Podcasts about brookings doha center

A very timely discussion with Dr. Sahar Khamis and her guests Dr. Nader Kabbani and Dr. Courtney Radsch in the program "The Bridge" on how AI is changing our world today, its different usages and applications, its economic, social, technological, and educational impacts, and all the opportunities it brings and the threats it poses. Dr. Nader Kabbani is Senior Fellow and Director of Research with the Middle East Council on Global Affairs and a Research Fellow with the Economic Research Forum. Previously, Kabbani was a Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution and Director of Research with the Brookings Doha Center. A development researcher and practitioner with over 20 years' experience, Kabbani served in leadership positions the Silatech Foundation and the Syria Development Research Center at the Syria Trust for Development. He also served on the faculty of the American University of Beirut and the research staff of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the California State Senate. Kabbani regularly consults for international organizations and serves on the advisory boards of several social enterprises and non-profit organizations. Kabbani holds a B.A. from Claremont McKenna College and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Courtney C. Radsch, PhD, is the Director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute. In this role, Dr. Radsch produces and oversees cutting-edge research into news media market structures and helps design smart policy solutions to protect and bolster journalism's financial and editorial independence. Dr. Radsch is journalist, scholar and advocate focused on the intersection of technology, media, and rights. Previously, she was a fellow at UCLA's Institute for Technology, Law & Policy where her research focuses on media sustainability and the platformatization of journalism; AI governance and information ecosystems; and the evolving socioeconomic and technopolitical effects of media and technology. She is the author of Cyberactivism and Citizen Journalism in Egypt: Digital Dissidence and Political Change (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2016)

This event was the launch of three papers authored by Courtney Freer and Spyros Sofos of the LSE Middle East Centre as part of the Global Transitions Series, a research output from PeaceRep – the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform funded by the UK Aid from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). 1. Qatar and the UAE in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding by Courtney Freer 2. Peacebuilding in Turbulent Times: Turkey in MENA and Africa by Spyros Sofos 3. MENA Regional Organisations in Peacemaking and Peacebuilding: The League of Arab States, Gulf Cooperation Council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation by Courtney Freer. Courtney Freer is Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia and Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. Previously, Courtney was Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. From 2015-2020, Courtney was a Research Officer for the Kuwait Programme at the LSE Middle East Centre. Her work focuses on the domestic politics of the Gulf states, particularly the roles played by Islamism and tribalism. Her book Rentier Islamism: The Influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gulf Monarchies, based on her DPhil thesis at the University of Oxford and published by Oxford University Press in 2018, examines the socio-political role played by Muslim Brotherhood groups in Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. She previously worked at the Brookings Doha Center and the US–Saudi Arabian Business Council. Spyros Sofos is a Research Officer on the LSE Kuwait Programme project 'Ecologies of Belonging and Exclusion: An Intersectional Analysis of Urban Citizenship in Kuwait City.' Spyros's research explores the intersection of societal insecurity, identity and collective action and, to date, it has focused on Turkish politics and society, nationalism and populism in Europe and the Middle East, urban citizenship in the Middle East, European Muslim identities and politics, and the theory of populism. His latest book Turkish Politics and ‘The People': Mass Mobilisation and Populism published by Edinburgh University Press explores the emergence of populism in contemporary Turkey and its genealogy as a tradition of action and discourse. His other publications include Nation and Identity in Contemporary Europe published by Routledge, Tormented by History: Nationalism in Greece and Turkey published by Oxford University Press, and Islam in Europe: Public Spaces and Civic Networks published by Palgrave. Greg Shapland is a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre and an independent researcher, writer and consultant on politics, security, resources and environment (including water) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). His entire career has been focussed on the Middle East and North Africa, whether as a commercial representative, university lecturer or government official (in the Ministry of Defence, Cabinet Office and FCO). From 1979 until 2015, he served in the MENA Research Group in the FCO. He was also Head of Research Analysts from July 2010 to July 2013. During his time with the FCO, Greg served in British Embassies in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Tel Aviv and in the Consulate General in Jerusalem. Since leaving the FCO, Greg has worked on post-conflict stabilisation, Israeli-Palestinian relations, inter-state and intra-state water disputes and the impact of climate change in the MENA region. He is currently working on a book on the politics and geography of the MENA region.

