Western Higher Education in Global Contexts

Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar is a Qatar-based novelist and community course instructor at VCUarts Qatar who writes on topics related to gender, race, and pedagogy. On February 13, 2019, she presented a…

CURA Workshop: Introduction to Research Methods

CIRS hosted its second CURA workshop for GU-Q students on the topic “Introduction to Research Methods” The workshop, held on February 7, 2019, presented a conceptual definition of research methods, introduced methodological…

Prospects for a Peaceful Democratic Transition in Sudan

Abdelwahab El-Affendi, Dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities and Professor of Politics at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, was invited by CIRS to discuss the current uprisings in Sudan, with a lecture on “Prospects for a Peaceful Democratic Transition in Sudan” on February 6, 2019. Giving some background on the ongoing…

Taking Measure of American Foreign Policy

CIRS invited Richard L. Russell, professor at the National Defense University in Washington, DC, to deliver a talk titled “Taking Measure of American Foreign Policy” on January 27, 2019, in…

Russia and the Middle East Working Group I

On January 20-21, 2019, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) held the first working group under its research initiative on “Russia and the Middle East.” Over the course of…

Fundamentalist Metamorphosis: Hezbollah’s Ideological Evolution from Idealism to Pragmatism

On January 16, 2019, CIRS invited Middle East analyst Massaab Al-Aloosy to discuss his research on “Fundamentalist Metamorphosis: Hezbollah’s Ideological Evolution from Idealism to Pragmatism.” During the talk, he mapped out the trajectory of Hezbollah (“Party of God”), a political and militant Shiʿa Islamist movement, from its origin to the present. The organization came into existence following the Israeli…

Book Launch: Environmental Politics in the Middle East

On November 11, 2018, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) launched its recent book on Environmental Politics of the Middle East (Oxford University Press/Hurst, 2018), edited by Harry…

Informal Politics in the Middle East Working Group II

On October 28–29, 2018, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) held the second working group under its research initiative on “Informal Politics in the Middle East.” Over the course…