On November 13–14, 2011, CIRS held a two-day working group meeting, to discuss issues related to its research initiative on “Food Security and Food Sovereignty in the Middle East.” The working group consisted of experts in the field who deliberated the historical, economic, and political aspects of the discourse as well as specific case studies…
Gwen Mikell, Professor of Anthropology and Foreign Service at Georgetown University, gave a CIRS Focused Discussion on the subject of “The Kofi Annan Legacy for Africa” on November 2, 2011. She noted that the lecture grew out of a project that she began in 2006, where she was invited to write about Kofi Annan’s African initiatives over…
Mari Luomi is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the CIRS for the academic year 2011-2012. She holds a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from Durham University. She has previously worked in various positions for the Middle East Project and the Programme in the International Politics of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
On October 9–10, 2011, CIRS convened the first of its “Sectarian Politics in the Gulf” Working Group meetings. Participating in the research initiative were several experts on the issue of sectarian politics in the Middle East region in general and the Gulf in specific. This first gathering took the form of a brain-storming session, where the participants…
Zarif has had a long and illustrious career in the Iranian diplomatic corp. From 2002 to 2007, Zarif served as the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic to the United Nations, and from 1992 to 2002 he was Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs.
CIRS began its 2011-2012 lecture series with a Focused Discussion on “Libya and the International Community: The Way Forward” given by the Director of Brookings Doha Center, Salman Shaikh, on September 13, 2011. During the lecture, Shaikh outlined some significant ways in which the Libyan uprising differs from others in the region and the lessons that can…
On May 22, 2011, Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, delivered the final CIRS Distinguished Lecture of the academic year on the topic “The Arab Revolutions of 2011.” Khalidi noted that not enough time has passed to be able to truly analyze the impact and consequences of the Arab Spring, and so he…
On April 28, 2011, CIRS hosted Teodor Baconschi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, who gave European insights into the recent and ongoing Arab uprisings taking place in the Middle East. Attending the lecture were Qatar-based ambassadors and embassy staff, representatives from both regional and international think-tanks and research institutes, as well as Georgetown University faculty.
Imam Yahya Hendi delivered a two-part CIRS Focused Discussion series taking the audience on “A Journey with Islam in the 21st Century.” The lectures were co-sponsored and hosted by the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. Hendi’s second lecture took place on April 19, 2011, and highlighted “Women and Gender in the Islamic Religious Texts and Culture.” He…
Imam Yahya Hendi delivered a two-part CIRS Focused Discussionseries taking the audience on “A Journey with Islam in the 21st Century.” The lectures were co-sponsored and hosted by the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha. The first lecture took place on April 18, 2011, and focused on “The Paradigms of Islamic Ethics, Human Rights, and Social Justice,” where…
Aly Verjee is author of the recently published Race Against Time: the Countdown to the Referenda in Southern Sudan and Abyei. From 2006-2008, Verjee helped manage the logistics of the repatriation of Sudanese refugees from Kenya, Uganda, DR Congo and the Central African Republic. From 2008–2010, he helped lead the first ever international election observation mission in Sudan for The Carter Center. In addition, Verjee also has worked on various assignments in Afghanistan, Botswana, China, Cote d'Ivoire, DR Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, Somaliland and South Africa.
Brendan Hill, Associate Dean of Student Affairs at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, delivered a CIRS Monthly Dialogue lecture on “Sin and Civil Society: Modernity and Moral Regulation in 18th Century England” on April 6, 2011. Attending the lecture were students, faculty and staff, locally-based ambassadors, and other members of the Qatar community.…