Podcasts about pomeps

On this week's episode of the podcast, Yasmin Moll of the University of Michigan joins Marc Lynch to discuss her new book, The Revolution Within: Islamic Media and the Struggle for a New Egypt. This book challenges conventional accounts of the 2011 revolution and its aftermath as a struggle between secular and religious forces, reconsidering what makes a practice virtuous, a public Islamic, a way of life Godly. Yasmin Moll shows how Islamic media and the social life of theology mattered to contestations over the shape of a New Egypt. Music for this season's podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com.   POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

On this week's episode of the podcast, Erik Skare of the University of Oslo joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Road to October 7: A Brief History of Palestinian Islamism. In this book, Erik Skare argues that Palestinian Islamism is far more complex and dynamic than generally assumed. The phenomenon has continuously developed through disputes between moderates and hardliners. Music for this season's podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com.   POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

On this week's episode of the podcast, Scott Williamson of the University of Oxford joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, The King Can Do No Wrong: Blame Games and Power Sharing in Authoritarian Regimes. This book stresses the importance of understanding autocratic blame games. Scott Williamson argues that how autocrats share power affects their ability to shift blame, so that they are less vulnerable to the public's grievances when they delegate decision-making powers to other political elites.  Music for this season's podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

On this week's episode of the podcast, Steven Heydemann of Smith College joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Making Sense of the Arab State. This book grapples with enduring questions such as the uneven development of state capacity, the failures of developmentalism and governance, the centrality of regime security and survival concerns, the excesses of surveillance and control, and the increasing personalization of power. Music for this season's podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his website Music and Sound at www.ferasarrabi.com. POMEPS, directed by Marc Lynch, is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

On this week's episode, Marc Lynch talks with members of the POMEPS Steering Committee and Advisory Board on a variety of topics at the POMEPS Annual Conference held at GWU in late May 2023.  Noora Lori of Boston University, Rima Majed of American University of Beirut, Wendy Pearlman of Northwestern University discuss migration and refugee studies. (Starts at 1:01). Curtis Ryan of Appalachian State University and Andre Bank of German Institute for Global and Area Studies take a look at what's happening in  Jordan. (Starts at 30:56). Nathan Brown of George Washington University and Steven Brooke of University of Wisconsin-Madison assess the state of political Islam in the region. (Starts at 50:24). Music for this season's podcast was created by Myyuh. You can find more of her work on SoundCloud and Instagram.

Munira Khayyat of The American University in Cairo joins Marc Lynch on this week's podcast to discuss her new book, A Landscape of War: Ecologies of Resistance and Survival in South Lebanon. The book analyzes life along the southern border of Lebanon, where resistant ecologies thrive amid a terrain of perennial war. (Starts at 1:45). Neil Ketchley of the University of Oxford discusses his new article, Burnings, Beatings, and Bombings: Disaggregating Anti-Christian Violence in Egypt, 2013-2018 (co-authored with Christopher Barrie and Killian Clark). (Starts at 45:27). Also, POMEPS is thrilled to release our latest Professional Development Seminar - Hidden Curriculum: How to Publish Your First Book. In the fourth POMEPS Professional Development Seminar, Marc Lynch and Jillian Schwedler discuss how to submit a book as a first time author. This webinar gives advice to junior scholars who want to turn their dissertation into a book in an effort to demystify the process. They are joined by Caelyn Cobb of Columbia University Press, Kate Wahl of Stanford University Press, and David McBride of Oxford University Press. To watch the webinar, click here. For more on turning a dissertation into a university press book, read Abu Aardvark's recent blog post, "Hidden Curriculum: Publishing Your First Book." For information on publishing in journals, read Abu Aardvark's “Hidden Curriculum: Publishing in Academic Journals" blog post here. Music for this season's podcast was created by Myyuh. You can find more of her work on SoundCloud and Instagram.

On this week's episode of the podcast, Jeannie Sowers of University of New Hampshire joins Marc Lynch to discuss POMEPS's newest publication, POMEPS Studies 46:Environmental Politics in the Middle East and North Africa. (Starts at 0:36). Mariam Salehi of Freie University Berlin discusses her new book, Transitional justice in process: Plans and politics in Tunisia. The book discusses the development and design of the transitional justice mandate, and looks at the performance of transitional justice institutions in practice. It examines the role of international justice professionals in different stages of the process, as well as the alliances and frictions between different actor groups that cut across the often-assumed local-international divide. (Starts at 32:24). Music for this season's podcast was created by Bashir Saade (playing Ney) and Farah Kaddour (on Buzuq). You can find more of Bashir's work on his YouTube Channel.

