POMEPS Conversations

On this week's POMEPS Conversation podcast, Marc Lynch speaks with Daniel Corstange, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Corstange talks about his current research, which focuses on gathering data from Syrian refugees. "You can think of a lot of different stories we tell ourselves about why there's a war going on. And it doesn't seem to be the case that any of them are the true story." "So we're trying to understand why people think this is happening. There are actually very interesting patterns about why people think one thing versus another thing." "This is an existential crisis for a lot of people. It's completely destroyed their lives at home. They are picking up the pieces elsewhere — sometimes they haven't even been able to pick up the pieces. But it's not the case that they've managed to get across the border and they can shut off what's happening in the civil war."

On this week's POMEPS Conversation podcast, Marc Lynch speaks with Pete Moore about the political economy and refugees in Jordan. Moore is an associate professor of political science and director of graduate studies in the Department of Political Science at Case Western University. Looking at how past events influence current relationships, Moore says, "What we see today in terms of the U.S. role in Jordan was incubated in the early 80s vis-à-vis the Iran-Iraq war." By the 1990s, "Jordan was caught between the demands of the U.S. regarding sanctions, but is stuck with of a transport sector and industrial sector that was wedded to Iraq and does not want to see that relationship weaken." Moore says, "The regime wanted to hold on to those linkages...after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, those relationships will be looked at less in an economic realm and more in the security realm." "It takes the monarchy a long time, but essentially they vote to let die that industry and transport sector. And that's one of the reasons for Jordan's highest unemployment rate in the region."

On this week's POMEPS Conversation Podcast, Marc Lynch speaks with Sune Haugbølle. Haugbølle is an associate professor at Roskilde University, and much of his research focuses on Leftist movements in the Middle East. "Before the Arab uprisings, I had a sense for a long time that there's a real gap in the historiography of the modern Middle East. Leftists groups,"Haugbølle says, "Have really been understudied. There's a lot we don't know about them— and I think that lack of knowledge came from the notion that somehow the left had ceased to be important." "I'm trying to see what the historical memory of failures and trasitions of the Left in the last couple of decades means today for the Leftist activitists, militants, intellectuals today," says Haugbølle. "The history of the Arab Left is global." In today's world, Haugbølle argues, "The new Left is a fragmented field of smaller movements. It's by definition a vast array of influences." "Obviously the Middle East is not in the throes of the American homogeneity that it used to be years ago. And they're trying to find their feet in that." The Left must question of imperialism, especially with the conflict in Syria, says Haugbølle. "We re-conceptualize the struggle in this confused, post-revolutionary period that we're in. That comes for the fore in the question of: Syria. Do you see the Russian intervention as a sort of protection of a popular regime with legitimacy, a people's army that needs to be protected from America's attempt to smash it? Or do you see that equally as imperialism? Most of the international socialists have taken the line that the Russian intervention is also a form of imperialism. You get splits over that." "There's an intellectual history and a political history. There's so much we don't know. There's so many achieves people haven't looked at. Journals people haven't read yet," says Haugbølle.

On this week's POMEPS Conversation podcast, Marc Lynch speaks with Vickie Langohr about public sexual harassment faced by women in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East. Langohr is an associate professor at the College of the Holy Cross, focusing on Middle East politics, nationalism and democratization. "Egyptians will often tell you that several decades ago, [sexual harrasment] was not something that was happening a lot. But we have data from 2008 — before the revolution — that shows pretty close to the same number of women polled saying they experienced harassment even on a daily basis."

On this week's POMEPS podcast, Marc Lynch speaks with Reinoud Leenders about the origins of the Syrian conflict. Leenders is a reader in the Department of War Studies at King's College London. "In the beginning, it was a question of who would move first, and where." Leenders says. "Why it happened in certain places and not others, it is because of local characteristics." Aleppo, Leenders says, held back. "It was a very conservative, middle class [place] that felt it was too much to get involved and put a stop on mobilization initially."

Charles Kurzman speaks with Marc Lynch about how past failed mobilizations can explain the challenges facing the Middle East after the 2011 uprisings. Kurzman is a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations.

Greg Gause speaks with Marc Lynch about the challenges Saudi Arabia is facing: the global oil slump, the future of the GCC's collective stability and its intervention in Yemen.