In this two-part Contours podcast, Newlines Institute’s Nicholas A. Heras explores the Palestinian-Israeli crisis with colleague Caroline Rose. They are first joined by Omar Rahman, an expert on the post-Oslo Accords era of this conflict. This episode examines the root causes of Palestinian grievances and explores the limited options available to residents of the West Bank and Gaza. Our second episode features Newlines Institute Fellow Elizabeth Tsurkov and the Shalom-Hartman Institute’s Yossi Klein. They engage in a spirited discussion about how perceptions of the crisis within Israel differ from perspectives globally, and how the U.S. must balance its relationship with Israel while still defending human rights. We hope that you will listen to both conversations and come away with a greater understanding of how this conflict is being perceived within and outside of the region. The unfolding civil crisis between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza is already having significant regional effects in both the Middle East and the international community. The eruption of violence between Israel and the Palestinian Territories has disrupted a series of Arab-Israeli normalization deals, initiated with the 2020 Abraham Accords, and the Biden administration’s planned pivot away from the Middle East as the United States focuses on great power competition. Newlines Institute for Policy and Strategy’s Senior Analyst and Head of the State Fragility and Resiliency Program Nicholas Heras sat down with Omar Rahman, a respected analyst and expert on post-Oslo era Palestinian politics at the Brookings Doha Center, and the Head of Newlines’ Power Vacuums program Senior Analyst Caroline Rose. The three took a deep dive into ongoing tensions between Israel and the Palestinian Territories, what this means for Palestinian political consensus, and the impact on regional geopolitics.

From 2019 Our guest is Dr. Shadi Hamid, who joins us to talk about his essay, “The Difficulty with Diversity: Can American pluralism make room for an Islam that is truly different?” Dr. Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. He is the author of ‘Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World,'and co-editor of ‘Rethinking Political Islam.' His first book ‘Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East' was named a Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2014. An expert on Islam and politics, Hamid served as director of research at the Brookings Doha Center until January 2014. He received his B.S. and M.A. from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and his Ph.D. in political science from Oxford University.

This webinar was co-organised with the Society for Algerian Studies. Sino-Algerian relations date back to the Afro-Asian Bandung conference in 1955. China’s status as first non-Arab country to recognise Algeria’s pre-independence provisional government in 1958, coupled with Algiers’ support in helping China restore its security council seat at the UN in 1971, represent key moments that consolidated the historic bilateral relationship. Despite this early political and diplomatic alliance, economic relations did not take off until the early 2000s, propelled by Algeria’s accumulation of hydrocarbon revenues. Chinese companies obtained major billion dollar contracts in construction and infrastructure works. Despite many challenges, Algeria found in China a reliable partner supporting its development. The two countries continue to cooperate not only bilaterally, their preferred framework for economic and commercial exchange, but also through multilateral fora such as FOCAC and CASCF. In 2014, China elevated the relationship to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”, the highest level of diplomatic-cum-economic relations which Beijing extends to key partners. Algeria is also a signatory to Beijing’s flagship Belt and Road initiative. For Beijing, the North African state has a geostrategic location with proximity to Europe and to the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa. The scope and strength of relations in the post-pandemic era will likely continue to strengthen. This webinar explored the historical background and the evolution of the political and economic relations between the two countries, highlighting opportunities and challenges going forward. Francesco Saverio Leopardi is Research Fellow at the Marco Polo Centre for Global Europe-Asia Connections, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and teaches Global Asian Studies at Ca’ Foscari International College. His research interests currently focus on the Sino-Algerian economic relations and the history of economic transformation in Algeria. He also has a long-time interest in the history of the Palestinian national movement and in 2020 he published with Palgrave Macmillan his first monograph The Palestinian Left and its Decline. Loyal Opposition. Chuchu Zhang is Associate Professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, China. She received her PhD in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge, UK. Her research focuses on Middle Eastern Politics, China-Middle Eastern relations and China’s foreign policy. She is author of Islamist Party Mobilization: Tunisia’s Ennahda and Algeria’s HMS Compared, 1989-2014 (Palgrave, 2020). She has published in a number of peer reviewed journals including Middle East Policy, Environment and Planning: Economy and Space, Globalizations, Pacific Focus, and Chinese Political Science Review, Asian Journal of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Yahia H. Zoubir is Professor of International Relations and International Management, and Director of Research in Geopolitics at KEDGE Business School, France. He taught at multiple universities in the United States and was a visiting faculty member at various universities in China, Europe, the United States, India, Indonesia, South Korea, and the Middle East and North Africa. His recent book is Algerian Politics: Domestic Issues & International Relations (Routledge, 2020). He has published in academic journals, such as Journal of Contemporary China, Foreign Affairs, Third World Quarterly, Mediterranean Politics, International Affairs, Africa Spectrum, Journal of North African Studies, Democratization, Middle East Journal, Arab Studies Quarterly, Africa Today, Middle East Policy, etc. He has also contributed many book chapters and written various articles in encyclopedias. In 2020, he was Visiting Fellow at Brookings Doha Center.