POMEPS 12th Annual Conference Part 2 (S. 10, Ep. 24) by Marc Lynch

This special episode features a round-table discussion from the POMEPS 12th Annual Conference, which was held on June 9-10, 2021. The panel, "Confronting Old and New Obstacles to Political Science Research," features five scholars: Nermin Allam, Assistant Professor of Politics at Rutgers University Mert Arslanalp, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Bogazici University Laryssa Chomiak, Director of the Centre d'Etudes Maghrébines à Tunis (CEMAT) Jannis Julien Grimm, Freie Universität Berlin, Member of the Executive Board and Associated Researcher at the Institute for Protest and Social Movement Studies in Berlin (ipb) Sarah Parkinson, Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Johns Hopkins University Music for this season's podcast was created by Feras Arrabi. You can find more of his work on his Facebook and Instagram page.

This is a special edition of the POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast. Our program typically hosts conversations with scholars about recent books and academic publications. But the ongoing war in Gaza and the broader political crisis among Israelis and Palestinians impacts so many members of our scholarly field and the people and communities we study that we felt both an intellectual and a moral obligation to put together something different: a special edition of the podcast featuring short research based conversations with a wide range of scholars from within the POMEPS network. Marc Lynch The podcast includes contributions from the following scholars. For more from these scholars, see below: Yousef Munayyer, University of Maryland and Arab Center Washington – “There Will Be a One-State Solution But What Kind of State Will It Be?” Dana el-Kurd, University of Richmond – Polarized and Demobilized: Legacies of Authoritarianism in Palestine Nadav Shelef, University of Wisconsin –Evolving Nationalism: Homeland, Identity, and Religion in Israel, 1925–2005 and Homelands: Shifting Borders and Territorial Disputes Maha Nassar, University of Arizona – Brothers Apart: Palestinian Citizens of Israel and the Arab World Nathan Brown, George Washington University – The Old Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Is Dead—Long Live the Emerging Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Tariq Baconi, International Crisis Group and University of Western Cape – “Gaza and the One-State Reality” and Hamas Contained: The Rise and Pacification of Palestinian Resistance Imad Alsoos, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology – “What explains the resilience of Muslim Brotherhood movements? An analysis of Hamas’ organizing strategies” and “From jihad to resistance: the evolution of Hamas’s discourse in the framework of mobilization” Abdalhadi Alijla, Orient Institute in Beirut – “Gazzawi as bare life? An auto-ethnography of borders, siege, and statelessness” and “Palestine and the Habeas Viscus: An Auto-ethnography of Travel, Visa Violence, and Borders” Diana Greenwald, City College of New York – “Military Rule in the West Bank” Yael Berda, Harvard Kennedy School Middle East Initiative – Living Emergency: Israel’s Permit Regime in the Occupied West Bank Noura Erekat, Rutgers University – Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine Nadya Hajj, Wellesley College – Protection Amid Chaos: The Creation of Property Rights in Palestinian Refugee Camps and “Networked Refugees: Palestinian Reciprocity and Remittances in the Digital Age“ Marwa Fatfafta, Access Now Gershon Shafir, University of California, San Diego – A Half Century of Occupation: Israel, Palestine, and the World’s Most Intractable Conflict and Being Israeli: The Dynamics of Multiple Citizenship Michael Barnett, George Washington University – The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of American Jews Shibley Telhami, University of Maryland – “Here’s how experts on the Middle East see the region’s key issues, our new survey finds” (with Marc Lynch) and “Changing American Public Attitudes On Israel/Palestine: Does It Matter For Politics?“

On this episode of SEPADPod Simon and Eddie talk through SEPAD's 2020. From a wonderful event with POMEPS at Chatham House to moving online, it's been a challenging year but one that has still been rather productive. Here are some of the things mentioned: Ten Years On conference: https://www.sepad.org.uk/event/10-years-on-sepad-conference Open University event 'Challenging ‘political legitimacy’ in a transforming international order': https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/challenging-political-legitimacy-in-a-transforming-international-order-tickets-129726540575 Urban spaces report: https://www.sepad.org.uk/files/documents/Urban%20Spaces.pdf POMEPS-SEPAD report: https://pomeps.org/pomeps-studies-38-sectarianism-and-international-relations The Death of a General: https://fpc.org.uk/the-death-of-a-general/ Review of Faith and International Affairs special issue on desectarianization: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rfia20/18/1?nav=tocList YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6JUOGg_GHuOmIPwUsFZi0g

Marc Lynch speaks with Marwa Shalaby of Rice University about the status of women in politics in the Middle East.

