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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20181004T120000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20181004T160000
DTSTAMP:20260422T223715
CREATED:20180909T094957Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210610T073728Z
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SUMMARY:CURA Workshop: Designing a Research Question
DESCRIPTION:On October 4\, 2018\, CIRS hosted its first CURA workshop for students. “Designing a Research Question” was intended to outline the research process and offer strategies for developing a research question. This was accomplished through the process of finding and narrowing a research topic\, identifying a research problem\, and devising a research question to address that problem. \n \n \nCIRS Director\, Professor Mehran Kamrava\, led an interactive session with the participants about his preferred research methods and techniques. He shared the steps he expects of his students when writing their research papers; from choosing a research question and conducting the research process\, to organizing the research findings and writing the paper. Kamrava emphasized the need to begin research with a broad area of interest and not a specific question\, in order to avoid personal bias and to fully evaluate existing data and resources before identifying a topic. He addressed the importance of planning and organization to academic writing and explained his method of structuring papers. He further shared his expectations of students enrolled in his courses. \n \n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n \n \n \n  \n \n \nThe workshop was facilitated by Islam Hassan\, CIRS Research Analyst\, and Elizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS Project Manager. Participants were all GU-Q students\, and the following CURA fellows provided direction during the workshop: Mohammed Al-Jaberi\, Chaïmaa Benkermi\, Aiza Khan\, Mehaira Maghoub\, Riham Mansour\, Khansa Maria\, and Fatemeh Salari. The facilitators and fellows led exercises encouraging participants to apply and practice the workshop skills on their own research questions. \n \n \nThe exercises helped students to arrive at a succinct research question from their broad areas of academic interest. Personal interests ranged from “Artificial Intelligence in India” to “Islamophobia in China.” Students worked in small groups and discussed their topics in-depth with their peers and mentors. In the first exercise\, students were provided with a set of questions to ask themselves and their peers to guide a conversation to a focused area of interest for further deliberation. Next\, participants were asked to identify what needed further research and how they would tackle it. Students discussed their different approaches. For the last exercise\, students volunteered their research questions for everyone to critique.  \n \n \nThe workshop was attended by twenty-five students from every class year\, from freshmen working on their first college papers to seniors preparing for their final theses. Everyone engaged in peer learning\, with third- and fourth-year students sharing their learned experiences\, and first- and second-year students sharing their own perspectives and approaches. Students who successfully completed the workshop were awarded electronic badges that could be shared on their LinkedIn profiles. \n \n \nThis was the first research workshop that CIRS has planned for the purpose of enhancing students’ research abilities. GU-Q students will have another opportunity to participate in a CURA workshop in the spring semester. \n \n \n“As a freshman starting her career at an institution as research intensive as Georgetown\, this workshop proved to be a great kick start for my journey as a researcher\,” commented Aimen Khan\, a participant in the workshop. Another participant\, Jasmin Afifi described the workshop as “enjoyable\, informative and enlightening.” \n \n \nArticle by Aiza Khan (class of 2020)\, CURA Research Fellow
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cura-workshop-designing-research-question/
CATEGORIES:Student Engagement
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20181017T124500
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20181017T134500
DTSTAMP:20260422T223715
CREATED:20181112T080858Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210829T140334Z
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SUMMARY:Access Denied: Banning Qatari Ships from Blockading States
