CIRS Hosts Reception for Dean Nonneman

CIRS hosted a reception for Gerd Nonneman, dean of Georgetown University in Qatar, on April 18, 2016. The reception was attended by Georgetown University in Qatar faculty, students, and staff, as well as members of the Qatar community, including diplomats, community leaders, and invited members of the general public. Gerd Nonneman served as dean of Georgetown University in Qatar for five years, a period in which he oversaw a series of institutional developments leading to an expansion of the Qatar campus, an increase in specialized faculty, establishment of the Arabic heritage program, and sustained community engagement. Although Nonneman is stepping down as dean of the university, he will return to Georgetown University in Qatar as a professor and researcher in the coming academic year.

Dr. Gerd Nonneman, Professor of International Relations & Gulf Studies, holds an M.A. in Middle East Politics (1985) and Ph.D. in Politics (1993) from the University of Exeter. He also holds Licentiates in Oriental Philology (Arabic) (1980) and Development Studies (1981) from the University of Ghent, Belgium. Prior to his appointment as dean, he served as Professor of International Relations & Middle East Politics, and Al-Qasimi Professor of Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter, where he has also directed the Institute of Arab & Islamic Studies and the Center for Gulf Studies. A former Executive Director of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), he is also a Council member of the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES). Aside from his academic work, he has worked in the private sector in the Gulf region, and acted as a consultant to a range of companies, NGOs, governments and international institutions. Dean Nonneman is Associate Editor of the Journal of Arabian Studies (Routledge). Among his recent publications are: Al-Mamlaka Al-‘arabiyya al-sa’udiyya fi-l-mizan [Saudi Arabia in the Balance] (updated Arabic edition: Beirut: Center for Arab Unity Studies, 2012); ‘Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States: Elite Politics, Street Protests and Regional Diplomacy’ (Chatham House, 2011); ‘Europe, the US, and the Gulf after the Cold War’, in V. Mauer & D. Möckli (eds.), European-American Relations and the Middle East: From Suez to Iraq (Routledge, 2010); ‘Terrorism and Political Violence in the Middle East and North Africa: Drivers and Limitations’, in A. Siniver (ed.), International Terrorism post 9/11 (Routledge, 2010); ‘Political Reform in the Gulf Monarchies: From Liberalisation to Democratisation? A Comparative Perspective’, in A. Ehteshami & S. Wright (eds.), Reform in the Middle East Oil Monarchies (Reading: Ithaca Press, 2008); Saudi Arabia in the Balance: Political Economy, Society, Foreign Affairs (New York University Press, 2006); ‘EU-GCC Relations’, (Gulf Research Center, 2006); and Analyzing Middle East Foreign Policies (Routledge, 2005).