Middle East Centre

BRISMES Graduate Section Annual Conference 2012|

This year's BRISMES Graduate Section Conference, 'Change and Continuity in the Middle East: Rethinking West Asia, North Africa and the Gulf after 2011', will be hosted at LSE on Monday, 11 June 2012. For more information and to access the online booking system| to register, please visit the conference website|.

The Egyptian Revolution: Where From, and Where To?|

Egyptian writer and political and cultural commentator Ahdaf Soueif will speak at LSE on Thursday, 31 May. Her account of the Egyptian uprisings, Cairo: my City, our Revolution, was published by Bloomsbury in January.

LSE Middle East Centre Welcomes New Visiting Professor|

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Professor Amal Shlash who has recently joined the MEC as a Visiting Professor. Professor Shlash is a prominent Iraqi Economist who taught at University of Baghdad and works for Bayt Al-Hikma think tank in Baghdad.

Dr Roham Alvandi awarded the Dasturzada Dr Jal Pavry Memorial Prize 2011|

Congratulations to MEC Research Group member Dr Roham Alvandi, awarded the 2011 Dasturzada Dr Jal Pavry Memorial Prize| for his DPhil thesis, ‘Nixon, Kissinger and the Shah: US-Iran Relations and the Cold War, 1969-1976’. The prize is awarded annually for an outstanding thesis at the University of Oxford on a subject in the area of international peace and understanding. Dr Alvandi is a lecture in International History at LSE. His most recent publication is in the latest issue of Diplomatic History|.

Connecting with LSE Alumni in Lebanon

In collaboration with the LSE Middle East Centre, the LSE Alumni Association Lebanon| hosted a gathering with the MEC's Director, Professor Fawaz Gerges, in Beirut this month. The event was the first ever collaboration between the Centre and LSE Lebanon, as well as the Centre’s first event in the region.

The informal, yet highly informative gathering focused on the newly-established Centre, its scope of work, current activities and potential for future collaboration with LSE Lebanon.  Professor Gerges discussed the historical background of the current upheaval in the Middle East and challenges ahead of these countries after years of military hegemony. 

If you are an LSE alum interested in connecting with the Middle East Centre, please email Dania Akkad at d.c.akkad@lse.ac.uk|.

Most MEC lectures are recorded and available a couple of days later as podcasts. We are also starting to offer full transcripts of lectures. To listen to podcasts or read transcripts from our past events, visit the Podcasts and Transcripts page.| MEC podcasts are also available on iTunes U.|

Revolution 2.0|

In this conversation with LSE's Dr John Chalcraft, internet activist and computer engineer Wael Ghonim discussed his new book Revolution 2.0| providing a unique insider's story from the heart of the Egyptian Spring. He gave insights into why the Egyptian people finally rejected 30 years of oppression and found a voice.

 

Listen to the podcast| & see an interview with Wael on our blog|

The Politics of Resistance and the Arab Uprisings|

On 23 February, Charles Tripp, professor of politics with reference to the Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies, looked at how resistance to regimes' appropriation of public space has been a central theme of the Arab uprisings.

Listen to the podcast |& see the presentation|