sectarianism': Sunni-Shi'a Relations in the Modern Arab World. This book seeks to move the study of modern sectarian dynamics beyond analytically paralysing dichotomies by shifting the focus away from the meaningless '-ism' towards the root: sectarian identity. How are Sunni and Shi'a identities imagined, experienced an...

The United Nations Security Council endorsed the UN Secretary-General's call last month for warring parties in Yemen to immediately cease fighting and focus on reaching a peace agreement whilst countering the outbreak of the coronavirus. The coalition, led by Saudi Arabia, responded with a two week ceasefire which was renewed for another month. While the cross border hostilities de-escalated, the...

Join us online for this public webinar where we will be joined by Amel Boubekeur, Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. After the first presidential election since the removal of Abdelaziz Bouteflika in December 2019, this event will discuss the origins of the Hirak, it's liabilities and assets, and to what extent Algeria can be looked at as a case study for transition in t...

This is the first of our webinar series where we were joined by Jim Muir, veteran Middle East correspondent based in Beirut, where he began his career in the region in 1975. In this video linkup, he discussed the impact of the coronavirus on Lebanon, its uprising, and its future. Even before the coronavirus struck, Lebanon was in the grip of an existential crisis. On March 7th, it defaulted on its...

Civilian state-owned enterprises in Egypt are in trouble, but military companies are being used to expand the state's stake in the economy. In this talk, Yezid Sayigh will explore the ramifications of this military economy, and how it makes it easier to shift costs and hide losses to the public purse, while continuing to secure the core constituencies of the administration of President Abdel-Fatta...

This event launches Crony Capitalism in the Middle East: Business and Politics, from Liberalization to the Arab Spring edited by Ishac Diwan, Adeel Malik, and Izak Atiyas. The popular uprisings in 2011 that overthrew Arab dictators were also a rebuke to crony capitalism, diverted against both rulers and their allied businessmen who monopolize all economic opportunities. While the Middle East has w...

Decolonisation is a commonly used term in today's cultural sphere. We regularly hear of the decolonisation of syllabi, of academic institutions, of literature, and of the arts. Yet, there is an ironic dissonance between prevalent agendas of decolonisation in western countries and the actual realities of contemporary colonialism. Can there be meaningful decolonisation without genuine anti-coloniali...

This event will explore the fallout of the recent murders of Qasim Soleimani, Commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the senior commander of al-Hashd al-Shaabi and the founder of Kata'ib Hezbollah. The assassination, on 2 January 2020, of Qasim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis has thrown Iraqi and wider regional politics into turmoil....