The full session with Tarik Yousef: Senior Fellow and Director of the Brookings Doha Center, entitled "The Future of Economic Development" - 13 August, 2020'Al Sharq Diwan' is a platform for constructive intellectual discussions addressing challenges and key topics of public interest.The Diwan will hold dynamic weekly sessions addressing special topics defined on monthly basis with the aim to deepen the awareness of critical questions and subjects

I share an audio clip by my father at a Brookings Doha Center event on 31 January 2013 titled "Lebanon & its Multiple Challenges". Click to watch: https://youtu.be/NLp5F3-tYEs Words about problem solving at a time most needed. Happy Father's Day, Dad. My father's blogspot page is: http://mohamadchatah.blogspot.com Help support The Beirut Banyan by contributing via PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/walkbeirut Or donating through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/thebeirutbanyan Watch these episodes via our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/c/thebeirutbanyan Subscribe to our podcast from your preferred platform. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter: @thebeirutbanyan And check out our website: www.beirutbanyan.com Music by Marc Codsi. Graphics by Sara Tarhini.

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 the region. Amel Boubekeur researches at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences) and is a visiting fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations. Her research focuses on the Maghreb countries' politics, democratization in the Arab world, Euro-Arab/US–Arab relations, and Islam in Europe. She has been a research associate at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies and the Centre Jacques Berque, a non-resident fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP-Berlin), a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, a resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut and the head of the Islam and Europe Programme at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. Join the conversation on Twitter using #LSEAlgeria Image: ©Yasmina Allouche

This week, Jon talks with Tarik Yousef, a senior fellow in the global economy and development program at Brookings and director of the Brookings Doha Center. They discuss where countries in the region were several months ago, where they are now, and what that means for their futures. Then, Jon, Will, and McKinley talk about how the spread of COVID-19 will affect middle income countries in the Middle East. Jon Alterman, “How Will the Middle East Cope with COVID-19?” Center for Strategic and International Studies, March 26, 2020. Tarik M. Yousef et al. “Brookings experts on the implications of COVID-19 for the Middle East and North Africa,” Brookings, March 26, 2020. Jon Alterman, “Add coronavirus to other crises, and the Middle East faces a catastrophe,” The Hill, March 22, 2020. Tarik M. Yousef et al. “The Middle East and North Africa over the next decade: Key Challenges and policy options,” Brookings, March 3, 2020.

Professor Gregory Gause (Head of International Affairs Department, The Bush School of Government and Public Service) gives a talk on Saudi Arabia crown prince Muhammad bin Salman. Introduced by Dr Toby Matthiesen (St. Antony's College, Oxford. Since his father King Salman assumed the throne in 2015, his son Prince Muhammad bin Salman has been the driving force behind Saudi domestic and foreign policy, since 2017 as crown prince. While it is incontestable that the young prince has made substantial changes in the kingdom, just how significant and lasting will they be? This talk will explore this question in four areas: economic policy, social policy, regional foreign policy and the politics of the ruling family. F. Gregory Gause, III is Professor and John H. Lindsey '44 Chair of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A and M University, as well as serving as head of School's Department of International Affairs and as an affiliate faculty member of the School's Albritton Center for Grand Strategy. He was previously on the faculties of the University of Vermont (1995-2014) and Columbia University (1987-1995) and was Fellow for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York (1993-1994). During the 2009-10 academic year he was Kuwait Foundation Visiting Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. In spring 2009 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the American University in Kuwait. In spring 2010 he was a research fellow at the King Faisal Center for Islamic Studies and Research in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. From 2012 to 2015 he was a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center. His research focuses on the international politics of the Middle East, particularly the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf, and American foreign policy toward the region. He has published three books, most recently The International Relations of the Persian Gulf (Cambridge University Press, 2010). His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Middle East Journal, Security Studies, Journal of Democracy, Washington Quarterly, National Interest, and in other journals and edited volumes. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University in 1987 and his B.A. (summa cum laude) from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia in 1980. He studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo (1982-83) and Middlebury College (1984).

