• CIRS Lunch Talk: Darfur’s Role in Sudan’s Ongoing Power Struggle

    On November 19, 2024, the CIRS Lunch Talk dove into "Darfur's Role in Sudan's Ongoing Power Struggle" with Dr. Hamid E. Ali, a Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, and Professor Rogaia Abusharaf, Professor of Anthropology at Georgetown University in Qatar. Professor Ali pushed back against the common…

  • Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: Assessments, Implications, Prospects – Roundtable Discussion

    On October 25, 2024, the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University in Qatar hosted a closed-door roundtable discussion to examine the Russian invasion of Ukraine and discuss how it has not only reshaped the geopolitical landscape in Europe but also the repercussions it has had across many regions. The event brought together…

  • America’s Game in the Middle East: The 2027 Qatar World Cup | Roundtable Meeting I

    On November 10 and 11, 2024, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) held the first research workshop under its research initiative, America’s Game in the Middle East: The 2027 Qatar World Cup. The purpose of the two-day meeting was to discuss and provide feedback on a collection…

  • The State of the Game: Women’s Basketball in the Middle East 

    A discussion on the development of women's basketball in the Middle East. Basketball is widely considered to be an ‘American Game’, all while increasingly becoming one of the most watched and played sports in the world, including the Middle East. The International Basketball Federation, FIBA, announced on April 28, 2023, that Qatar has been awarded…

  • Connect and Converse with Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International

    At this talk, students learned about critical issues surrounding advocacy, freedom of speech, and human rights with with Dr. Agnès Callamard, a distinguished figure in the realm of human rights advocacy and the Secretary General at Amnesty International. This was a unique opportunity to learn from Dr. Callamard's extensive experience and to engage in meaningful…

  • Lilian Estafanous on “Copts in North America: Diaspora Politics, Generational Dynamics, and Digital Advocacy”

    Lilian Estafanous is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies in Qatar. She has also served as a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. Lilian earned her first PhD in International Relations from Cairo University in 2016 and…

  • Diplomatic Roundtable

    Moderated by Noha Aboueldahab, Assistant Professor of International Law, GU-Q Ralph Wilde, Professor of International Law, University College London, discussed the legal obligations of “third states”—comprising all states, except Israel and Palestine, in this particular context—to end Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), which includes the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem, and…

  • Khalid Albaih: Sudan in Ink: Politics, Protest, and Art

    During this CIRS dialogue, Khalid Albaih (the 2025 GUQ Artist-in-Residence) was in conversation with Suzi Mirgani, contextualizing the history of Sudanese art through times of conflict. At the Georgetown University in Qatar campus, CIRS installed two exhibitions of Khalid's artwork. An exhibition of Khalid's political cartoons on Sudan was curated by Larissa-Diana Fuhrmann, and another exhibition…

  • (Re)Collecting Sudan: Art and Culture Archives Workshop I

    On April 11-12, 2025, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) held the first research workshop under its research initiative on Sudan. The workshop titled “(Re)Collecting Sudan: Art and Culture Archives” examined the intersection of cultural expression and conflict, conducting a broad and in-depth survey of art and culture archives in all their forms.…

  • The Evolution of Basketball in the Middle East

    The CIRS Panel on "The Evolution of Basketball in the Middle East," was held on May 29, 2025, at Georgetown University Hilltop Campus in Washington, D.C., and is an extension of the CIRS research initiative on "America’s Game in the Middle East: the 2027 Qatar Basketball World Cup." Missionaries, merchants and military brought the game…

  • America’s Game in the Middle East: The 2027 Qatar World Cup| Roundtable Meeting II

    On May 29 and 30, 2025, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) hosted its second research workshop as part of the initiative on America’s Game in the Middle East: The 2027 Qatar Basketball World Cup. Over two days, participating scholars and experts engaged in dynamic discussions that addressed a range of critical themes,…