DESCRIPTION:On June 5\, 2017\, Saudi Arabia\, the UAE\, Bahrain\, and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar\, imposed a blockade\, and immediately moved to close off access to Qatar\, with an embargo on air\, sea\, and land traffic to and from the country. These punitive measures were based on allegations that Qatar was supporting terrorism\, which Qatar denied\, and were used to pressure Qatar to comply with a list of demands in order to end the blockade\, which Qatar rejected. \n \n \nMuna Al-Marzouqi\, Assistant Professor of Maritime and Commercial Law at Qatar University’s College of Law\, was invited to share her research on this subject at CIRS on October 17\, 2018. Her presentation concerned “access denied” to Qatari ships by the blockading states\, and specifically the legality of the ban. Al-Marzouqi studies this unique aspect of the Gulf crisis through maritime laws\, and she has probed the question of whether the blockade is in conformity with principles of international laws and conventions. \n \n \nThere are several laws that govern maritime trade. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea is a body of laws\, customs\, and agreements that applies to all nations\, and governs how nations interact in maritime matters. Maritime law considers activities and events related to the seas that\, for example\, would apply to shipping companies\, their clients\, and their employees. \n \n \nThe blockade has prevented all vessels owned by the Qatari government or a Qatari citizen from being accepted at the ports of the blockading countries. In fact\, in the first weeks of the conflict\, vessels owned by other countries that were bound for or arriving from Qatar were also denied access the blockade countries’ ports. However\, Al-Marzouqi said\, Qatar’s minister of transportation and telecommunication filed a complaint with the International Maritime Organization seeking permission for foreign and Qatari vessels to enter these ports and\, as a result\, foreign vessels were allowed access to Saudi\, UAE\, and Bahraini ports\, but Qatari vessels remained banned. \n \n \nWhile analyzing the impact of the blockade\, Al-Marzouqi pointed out that Qatar regularly imported goods from the blockading countries—such as food\, pharmaceutical products\, and other daily essentials—but no longer has access to these. Vessels do not only dock at these ports for fuel and repairs\, she explained\, but also for humanitarian reasons like medical assistance or ship maintenance. So there are many aspects of trade that are affected by the shipping ban. \n \n \nAl-Marzouqi has researched the applicable international rules to determine which apply to the blockade. “There are rules from maritime conventions\, trade conventions\, and also from the principles of international law that may be applicable\,” she said. The Law of the Sea regulates the right of coastal states to take some measures against foreign vessels. One of the rights of foreign-flagged vessels is to have “innocent passage” into the territorial waters of foreign states. She explained that any vessel\, whatever the nationality\, has the right to enter the waters of another foreign state. In the current case of Qatar\, however\, no Qatari vessel is currently allowed to enter the waters of the blockading states—let alone be granted safe passage. She explained that the term “innocent passage” means that ships can pass through the waters without breaching any laws or doing harm\, “and Qatari vessels are now deprived of this right.” \n \n \n“The actions taken against the state of Qatar are actually unjustified\, unreasonable\, arbitrary\, and outrageous.” \n \n \nAnother applicable treaty in this situation is the Convention on International Régime of Maritime Ports of 1923\, which remains in force today. This convention obligates states party to the convention open their ports to other states; however\, none of the blockading states are signatories to this convention—including Qatar. Thus\, this convention only has a “persuasive effect” on states\, but it is a part of the customary international law. Al-Marzouqi said that all states are obligated to apply the rules articulated in the convention\, and therefore “states should not deny access to ports.” \n \n \nOne of the most important international conventions is the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of 1994. GATT regulates trade between states and its principles encourage states to adopt free-trade policies and eliminate barriers to trade. By suspending maritime navigation to and from Qatar and hampering trade with the state\, the blockading nations are going against the principles of free trade. Al-Marzouqi pointed out one exception to these rules: in a situation where states need to protect their national security interests\, they are allowed to resort to these measures. This gives rise to the question of whether Qatar is enough of a national security threat to merit a response like the blockade. \n \n \nAl-Marzouqi said\, based on her research\, these claims of threats to national security “do not have any basis\, and thus the blockade is a not a legal response\,” because the blockading countries have failed to provide any substantial proof to strengthen their claims of Qatar’s security or terrorism threat. In response\, Qatar has filed cases with international organizations like the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Al-Marzouqi argued that the case against Qatar does not meet the security exception to the applicable rules\, and therefore\, “the actions taken against the state of Qatar are actually unjustified\, unreasonable\, arbitrary\, and outrageous.” \n \n \nPrinciples of international law urge states to work together to find solutions to crises like this. Al-Marzouqi pointed out that the blockade against Qatar is “a political problem that leads to legal consequences.” There is no international body with the authority to impose binding decisions on states to stop actions that are not in