Fabbe, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School, speaks with Marc Lynch on this week's POMEPS podcast about the "very scary" climate in Turkey. Their conversation looks at how President Erdogan is leading his party in the midst of terrorism and the refugee crisis, their economic situation, and Turkey's relationship with the European Union.

Marc Lynch speaks with Rory McCarthy about Tunisia's Ennahda party, and its transition through the uprisings to present day.

Marc Lynch speaks with Steffen Hertog about the current economic situation and challenges faced in the GCC, specifically Saudi Arabia's recent reforms in subsidies for citizens and public sector employment.

Marc Lynch speaks with Bessma Momani to discuss her book, "Arab Dawn: Arab Youth and the Demographic Dividend They Will Bring." Momani is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo and the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Canada.

On this week’s POMEPS Conversation, Hind Ahmed Zaki speaks with Marc Lynch about feminism and women's rights movements in the wake of the Arab Spring.

Justin Gengler is a senior researcher at the Social and Economic Survey Research Institute (SESRI) of Qatar University. He is the author of the book Group Conflict and Political Mobilization in Bahrain and the Arab Gulf: Rethinking the Rentier State (Indiana University Press, May 2015).

On this week's POMEPS Conversation, Erin Snider from Texas A&M speaks with Marc Lynch about the political economy of foreign aid in the Middle East.

This week Marc Lynch speaks with Zaid al Ali of Princeton University about the constitutional drafting process in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab Uprisings.

Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl speaks with Marc Lynch about his continued research on the war in Syria.

This week’s conversation is with Amaney Jamal. She speaks with Marc Lynch about the After the Uprisings conference co-hosted by Princeton University and POMEPS, and the future of political science in the Middle East.

Sean Yom speaks with Marc Lynch about his new book, "From Resilience to Revolution," and the role of foreign and domestic actors in Middle East politics.

Steven Brooke speaks with Marc Lynch about the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt over the past five years and prospects for future study of the group. Brooke is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Belfer Center’s Middle East Initiative at Harvard University and will be an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Louisville beginning in the fall of 2016.

On this week's POMEPS Conversation, Merouan Mekouar speaks with Marc Lynch about the challenges facing Morocco now. Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Science at York University in Toronto, Canada. Mekouar's research focuses on authoritarian resilience, revolutions, and behavior in the MENA region.

A conversation with Lindsay J. Benstead about who votes for women, and why, in the Middle East. Benstead is noted for her work in survey methodology and public opinion in the Middle East. Benstead is an assistant professor of political science in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University, where she teaches courses on Middle East and North African politics and research methods.

This conversation is with Hesham Sallam of Stanford University. He speaks with Marc Lynch about competing narratives of the Egyptian revolution.

Marc Lynch sat down with Jillian Schwedler to discuss economic development and the effects of the Arab Spring in Jordan. Schwedler, a professor of political science at Hunter College, is the author of "Policing and Prisons in the Middle East: Formations and Coercion" and "Faith in Moderation: Islamist parties in Jordan and Yemen."

Michaelle Browers speaks with Marc Lynch about intellectuals in the Middle East, and the growth of a new generation of scholars and political theorists.

A conversation about the current challenges and opportunities facing Egypt between Nathan Brown and Marc Lynch.

Stacey Philbrick Yadav speaks with Marc Lynch about the ongoing civil war in Yemen and the difficulty of an enduring resolution. Yadav is associate professor of political science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York.

The George Washington University's Marc Lynch talks about the fifth anniversary of the Egyptian revolution with Michael Wahid Hanna & Thanassis Cambanis of The Century Foundation.

