On November 11, 2009, Justin Dargin, a Research Fellow with The Dubai Initiative at Harvard University and a Fulbright Scholar of the Middle East, was invited by CIRS to deliver a lecture on “Gulf Gas Development: A Rational Development Strategy” to Georgetown University in Qatar faculty and staff. The lecture focused on the basics of…
Professor and Palestinian political activist Hanan Ashrawi shared her insights on the Palestinian struggle when she lectured on “The Future of Palestine” in Doha, Qatar. The lecture was hosted by the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar. Ashrawi is the Founder and Head of…
Professor of Government Kai-Henrik Barth delivered the December 6, 2009 CIRS Monthly Dialogue on the topic of “Nuclear Ambitions in the Gulf.” He focused on nuclear proliferation concerns associated with ambitious goals to introduce nuclear power in the Gulf states, with an emphasis on the United Arab Emirates. Barth’s presentation was divided in five parts.…
On January 9–10, 2010, CIRS convened the second of three planned working group meetings on “Migrant Labor in the Gulf.” Scholars from Europe, the United States, Asia, and the Gulf region assembled in Doha to discuss particular aspects of migrant labor. Among the participants were CIRS Research Grant recipients: Andrew Gardner of Qatar University, Arland Thornton and Mansoor…
Mehran Kamrava, interim dean at SFS-Qatar lauded President Türk’s insights and said, “our students are fortunate to have the opportunity to learn from a scholar on democracy and human rights who has engaged in diplomacy at the United Nations and ultimately became the political leader of his country. I hope that SFS-Qatar students are inspired to pursue their full potential.”
Robert Lieber, Professor of Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, delivered the January CIRS Monthly Dialogue on the topic of “Why the Declinists are Wrong About America.” Lieber examined the recurring nature of comments regarding America’s decline, both at home and abroad, and argued that critics have been predicting the fall of the…
On January 23–24, 2010, CIRS held the first of its “Political Economy of the Gulf” working group meetings. The “Political Economy of the Gulf” is a CIRS research initiative that examines key aspects of the Gulf’s contemporary economic and political situations and the region’s long-term transition from an oil-based economy to a knowledge-based one. Ten…
Thomas Friedman, Foreign Affairs columnist for The New York Times, delivered a CIRS Distinguished Lecture on the subject of “The World is Flat 3.0.” The lecture was an extension of the themes in his 2005 book The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century. An audience of over 1,400 people attended the event held at the…
Daniel Stoll, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar, delivered his lecture, “The Jordan River and the Johnston Plan: Lessons for the Obama Administration?” on February 8, 2010, as part of the CIRSMonthly Dialogue series. Dr. Stoll, an expert on the United Nations and multilateral organizations as well as…
Attiya Ahmad, the 2009-2010 CIRS Postdoctoral Fellow and cultural anthropologist, delivered a Monthly Dialogue lecture on the subject of “Explanation is Not the Point: Islamic ‘Conversions’ of Migrant Domestic Workers in Kuwait” on March 8, 2010. Ahmad began the lecture by explaining that the anthropological approach toward research topics is to examine the underlying machinations of seemingly…
The Director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Paula Newberg, gave a lunch lecture on March 11, 2010 titled "Reconciling Past and Future: Moving Pakistan and Afghanistan Away from War?" to a group of Qatar-based diplomats and Georgetown University in Qatar faculty and staff. Newberg’s talk focused on…
On March 21, 2010, CIRS convened a Panel presentation on the topic of “Open-Sea Piracy in the Modern World: Perils and Prospects.” The panel was made up of Pottengal Mukundan, Director of the International Maritime Bureau, Roger Middleton, Consultant Researcher working for the Africa Programme at Chatham House, and Daniele Archibugi, Research Director at the…