Lse Middle East Centre Podcasts

Speaker: Stéphane Lacroix, Sciences Po Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE On 3 July 2013, Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s guidance bureau and the first democratically elected president of Egypt, was overthrown by a military coup led by General Abdelfattah al-Sisi. Since then, the Muslim Brotherhood has been designated a terrorist organization and brutally repressed. In contrast, the Salafi al-Nour party, the political arm of the "Salafi Call" (al-da'wa al-salafiyya), has supported Morsi’s overthrow, taken part in the writing of a new constitution and supported General Sisi in the May 2014 presidential elections. How can we account for al-Nour’s political strategy? What role does the party play in the emerging power structure in Egypt? And what does this tell us about al-Nour’s political identity? Recorded on 26 May 2015.

Speaker: Frédéric Vairel, University of Ottawa Discussant: Nawal Mustafa, LSE Chair: John Chalcraft, LSE Frédéric describes how self-limitation works in contemporary Moroccan mobilisation, with particular reference to the 20th February Movement. In 2011, contestation dynamics did not reach national amplitude despite being spread across various parts of the country. Frédéric looks at the institutionalisation of contentious space, shedding light on the relation between contentious space and institutional politics. He also addresses how different actors within contentious spaces calculate their actions and explains why self-limitation is not embedded in a moral economy in Morocco. Recorded on 20 May 2015. This seminar forms part of the 'Social Movements and Popular Mobilisation in the MENA Research Theme'. Image Credit: Hasna Lahmini, Flickr. Protesters carry the Moroccan flag during the February 20 protest in Rabat.

Speaker: Frédéric Vairel, University of Ottawa Chair: John Chalcraft, LSE Most of the existing literature on the 2011 MENA uprisings looks in isolation at either the contentious politics of popular mobilisation or regime responses to them. Frédéric Vairel proposes a move away from this approach in order to understand the Moroccan case, instead considering both sides together by looking at the 20th February Movement and the regime’s response to it. He argues that by resorting to a number of short and long term reforms; toleration, repression and containment of street mobilisation, the regime was able to avoid producing ‘martyrs’, thereby containing potential backlash of the kind experienced elsewhere in the region. Recorded on 19 May 2015. This seminar forms part of the 'Social Movements and Popular Mobilisation in the MENA Research Theme'. Image credit: Thierry Ehrman, Flickr. King Mohammed VI of Morocco painted portrait.

Speaker: Claire Beaugrand, Institut Français du Proche Orient Discussant: Filippo Dionigi, LSE Middle East Centre Chair: John Chalcraft, LSE Bahrain has had a long history of exiling its opponents as a way to regulate political dissent. The 2011 political uprising in Bahrain marked a new phase in the history of Bahraini outmigration and exile politics. The brutal repression with which the protest movement was met (particularly from March to July 2011) led to a new wave of political exile, affecting a wider range of socio-economic categories. With most of the Arab countries, notably Syria, themselves in turmoil and Gulf countries having closed ranks behind the Bahraini government, the destinations of out-migrants also became more limited with the UK and Lebanon on the top of the list. This research examines the forms of opposition and advocacy that were built on previous exile experiences, focusing on a new generation of opponents that includes children of political exiles and long-time expatriates in Bahrai

Speaker: Jonathan Wyrtzen, Yale University Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Against a dominant historical narrative emphasizing the importance of war-time agreements (Sykes-Picot and others) and the post-World War I peace settlement in "making" the modern Middle East, Jonathan wyrtzen shifts the focus to the post-war decade, examining a set of synchronic "revolts" in the mid-1920s from Morocco to Turkey that were critical in negotiating new political topographies in North Africa and the Middle East. This comparative analysis looks at different typologies of state formation (both by the British, French, Italian, and Spanish colonial powers and by local actors including Ataturk, Ibn Saud, and Abd al-Krim) and of anti-state resistance, emphasising the importance of transregional linkages during this critical historical juncture. Recorded on 17 March 2015. Image Credit: Wikipedia. Sheikh Hilal al-Atrash, Druze rebel leader, during The Great Syrian Revolt.