A conversation about the current challenges and opportunities facing Egypt between Nathan Brown and Marc Lynch.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks to Sarah Bush, assistant professor of political science at Temple University. She is the author of The Taming of Democracy Assistance: Why Democracy Promotion Does Not Confront Dictators (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Lynch and Bush discuss this new book, which looks at democracy promotion in Jordan and Tunisia.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks to Sarah Bush, assistant professor of political science at Temple University. She is the author of The Taming of Democracy Assistance: Why Democracy Promotion Does Not Confront Dictators (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Lynch and Bush discuss this new book, which looks at democracy promotion in Jordan and Tunisia.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Monica Marks, a visiting fellow at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion and a doctoral fellow with the WAFAW program in Aix-en-Provence, France. Marks is a doctoral candidate at St Antony’s College at the University of Oxford. Lynch and Marks discuss Islamist movements and society in Tunisia, as well as Egypt.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Monica Marks, a visiting fellow at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion and a doctoral fellow with the WAFAW program in Aix-en-Provence, France. Marks is a doctoral candidate at St Antony’s College at the University of Oxford. Lynch and Marks discuss Islamist movements and society in Tunisia, as well as Egypt.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Raphaël Lefèvre, a Gates Scholar and PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, as well as a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center. He is the author of Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria (Oxford University Press, 2013) and co-author of State and Islam in Baathist Syria: Confrontation or Co-Optation? (Lynne Rienner, 2012). Lynch and Lefèvre discuss the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, the Syrian Civil War, and Lebanon.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Raphaël Lefèvre, a Gates Scholar and PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, as well as a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center. He is the author of Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria (Oxford University Press, 2013) and co-author of State and Islam in Baathist Syria: Confrontation or Co-Optation? (Lynne Rienner, 2012). Lynch and Lefèvre discuss the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, the Syrian Civil War, and Lebanon.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Richard A. Nielsen, assistant professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some of his work is published or forthcoming in The American Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, Political Analysis, and Sociological Methods and Research. His current work uses statistical text analysis and fieldwork in Cairo mosques to understand the radicalization of jihadi clerics in the Arab world. Lynch and Nielsen discuss this work and his dissertation and book project, The Lonely Jihadist: Weak Networks and the Radicalization of Muslim Clerics, which explores why some Muslim clerics adopt the ideology of militant jihad while most do not.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Richard A. Nielsen, assistant professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Some of his work is published or forthcoming in The American Journal of Political Science, International Studies Quarterly, Political Analysis, and Sociological Methods and Research. His current work uses statistical text analysis and fieldwork in Cairo mosques to understand the radicalization of jihadi clerics in the Arab world. Lynch and Nielsen discuss this work and his dissertation and book project, The Lonely Jihadist: Weak Networks and the Radicalization of Muslim Clerics, which explores why some Muslim clerics adopt the ideology of militant jihad while most do not.

Abdullah Al-Arian is an assistant professor of history at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar. In fall 2014 Arian was a visiting scholar at the University of Denver’s Center for Middle East Studies. His research interests include Islamic social movements, U.S. relations with the Middle East, Islam and globalization, Islamic law and society, and the history of Islam in the United States. He is a frequent contributor to Al-Jazeera English. Lynch and Arian discuss the Muslim Brotherhood and student activism in the 1970s, and his recent release Answering the Call: Popular Islamic Activism in Sadat’s Egypt (Oxford University Press, 2014).

Abdullah Al-Arian is an assistant professor of history at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar. In fall 2014 Arian was a visiting scholar at the University of Denver’s Center for Middle East Studies. His research interests include Islamic social movements, U.S. relations with the Middle East, Islam and globalization, Islamic law and society, and the history of Islam in the United States. He is a frequent contributor to Al-Jazeera English. Lynch and Arian discuss the Muslim Brotherhood and student activism in the 1970s, and his recent release Answering the Call: Popular Islamic Activism in Sadat’s Egypt (Oxford University Press, 2014).

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Michael Herb, associate professor of political science at Georgia State University. He is the author of All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies. Lynch and Herb discuss economic development and politics in the Persian Gulf and his new release The Wages of Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Michael Herb, associate professor of political science at Georgia State University. He is the author of All in the Family: Absolutism, Revolution, and Democracy in the Middle Eastern Monarchies. Lynch and Herb discuss economic development and politics in the Persian Gulf and his new release The Wages of Oil: Parliaments and Economic Development in Kuwait and the UAE.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Laurie A. Brand, Robert Grandford Wright Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California and Chair of the Middle East Studies Association’s Committee on Academic Freedom. Brand is the author of several works, including Citizens Abroad: Emigration and the State in the Middle East and North Africa (2006). Lynch and Brand discuss national narratives and the construction of histories in Egypt, Algeria, and Jordan, and her most recent book Official Stories: Politics and National Narratives in Egypt and Algeria (2014).