Professor Gregory Gause (Head of International Affairs Department, The Bush School of Government and Public Service) gives a talk on Saudi Arabia crown prince Muhammad bin Salman. Introduced by Dr Toby Matthiesen (St. Antony's College, Oxford. Since his father King Salman assumed the throne in 2015, his son Prince Muhammad bin Salman has been the driving force behind Saudi domestic and foreign policy, since 2017 as crown prince. While it is incontestable that the young prince has made substantial changes in the kingdom, just how significant and lasting will they be? This talk will explore this question in four areas: economic policy, social policy, regional foreign policy and the politics of the ruling family. F. Gregory Gause, III is Professor and John H. Lindsey '44 Chair of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A and M University, as well as serving as head of School's Department of International Affairs and as an affiliate faculty member of the School's Albritton Center for Grand Strategy. He was previously on the faculties of the University of Vermont (1995-2014) and Columbia University (1987-1995) and was Fellow for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York (1993-1994). During the 2009-10 academic year he was Kuwait Foundation Visiting Professor of International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. In spring 2009 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the American University in Kuwait. In spring 2010 he was a research fellow at the King Faisal Center for Islamic Studies and Research in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. From 2012 to 2015 he was a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center. His research focuses on the international politics of the Middle East, particularly the Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf, and American foreign policy toward the region. He has published three books, most recently The International Relations of the Persian Gulf (Cambridge University Press, 2010). His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Middle East Journal, Security Studies, Journal of Democracy, Washington Quarterly, National Interest, and in other journals and edited volumes. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University in 1987 and his B.A. (summa cum laude) from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia in 1980. He studied Arabic at the American University in Cairo (1982-83) and Middlebury College (1984).

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 witnessed a growing nexus between business and politics in the wake of liberalization, little is discussed about the nature of business cronies, the sectors in which they operate, the mechanisms used to favour them, and the possible impact of such crony relations on the region's development. Combining inputs from leading scholars in the field, Crony Capitalism in the Middle East presents a wealth of empirical evidence on the form and function of this aspect of the region. Crony Capitalism in the Middle East is unique in both its empirical focus and comparative scale. Analysis in individual chapters is empirically grounded and based on fine-grained data on the business activities of politically connected actors furnishing, for the first time, information on the presence, numerical strength, and activities of politically connected entrepreneurs. It also substantially enhances our understanding of the mechanisms used to privilege connected businesses, and their possible impact on undermining the growth of firms in the region. Ishac Diwan is Professor of Economics at Paris Sciences et Lettres (a consortium of Parisian universities) where he holds the chair of the Economy of the Arab World. He has held recent teaching positions at Columbia University, School for International Public Affairs, and at the Harvard Kennedy School. He directs the Political Economy program of the Economic Research Forum, where he runs two projects on the study of crony capitalism, and the analysis of opinion surveys. Diwan is a frequent consultant with governments and international organizations, working recently on policy issues in Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon, and Egypt. Adeel Malik is Globe Fellow in the Economies of Muslim Societies at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and an Associate Professor at the Department of International Development, University of Oxford. Malik is an empirical economist with a strong multi-disciplinary orientation. He is trying to develop a broader research lens to study Middle Eastern political economy. Malik’s research on Middle Eastern political economy has featured in the CNN, Financial Times, the New York Times, Project Syndicate, and Foreign Affairs. Courtney Freer is a Research Fellow at the Kuwait Programme, LSE Middle East Centre. Her work focuses on the domestic politics of the Gulf states, particularly the roles played by Islamism and tribalism. Her book Rentier Islamism: The Influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gulf Monarchies, based on her DPhil thesis at the University of Oxford and published by Oxford University Press in 2018, examines the socio-political role played by Muslim Brotherhood groups in Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. She previously worked at the Brookings Doha Center and the US–Saudi Arabian Business Council. Join the conversation on Twitter using #LSEMiddleEast

On October 17, the Brookings Africa Growth Initiative and the Brookings Doha Center hosted Finance Minister Abdirahman Duale Beileh of Somalia for a conversation on economic management and performance in fragile African states. Subscribe to Brookings Events on iTunes, send feedback email to events@brookings.edu, and follow us and tweet us at @policypodcasts on Twitter. To learn more about upcoming events, visit our website. Brookings Events is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.    