The Jasmine Revolution took place in Tunisia in January of 2011.  It led to the democratization of the country and to open elections.  How?  Matt Gordner is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto, who is doing research in Tunis about the impacts of youth-led activism in Tunisia.  In this podcast he explains that activism is no accident, and that it is not just about public protests.  Activists build and share skills, tactics, and innovations to pressure governments for change.  In the case of Tunisia, some very interesting developments are underway - ones that encourage further exploration by students, scholars, and other activists.    Matt Gordner has written a number of encyclopedia articles on social movements in Tunisia: the Union for Unemployed Graduates, Wein al-Petrol (“Where is the Oil), Manich Msemah (“We Will Not Forgive”), and Fech Nestanaou (“What are We Waiting For”), among others. His doctoral research has been supported by a Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation Scholarship, an American Political Science Middle East and North Africa Civil Society Fellowship, a Ranjit Kumar Fellowship, and a couple of POMEPS grants and awards. Matt is also an independent consultant for a number of international and Tunisian outlets where he conducts research on radicalization and de-radicalization, entrepreneurship and innovation, and democracy, human rights, and development Follow Dr. Bob on Twitter @ProfessorHuish

On this week's POMEPS podcast, May Darwich discusses her new book, Threats and Alliances in the Middle East: Saudi and Syrian Policies in a Turbulent Region, with Marc Lynch. "The book focuses on how threat perceptions for some states led to particular alliance decisions," said Darwich. "It looks at some historical cases ,but also some more recent cases." "In particular, it's looking at how identity and power into plays in shaping threat perception." "So over time the book also gives an idea of how these processes of identity change. They are very they are very slow in that change, but over time we could see that this interaction between material and identity— it's shaping both how the identity is developing over time, but also the alliance choices made based on threats to identity also shapes how actors evolve and how their roles evolve in the region." Darwich is an assistant professor in International Relations of the Middle East in the School of Government and International Affairs (SGIA) at Durham University.

On this episode of SEPADPod Simon speaks with Maria Louise Clausen, post doctoral fellow at the Danish Institute for International Studies. Maria Louise has published a number of articles on Yemen and state building/fragmentation in Third World Quarterly, POMEPS and elsewhere. On this episode, Simon and Maria Louise talk about Yemen, Iraq, the role of anthropology, Indiana Jones, fieldwork in 'dangerous places', military intervention and much more.

"The fact that Qatar is, after all, a tiny state— but clearly with a lot of leverage that can amplify their message." Kristian Coates Ulrichsen speaks about the crisis within the GCC with Marc Lynch in our first POMEPS podcast in the launch of our fall season. Ulrichsen is a fellow for the Middle East at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston. His latest book is The United Arab Emirates: Power, Politics and Policy-Making. Ulrichsen explains this summer's diplomatic showdown in historical context. "We've been here before. Like many other people, I was taken quite by surprise when this whole crisis erupted again. I had thought that the Qatari decision in September 2015 to send a thousand troops to Yemen signified the return of Qatar to the GCC fold."

On this week's POMEPS podcast, Marc Lynch talks with Peter Krause, an assistant professor at Boston College. Krause's new book, Rebel Power: Why National Movements Compete, Fight, and Win, focuses on the internal balance of power among nationalist groups, who cooperate with each other to establish a new state while simultaneously competing to lead it. "The book itself answers several questions to people who study national movements, nationalism, or political violence. The first question is why some nations get states and others don't," said Krause. "These groups simultaneously have, what I call, organizational goals— which is, they want to have power. They want to have power and notoriety. They want to survive. They want to increase their membership. At the same time they have these strategic goals of statehood or independence. From the work I've done, it's clear to me that groups and individuals in them care about both of these objectives," said Krause. "My argument is simply that: most of the time you never go broke betting on the fact that groups care more about their organizational goals. They always want to make sure that they're maximizing their power. The argument is simply: when maximizing their power means that they should pursue and achieve strategic goals, that's when it happens. That's the idea that if you're the hegemon, the best way to become stronger is actually to win to achieve victory to achieve a new state. Because now you get the office, the wealth, and the status that comes along with it. However, if you are a weaker organization and you're not in line to inherit the throne, then you actually have an incentive to 'spoil a deal.' Not necessarily trying to prevent independence forever, but hold it off for now." "If you look at studies of national movements and insurgencies, it's pretty close to consensus that foreign support matters," said Krause. "What I argue, however, is what nature of that support takes and how effective it is depends a great deal on the internal balance of power inside the movement."