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Laurie A. Brand, Robert Grandford Wright Professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California and Chair of the Middle East Studies Association’s Committee on Academic Freedom. Brand is the author of several works, including Citizens Abroad: Emigration and the State in the Middle East and North Africa (2006). Lynch and Brand discuss national narratives and the construction of histories in Egypt, Algeria, and Jordan, and her most recent book Official Stories: Politics and National Narratives in Egypt and Algeria (2014).

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Melani Cammett, associate professor of political science at Brown University, as well as a faculty fellow at Brown’s Watson Institute for International Studies and a faculty associate at the Population Studies and Training Center. She is the author of Globalization and Business Politics in North Africa: A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press 2007, 2010). Lynch and Cammett discuss political parties and social service provision as well as her recent books Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon (2014) and The Politics of Non-state Social Welfare (2014).

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Melani Cammett, associate professor of political science at Brown University, as well as a faculty fellow at Brown’s Watson Institute for International Studies and a faculty associate at the Population Studies and Training Center. She is the author of Globalization and Business Politics in North Africa: A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press 2007, 2010). Lynch and Cammett discuss political parties and social service provision as well as her recent books Compassionate Communalism: Welfare and Sectarianism in Lebanon (2014) and The Politics of Non-state Social Welfare (2014).

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Joel S. Migdal, the Robert F. Philip Professor of International Studies in the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. Migdal is the author of Boundaries and Belonging: States and Societies in the Struggle to Shape Identities and Local Practices (2004), The Palestinian People: A History (2003), Through the Lens of Israel: Explorations in State and Society (2001), and several other works. Lynch and Migdal discuss governance, the Arab Uprisings, U.S. foreign policy, and his recent release Shifting Sands: The United States in the Middle East (2014).

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Joel S. Migdal, the Robert F. Philip Professor of International Studies in the University of Washington’s Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. Migdal is the author of Boundaries and Belonging: States and Societies in the Struggle to Shape Identities and Local Practices (2004), The Palestinian People: A History (2003), Through the Lens of Israel: Explorations in State and Society (2001), and several other works. Lynch and Migdal discuss governance, the Arab Uprisings, U.S. foreign policy, and his recent release Shifting Sands: The United States in the Middle East (2014).

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Hisham D. Aidi, lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of Redeploying the State: Corporatism, Neoliberalism and Coalition Politics (2008) and co-editor of Black Routes to Islam (2009). Lynch and Aidi discuss his recent release Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture as well as jazz diplomacy, Hip Hop, and Islam.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Hisham D. Aidi, lecturer at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. He is the author of Redeploying the State: Corporatism, Neoliberalism and Coalition Politics (2008) and co-editor of Black Routes to Islam (2009). Lynch and Aidi discuss his recent release Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture as well as jazz diplomacy, Hip Hop, and Islam.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Norma Claire Moruzzi, associate professor of gender and women’s studies and political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the author of Speaking Through the Mask: Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Social Identity, which won the 2002 Gradiva Book Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis. Moruzzi is currently working on a project on the changing roles of secular middle class women in contemporary Iran. Lynch and Moruzzi discuss the status of women in Iran under President Hassan Rouhani, as well as women’s education and political participation.

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Norma Claire Moruzzi, associate professor of gender and women’s studies and political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the author of Speaking Through the Mask: Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Social Identity, which won the 2002 Gradiva Book Award from the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis. Moruzzi is currently working on a project on the changing roles of secular middle class women in contemporary Iran. Lynch and Moruzzi discuss the status of women in Iran under President Hassan Rouhani, as well as women’s education and political participation. - See more at: http://pomeps.org/2014/09/17/pomeps-conversations-38-with-norma-claire-moruzzi-91714/#sthash.rs4dGJuq.dpuf

The George Washington University’s Marc Lynch, director of the Project on Middle East Political Science, speaks with Kaveh Ehsani, assistant professor of international studies at DePaul University. He is the author of the forthcoming book Oil and Society: Abadan and Urban Modernity in 20th Century Iran and co-author of the forthcoming book The New Politics of Post-Revolution Iran. Lynch and Ehsani discuss Iranian politics, the presidencies of Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad Khatami, and Iranian football.