conformity with international law\, she said\, except for the ICJ. However\, “the blockading states don’t want to solve the problem by amicable means or by judicial means\,” she said. There is a presumption in law that applies to the blockade\, Al-Marzouqi said\, where the refusal of all mediation and negotiation attempts by the blockading nations indicates “that they have no evidence to show that Qatar is a terrorist country.” \n \n \n  \n \n \nArticle by Khansa Maria\, CURA Administrative Fellow \n \n \n \nMuna Al-Marzouqi is Assistant Professor of Maritime and Commercial Law at Qatar University College of Law. She received her LL.B from Qatar University College of Law and a Masters degree in law from the University of California\, Berkeley. She obtained her doctorate in the field of Maritime Law from Tulane University. \n \n \n 
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/access-denied-banning-qatari-ships-blockading-states/
CATEGORIES:Dialogue Series,Regional Studies
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20181025T140000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20181025T160000
DTSTAMP:20260422T223715
CREATED:20190113T065624Z
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SUMMARY:CURA Seminar: Informal Politics in the Middle East
DESCRIPTION:In October 2018\, the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) held a CURA Seminar under its CURA (CIRS Undergraduate Research Advancement) initiative. Each semester\, CURA Fellows come together for an active discussion of research papers that were submitted to a current CIRS research project. The papers are shared in advance of the seminar\, and CURA fellows attend prepared to critique the papers that they have read. At a later stage\, selected CURA fellows attend a CIRS scholarly research working group to share fellows’ feedback with the paper authors. CURA was introduced to support the research needs of undergraduate students at Georgetown University in Qatar\, and to provide them with opportunities to enhance their research skills by discussing and critiquing papers from CIRS research initiatives. This CURA seminar was under CIRS’ research initiative on “Informal Politics in the Middle East\,” where the CURA fellows discussed two papers addressing the blurred line between formal and informal politics and how it shapes government and society within Yemen and Turkey. \n \n \nAbdul Rehmaan Qayyum (class of 2021) kicked off the CURA Seminar discussion by presenting Charles Schmitz’spaper titled “Weighing the Tribal Factor in Yemeni Politics.” The paper discusses the role of tribes in Yemeni politics. In the North\, the Houthi tribe exploits tribalism in pursuit of legitimacy and power\, while the South rejects the tribal system\, perceiving it as an uncivilized system. Schmitz addresses the role of tribalism while juxtaposing it with the role of Saudi Arabia\, the different political parties (such as the Islah party)\, militias\, and the Hadi government. Schmitz claims that tribes function across state institutions. Tribal sheikhs participate in the government and parliament\, control areas out of the weak Yemeni state’s reach\, and collect taxes on behalf of the state. However\, tribes are not the sole actors in Yemeni local politics. External actors\, such as Saudi Arabia; local political parties; and the conflicts within the government all factor into shaping Yemeni politics\, even more so than tribalism. \n \n \nKhansa Maria (class of 2021) presented Michelangelo Guida’spaper titled “Çay Politics: Informal politics in Turkey and the Example of Vote Mobilization in Istanbul and Şanlıurfa.” The paper conveys the power of informal politics in Turkey\, focusing on the cities of Istanbul and Şanlıurfa. In the aforementioned two cities\, political parties’ campaigns and manifestos are less effective in swaying voters toward a specific candidate during elections. Community leaders and voters’ communal affiliations play a much more effective role in influencing public votes. Guida mentions how in a survey conducted in 2005 by the Reuters Institute Digital News Report in the district of Üsküdar Kadıköy and Küçükçekmece portrayed the impact of media on voters\, highlighting that 33 percent of people mistrusted TV\, and over 50 percent mistrusted the media and preferred to listen to their community leaders and which candidate they support for reference. As a result of the public mistrust in media and the role of community in Turkish politics\, several political parties\, particularly the AK Parti\, use informal space to win votes. Instead of organizing big media campaigns and rallies\, these political parties interact with voters face-to-face\, and organize community events as unconventional ways of campaigning.  \n \n \nSubsequent to each paper presentation\, the CURA fellows engaged in an insightful discussion on the structure and organization of the paper\, the employed theoretical and conceptual frameworks\, the sources used\, and the clarity and strength of the argument. While focusing on the concept of informal politics and its relationship with formal politics in the Middle East\, the CURA fellows employed the theories and research tools and skills of their respective majors—namely international politics\, culture and politics\, international economics\, and international history—to assess\, critique\, and provide feedback on the discussed papers.  \n \n \nFollowing the CURA Seminar\, Chaïmaa Benkermi (class of 2021) and Riham Mansour (class of 2019) presented the CURA fellows’ comments and feedback at CIRS’s second working group on “Informal Politics in the Middle East.” \n \n \n  \n \n \n\nFor the participants’ biographies\, please click here\n\n \n  \n \n \nArticle by Hala Eid\, CURA Publications Fellow at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/cura-seminar-informal-politics-middle-east/