In this full episode of "Exploring Minds", Michele Carroll and Shadi Hamid explore Shadi's deep relationships with and understanding of middle eastern politics, with particular regards to the Muslim Brotherhood, Islam, & The Fall of the Ottoman Caliphate, which led to the current relationship between Islam and democracy. - Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow in the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World in the Center for Middle East Policy and the author of "Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World" (St. Martin's Press), which was shortlisted for the 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize. He is also co-editor with Will McCants of “Rethinking Political Islam” (Oxford University Press) and co-author of “Militants, Criminals, and Warlords: The Challenge of Local Governance in an Age of Disorder” (Brookings Institution Press). His first book “Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East” (Oxford University Press) was named a Foreign Affairs "Best Book of 2014." Hamid served as director of research at the Brookings Doha Center until January 2014. Hamid is also a contributing editor at The Atlantic and vice-chair of the Project on Middle East Democracy's board of directors. - SUPPORT US ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/exploringmindsshow FOLLOW ALONG FOR UPDATES AND NEW EPISODES: Discord - https://discord.gg/YhaAcN3 Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/exploringmindsshow Twitter - https://twitter.com/ExploreMinds_TV Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/exploreminds_tv/ Website - exploringminds.show — Exploring Minds with Michele Carroll is the online show committed to exploring the world beyond talking points. Thank you for listening! Support the show.

Adel Abdel Ghafar is a fellow in the Foreign Policy program at Brookings and at the Brookings Doha Center, where he was previously Acting Director of Research (2016-2017). He specializes in political economy and his research interests include state-society relations and socio-economic development in the MENA region. Abdel Ghafar is the author and editor of several volumes and reports including: “Egyptians in Revolt: The Political Economy of Labor and Student Mobilizations 1919-2011“ (Routledge, 2017), A Stable Egypt for a Stable Region (European Parliament, 2018), The European Union and North Africa: Prospects and Challenges (Brookings Institution Press, 2019) and “The Middle East: Revolution or Reform?” (Melbourne University Press, 2014). Just recent he is one of the authors of “Empowered decentralization: A city-based strategy for rebuilding Libya” 2019

Donald Trump called it the worst deal ever. The U-S president decided a year ago to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement, which imposed limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities. Trump then reimposed sanctions against Iran, and recently extended them to threaten those countries still party to the deal. Iran’s now reacted, warning the UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia, it’ll step up uranium production unless they meet their commitments within 60 days. Russia is putting the blame on what it calls 'lamentable' behaviour from the U-S, while EU leaders are warning Iran of possible consequences. Can the deal be renegotiated and revived? Presenter: Imran Khan Guests: Mohammad Marandi - Professor of North American Studies at University of Tehran. Rina Shah - Republican Strategist and Consultant. Ali Fathollah-Nejad - visiting fellow at Brookings Doha Center.

Israeli elections are right around the corner. But for a country that controls millions of non-citizens, the concept of democracy becomes muddled.In this episode, +972 Magazine writer Noam Sheizaf explains why, as opposed to the one- or two-state paradigm most of the world thinks in, Israelis consistently vote for a third option: maintaining the occupation just as it is."Netanyahu and the right have been saying to Israelis that, not only is the status quo is significantly better than the one-state or two-state solution, but some of the things that people said you can only achieve through a peace deal, can [actually] be achieved within the status quo."In the second half, former +972 writer Omar Rahman, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, talks about what it means for Palestinians to have no say in elections that in many ways could determine their national fate, in addition to their daily lives."When we're looking at Israeli elections, whether it's the left or the center or the right or the far-right that's elected, that has a tremendous impact on the daily lives of Palestinians and they don't have any say over that. So there's a deep uneasiness over what's coming, which you have no control over."Visit +972 Magazine and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.The music in this episode is by Ketsa.Support the show (https://972mag.com/donate)

Madawi al-Rasheed (LSE) and Courtney Freer (LSE), give a talk for the Middle East Centre Seminar Series at St Anthony's College Oxford, chaired by Toby Matthiesen (St Anthony's College). Dr Courtney Freer is a Research Officer at the Kuwait Programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her work focuses on the domestic politics of the Arab Gulf states, with a particular focus on Islamism and tribalism. Her DPhil thesis at the University of Oxford revised rentier state theory by examining the socio-political role played by Muslim Brotherhood groups in Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE; a book version of these findings will be published by Oxford University Press in Spring 2018 under the title Rentier Islamism: The Influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gulf Monarchies. She previously worked as a Research Assistant at the Brookings Doha Center and as a researcher at the US-Saudi Arabian Business Council. Professor Madawi Al-Rasheed is Visiting Professor at the Middle East Centre, London School of Economics. Previously she was Professor of Social Anthropology at King’s College, London and Visiting Research professor at the Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore. Her research focuses on history, society, religion and politics in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, Middle Eastern Christian minorities in Britain, Arab migration, Islamist movements, state and gender relations, and Islamic modernism. Her latest book Muted Modernists: the Struggle over Divine Politics in Saudi Arabia was published by Hurst in 2015. Her presentation draws on her forthcoming edited volume: Salman’s Legacy: the dilemmas of a new era published by Hurst and OUP in March 2018.