On this week's POMEPS podcast, Marc Lynch speaks with Ora Szekely, an assistant professor of political science at Clark University. Szekely's recent book, The Politics of Militant Group Survival in the Middle East, compares the performances of four key non-state actors in the Arab-Israeli conflict ecosystem: the PLO, Hamas, Hizbullah, and Amal. "Why is it that you can have two militant groups— fighting against the same adversaries, same territory— and yet you get these really different outcomes?" said Szekely. "The answer to that—or at least the answer we see embedded in a lot of reporting on the Middle East or on non-state actors in general is...this sort of implicit assumption that how well these guys do is basically a function of how much material resources they have. But when you look a little bit more closely, it turns out that even groups that have pretty similar amounts of equipment can have really different outcomes. What I found is that it's not so much the stuff— it's how you got it in the first place that really matters in shaping how you're going to do in the long run."

This semester, POMEPS hosted Marwan M. Kraidy to speak about his latest book, The Naked Blogger of Cairo: Creative Insurgency in the Arab World. Kraidy is the Anthony Shadid Chair in Global Media, Politics and Culture, and Founding Director of the Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. He is also an Andrew Carnegie Fellow. Kraidy previously creativity and the Arab Uprisings in POMEPS Conversation #90.

This semester, POMEPS hosted Merouan Mekouar to speak about his latest book, Protest and Mass Mobilization: Authoritarian Collapse and Political Change in North Africa. Mekouar is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Science at York University in Toronto, Canada. "Without respected actors willing to use their prestige to raise the attention of the rest of the population, their institutional networks to help spread social mobilization, and their international contacts to call the attention of foreign media, cases of isolated protests remain largely confined to where they were born," said Mekouar. This week's podcast is an edited version of Mekouar's talk at George Washington University.

Yesterday, POMEPS held a dynamic conversation with Nathan Brown about his latest book— out this week— Arguing Islam after the Revival of Arab Politics. Brown was joined by Jocelyne Cesari, a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and associate professor of the practice of religion, peace, and conflict resolution in Georgetown’s Department of Government, and Peter Mandaville, a senior advisor to the special representative for religion and global affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Brown spoke about the current state of Arab politics: "The polarization that has set in is partially a result of [mobilizing your followers]. There are few points at which, the vital public argumentation actually changes from abstract argumentation about what should be done to concrete political processes that produce political outcomes. And so people remain very strongly in their own camps. The polarization we see so deeply entrenched in the Arab world from that way is therefore may not be so much the disease as the symptom. That is to say, not so much the cause but is as an effect very much of political systems that have opened themselves up to political debate, but not given very healthy ways in which to translate political debate into political outcomes."

Adria Lawrence speaks about about the recent elections in Morocco on this week's POMEPS podcast with Marc Lynch, "The outcome isn't really surprising, though very few people expected a big surprise. The PJD [Party of Justice and Development, a moderate Islamist-oriented party] took more seats than its rival." Adria Lawrence is Associate Professor of Political Science and a research fellow at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. Her research reflects her expertise in the politics of the Middle East and North Africa. "It was probably quite expected for the PJD to continue its prior mandate for the last five years with a majority of seats in the parliament," Lawrence says. "Secularists were worried about what an Islamist party would do, but the PJD hasn't pushed for that much of an Islamist agenda." In fact, Lawrence says, the PJD has not accomplished a lot in the last five years. They "haven't managed to make major steps forward on their major platforms, like corruption. They've had some pretty serious problems to face: there's been a drought in Morocco, there's an unemployment crisis. They've had a lot of obstacles, and I think they've done what they could in the parliament." Still, voter turnout was low. "It would appear that turnout was worse in this election than in 2011— still less than half of eligible voters."