CATEGORIES:Regional Studies,Student Engagement
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DTSTART;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20181028T093000
DTEND;TZID=Europe/Moscow:20181029T170000
DTSTAMP:20260422T223715
CREATED:20181113T112436Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20210829T140248Z
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SUMMARY:Informal Politics in the Middle East Working Group II
DESCRIPTION: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 of two days\, a number of scholars were convened to discuss issues including: the tribe in Yemen\, the Dīwãniyya in Kuwait\, ‘ashwa’iy cities in the Middle East\, social activism in Egypt\, vote mobilization in Turkey\, women in Iran\, and agricultural associations in Saharan Algeria.   \n \n \nCharles Schmitz initiated the working group discussions by presenting his article on “Weighing the Tribal Factor in Yemeni Politics”. Schmitz argues than many consider the tribe to lie at the heart of Yemeni politics and society\, and that existing scholarship tends to overemphasize the tribe while not giving enough attention to other institutions or dynamics which are core to understanding Yemen. Schmitz suggests that political parties\, the military\, various other state institutions\, and civil society are all key actors that need to be studied alongside the tribe and tribal dynamics. Entirely ignoring the role of the tribe in Yemen is of course not possible\, but what needs to be closely examined is how important or influential tribes are in the contemporary Yemeni political landscape. Assessing the tribal factor is a challenge because of two main realities: the diverse conceptual approaches to understanding Yemeni tribes\, and the transformation of Yemeni society and tribes. Schmitz argues that not only is there a great deal of debate about the nature of a tribe\, but the last half century also produced new hybrid forms of politics such as the rise of tribal shaykhs in Yemen’s national political institutions\, state officials’ use of tribal custom to resolve disputes\, and the use of clan identity to secure loyalty in the national security apparatus of Yemen. \n \n \nClemens Chay shifted the discussion to “Dissecting the Spatial Relevance of the Dīwãniyya in Kuwait: An Inquiry into its ‘Publicness.’” In his article\, Chay argues that as an integral component of Kuwaiti culture\, dīwāniyyas have also become spaces where informal politics and formal political negotiations are enacted. In its most basic form\, the dīwāniyya has historically served as a social space where people gather. Surviving the transition from its traditional relevance in pre-oil Kuwaiti society towards current forms of urbanized society\, the dīwāniyya continues to be relevant as a space for social exchange. This article explains how the dīwāniyya’s spatial relevance is attributed to its “publicness\,” and its quality of enabling face-to-face communication that technology has failed to provide. Departing from an understanding of public space\, this article shows how the dīwāniyyastraddles the public-private divide. The space’s malleability has ensured its persistence; its capacity for socialization has led to its use by different societal groups\, including foreign diplomats. Crucially\, this article shows how an informal and indigenous mode of grassroots diplomacy provides an expression of public sentiment. \n \n \nBuilding on the Chay’s discussion\, Deen Sharp discussed another form of informal spaces in his article: “In the Age of ‘ashwa’iy Cities.” Sharp argues that urban studies\, since the start of the new millennium\, has stressed the importance of studying the urban fringes and moving away from the rather myopic study of metropolitan cores that have traditionally dominated urban theory\, and assumed to stand in for broader urban processes. However\, there has been a significant rise of urban perspectives from the global south\, in the context of the continued urbanization that has accelerated in more recent years. The contemporary processes of urbanization in the Middle East and the debate on formal and informal urbanism in the region have contributed significantly to the rise of such perspectives. Hence\, Sharp argues that the way we study and think about urbanization in the Middle East\, and its political importance\, is undergoing a rapid change. Finally\, he suggests that we are not living in an urban age of “global” or “ordinary” cities\, but rather ‘ashwa’iy (haphazard) cities. \n \n \nIslam Hassan presented Amr Hamzawi’s article on “Egypt’s Resilient Social Activism.” Hamzawi argues that in light of Egypt’s ruling generals’ crack down on civil