Bessma Momani, nonresident fellow at the Brookings Doha Center and author of , examines how Arab countries would benefit from more women joining the formal workforce and how this would promote gender equality throughout the region. Also in this episode, David Wessel, senior fellow and director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, provides his regular economic update. This week: five big questions on economic policy. Finally, Matt Fiedler, fellow with the Center for Health Policy in Economic Studies,  discusses why he became a scholar and why he believes health care reform is currently the most pressing policy issue. Subscribe to Brookings podcasts  or on , send feedback email to , and follow us and tweet us at  on Twitter.  The Brookings Cafeteria is a part of the .

Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in the Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World in the Center for Middle East Policy and the author of the new book Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World. His previous book, Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East, was named a Foreign Affairs “Best Book of 2014.” Hamid served as director of research at the Brookings Doha Center until January 2014. Prior to joining Brookings, he was director of research at the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and a Hewlett Fellow at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. Hamid is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and the vice-chair of POMED’s board of directors.

John Bruni is joined by special guest Dr. Ibrahim Fraihat, Senior Foreign Policy Fellow, Brookings Doha Center to discuss the stability of the Middle East today and the future of the region. Dr. Fraihat is a CAAR Visiting Fellow, sponsored by the Australian Government through the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR)of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He is hosted by the Middle East Studies Forum of Deakin University. Dr. Fraihat was Guest Speaker for the Department of Asian Studies, University of Adelaide through the efforts of Prof. Purnendra Jain. Topics covered: Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East; the role of sectarianism in many of the region's contemporary conflicts; the 'Cold War' between Saudi Arabia and Iran; the Syrian civil war, Iraqi social and political turmoil, Iranian influence in Iraq, Israel & Palestine. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Bruni is joined by special guest Dr. Ibrahim Fraihat, Senior Foreign Policy Fellow, Brookings Doha Center to discuss the stability of the Middle East today and the future of the region. Dr. Fraihat is a CAAR Visiting Fellow, sponsored by the Australian Government through the Council for Australian-Arab Relations (CAAR)of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He is hosted by the Middle East Studies Forum of Deakin University. Dr. Fraihat was Guest Speaker for the Department of Asian Studies, University of Adelaide through the efforts of Prof. Purnendra Jain. Topics covered: Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East; the role of sectarianism in many of the region's contemporary conflicts; the 'Cold War' between Saudi Arabia and Iran; the Syrian civil war, Iraqi social and political turmoil, Iranian influence in Iraq, Israel & Palestine. Support the show.

Charles Lister is a Fellow at the Middle East Institute, where he focuses on terrorism, insurgency and sub-state security threats across the Middle East. He is also a Senior Consultant to The Shaikh Group’s Syria Track II Initiative, within which he has managed over two years of face-to-face engagement with the leaderships of over 100 Syrian armed opposition groups. Charles was formerly a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar and before that, the head of MENA at the London-based IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre. Lister will be discussing his new book, The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency which was published in the UK in November 2015 (Hurst Publishers) and in the U.S. on 1 February 2016 (Oxford University Press). He is also the author of Profiling the Islamic State (Brookings Institution Press, 2015).

Full event details: worldaffairs.org/wa2014Four years after civil unrest and protests sparked transformations across the Arab world, we sit down with two prominent Arab scholars for a frank discussion of this deeply misunderstood region. What are the roots and the future of Arab politics and the unrest in the region? How will democracy evolve in such a diverse landscape? What is the future of political Islam? Is there a positive role for the West to play in the reconstruction and state-building of the new Arab world?SpeakersShadi Hamid, Director of Research at the Brookings Doha Center and a fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings InstitutionMarwan Muasher, former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Vice President of Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International PeaceJanine Zacharia (moderator), Carlos Kelly McClatchy Visiting Lecturer, Department of Communications, Stanford University