In this week's POMEPS conversation, Marc Lynch speaks with David Patel about the borders of the Middle East and the legacy of Sykes–Picot. "When Westerners talk about reimagining the borders of the Middle East, what they're thinking of is smaller states." But, says Patel, "we should be careful when we talk about 'reimagining the borders.'" Patel is a lecturer in the department of politics and senior research fellow at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. Looking at the rhetoric of Sykes-Picot. "ISIS isn't a secessionist movement. It's not trying to break away from Iraq or Syria. ISIS talks about Sykes–Picot and the conspiracy of it." "People don't know what to call ISIS now. Calling it a 'state,' even if it dies and becomes a 'failed state,' is a political statement. But it's been there for three years, governing lives... you can travel from one end of the Islamic State to the other with a piece of paper that says, 'This person is allowed to transport agricultural goods. Those are state-like features, and it's survived for quite a long time."

Local Palestinian elections across the West Bank and Gaza were scheduled to take place next month, but they have been suspended. On this week's POMEPS podcast, scholar Diana Greenwald explains that, while elections are frequently canceled or postponed in the Palestinian territories, "This was set to be a significant one because both Fatah and Hamas were set to compete against each other for the first time since 2006." "It's largely being seen by observers as a means by Fatah, the ruling party in the West Bank, to postpone— or even cancel— this vote to avoid an embarrassing loss at the polls." Greenwald is a doctoral student in comparative politics at the University of Michigan where she focuses on the politics of revenue mobilization in transitional settings, including new states, aspiring states, and conflict/post-conflict states. Greenwald was a 2012 recipient of our POMEPS Travel-Research-Engagement grant. "We can't look to local elections as a driver of change at a larger level in the conditions of the conflict. I think anyone who is framing these as a 'release value' for the Palestinian public to blow off steam and forget about the larger issues surrounding them is probably mistaken."

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."

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.

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." "In hindsight, lots of people have said it was a mistake of the [Syrian] regime to have applied such vast levels of repression," Leenders said. "But I think that, beyond moral considerations, I don't think the repression as such was a mistake...The brutality of the regime touched on some really sensitive registers, include dignity and honor of women." Even as Leenders's research focuses on the parsing out the conflict through the lens of two narratives, "We are five years down the road, and every day the conflict goes on, I get more questions than answers."

Saudi Arabia is facing challenges: the global oil slump, the future of the GCC's collective stability and its intervention in Yemen. "Yemen was the place they decided to strike back," Greg Gause tells Marc Lynch in this latest POMEPS podcast. "I think both because they've always seen it as their backyard — part of their special preserve — where they were least likely to directly confront the Iranians. You do something like they're doing in Syria, and you're fighting the Iranians directly." There are signs, Gause says, that an end may be in sight. "The fact there was a Houthi delegation in Riyadh in April show that those in charge are looking for an exit ramp." Saudi Arabia's economic challenges lie beyond low oil prices. "The Saudi private sector has been a job creating machine in the last decade. It's just that almost all of those jobs have gone to foreigners...the real core of this how do you make it so Saudi private sector hire more Saudis without destroying the business model they've created. I don't see that in vision 2030." Gause says he believes the stability of Saudi regime is sound. "Fiscal crisis can create regime crisis." But Gause notes, "I don't see the kinds of fissues in the ruling family that could lead to serious problems in Saudi Arabia." Back in the 1980s and 90s, Saudi Arabia "ran their debt up to a 100% of GDP. There's no indication the Saudis won't be able to sell their government bonds. I think they actually have plenty of room to put off fiscal crisis." Looking beyond Saudi to its neighbors, "when things are really serious, the GCC comes together." But, Gause warns, "It would be a mistake for us to overestimate the policy coherence of the GCC, even now." F. Gregory Gause, III is the John H. Lindsey ’44 Chair, Professor of International Affairs and Head of the International Affairs Department at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University.

"The crisis in Turkey has been a long time coming," Kristin Fabbe says about the current political situation in Turkey. 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. "There was this key moment between the first election in 2015 and the second, and what happened in between those two elections was very scary for Turkish politics. You see this bombings in Ankara and then members of the AKP get up and say, 'This happened because there was no government. This did not happen on our watch.' They use the fact they lost control of the parliament... to basically say, 'You're better off under our thumb.'" 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. "Turkish democracy does better when Turkey is engaged with Europe. When Turkey is disengaged, Turkish democracy does worse. I think there's really something to that argument," Fabbe said. "The question is... is this the kind of engagement you want Turkey to have with Europe over the refugee and migration issue?"

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.

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.