society\, secular opposition parties\, and Islamist movements since 2013\, four forms of anti-authoritarian platforms have shaped social activism in Egypt: single-cause initiatives that are opposing human rights abuses and advocating for the rights and freedoms of the victims; professional associations that are defending freedoms of expression and association; student groups that are challenging the systematic interference of the security services in their affairs and the permanent presence of security forces on campuses; and the labor movement that is galvanized by deteriorating economic and social conditions and by the government’s repression of labor activists. In addition\, spontaneous eruptions of popular anger in response to human rights abuses have become politically significant. \n \n \nMichelangelo Guida shifted the discussion to Turkey with his paper on “Çay Politics: Informal Politics in Turkey and the Example of Vote Mobilization in Istanbul and Şanlıurfa.” Guida argues interpersonal relations\, face-to-face\, and person-to-person relationships dominate Turkish public life. Or example in Istanbul\, besides conventional political meeting\, parties prefer door-to-door political campaigning\, visiting families\, businesses\, and associations of immigrants for a sohbet\, intimate conversation\, over a glass of tea. AK Party has succeeded in using this form of informal politics as a tool to mobilize votes. Guida also argues that Turks prefer to use existing tribal\, family\, hemşehri\, or community networks to have access to public life. This article examines the interactions between formal and informal political structures\, particularly during elections\, in modern day Turkey. \n \n \nShahla Haeri discussed “Perilous Adventures: Women and Civil Society Participation in Iran.” In her article\, Haeri argues that from the early days of the establishment of Islamic Republic\, educated urban Iranian women have been actively engaged with the state and civil society in all spheres and domains\, despite the many legal and political hurdles thrown on their paths by the state’s medieval gender policies. Their activism\, however\, was not initiated by the drastic structure sociopolitical changes. Women engaged with the civil society well before the establishment of the Islamic Republic\, though perhaps not in such wide scale. Haeri examines women’s success in demanding and partially achieving political authority and representation in governmental and non-governmental organizations\, and the evolution of the relationship between women and the Islamic Republic since 1979.  \n \n \nFinally\, Jackie Starbird presented Nejm Benessaiah’s article on “Micro-movements and the Politics of Change in Saharan Algeria.” Benessaiah argues that rather than a linear progression from traditional\, hierarchical forms of governance to modern\, democratic ones\, the present governance composition in Saharan Algeria reveals the continued existence of several\, mixed forms of political behavior. Among these forms of political behavior: authoritarian (still to some degree the family\, the ashīra\, the cazzāba and the state); liberal market-driven\, competitive behavior (the labor market\, mercantile selling of goods\, consumption of goods and services); and consensus-based egalitarian decision-making (associations). The existence of these mixed modes of governance could be seen as evidence for a society in transition\, as newer forms gradually replace the old. Instead of the eclipse of the “traditional” by a monolithic modernity\, Benessaiah argues that this hybrid composition of governance in Saharan Algeria in fact constitutes a locally negotiated form of modernity itself. The Mozabite associations are able to challenge the hierarchy of the local elites\, not by violence or even direct conflict\, but by simply doing things differently\, by organizing in inclusive\, voluntary ways\, and actually achieving results.  \n \n \n  \n \n \n\nFor the working group agenda\, click here\nFor the participants’ biographies\, click here\nRead more about this research initiative\n\n \n  \n \n \nParticipants and Discussants:  \n \n \n\nZahra Babar\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\nChaïmaa Benkermi\, Georgetown University in Qatar\nMisba Bhatti\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\nClemens Chay\, Durham University\, UK\nPaulino Rafael Robles-Gil Cozzi\, Qatar University\nMichelangelo Guida\, Istanbul 29 Mayis University\, Turkey\nShahla Haeri\, Boston University\nIslam Hassan\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\nMehran Kamrava\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\nRiham Mansour\, Georgetown University in Qatar\nSuzi Mirgani\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\nCharles Schmitz\, Towson University\, Baltimore\nDeen Sharp\, Massachusetts Institute of Technology\nJackie Starbird\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\nElizabeth Wanucha\, CIRS – Georgetown University in Qatar\n\n \n  \n \n \nArticle by Islam Hassan\, Research Analyst at CIRS
URL:https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/event/informal-politics-middle-east-working-group-ii/
CATEGORIES:Focused Discussions,Regional Studies
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