Speaker: Lahouari Addi, Sciences Po Lyon Chair: John King, Society for Algerian Studies In this lecture, Professor Lahouari Addi discusses the current situation in Algeria, from the sickness and subsequent disappearance of Bouteflika from the public eye, to the protests in the south resisting the exploitation of the country's vast shale gas reserves and, importantly, the future of Algeria's economic situation in the face of declining oil prices. These issues are discussed against the backdrop of a nearing change in presidential leadership. This event was jointly organised by the LSE Middle East Centre and the Society for Algerian Studies. Recorded on 10 March 2015. Abdelaziz Bouteflika painted portrait. Image Credit: Thierry Ehrman, Flickr.

Speaker: Marie Duboc, University of Tübingen Chair: John Chalcraft, LSE This talk focuses on labour protests in Egypt, before and after the fall of Hosni Mubarak. It argues that repression and radicalisation do not fully capture the dynamics of social movements in authoritarian contexts. Instead, it suggests to expand the contentious politics approach, the dominant theoretical framework used to study collective action. Through the study of labour action in Egypt Duboc moves away from approaches apprehending social movements as linear processes, explaining why they can lead to revolutionary situations as well as hinder them. Recorded on 25 February 2015. This seminar forms part of the 'Social Movements and Popular Mobilisation in the MENA Research Theme'. Image Credit: Hossam el-Hamalawy, Flickr. Egyptian workers protest against state-backed Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions.

Speaker: Richard Schofield, King's College London Chair: Madawi Al-Rasheed, LSE Middle East Centre In trying to make sense of the spontaneous appearance of new borderland spatialities in Syria and Iraq, as well as recent instances of formal state boundary-making such as the Abyei arbitration, Richard Schofield asks what constitutes a borderland in the Middle East. Addressing both historical and contemporary concerns, with notable attention being paid to Iran-Iraq and Saudi-Yemen, he argues that developing a more overtly multidisciplinary basis for the study of contested borders will best aid their appreciation and understanding. Recorded on 24 February 2015.

Speaker: Colonel Joel Rayburn, National Defense University Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE More than a decade after the US-led invasion of Iraq, most studies of the Iraq conflict focus on the twin questions of whether the United States should have entered Iraq in 2003 and whether it should have exited in 2011, but few have examined the new Iraqi state and society on its own merits. In this lecture, Joel Rayburn presents his book Iraq After America: Strongmen, Sectarians, Resistance, in which he examines the government and the sectarian and secular factions that have emerged in Iraq since the US invasion of 2003, presenting the interrelations among the various elements in the Iraqi political scene. Tracing the origins of key trends in recent Iraqi history to explain the political and social forces that produced them, particularly during the intense period of civil war between 2003 and 2009, he looks at some of the most significant players in the new Iraq, explaining how they have risen to prominence and what their ai

Speaker: Steven Heydemann, United States Institute of Peace Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Middle East Centre How have the Arab Uprisings of 2011 affected authoritarian governance in the Arab world? How have Arab regimes responded to the distinctive challenges posed by the rapid emergence of oppositional forms of mass politics? What forms of authoritarian governance seem to be emerging in the wake of the Uprisings? Reflecting on the debate about the resilience of authoritarianism in the Middle East, Steven Heydemann analyses what regime responses to the rise of mass political movements tell us about the capacity of Arab regimes to adapt in the face of new challenges. Recorded on 12 February 2015. Image Credit: Hossam el-Hamalawy, Flickr.

Speaker: Steven Heydemann, United States Institute of Peace Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE As the Syrian conflict nears its fourth anniversary, it poses a growing threat to the stability of the state order in the Levant and Arab East. In this lecture, Steven Heydemann argues that the widespread violence now gripping the Levant and Arab East has a logic and structure that can shed light on its underlying dynamics, its drivers, and its possible effects. Recorded on 11 February 2015.

Speaker: Peter Neumann, King's College London Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Large numbers of foreigners, including many Europeans, have joined jihadist groups in the Syrian/Iraqi conflict. Who are these people, why do they go, and what - if any - threat will they pose upon their return? Drawing on a large database with hundreds of social media profiles of Western fighters, dozens of interviews, and fieldwork, Professor Peter Neumann of King's College London's International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation will talk about the fighters' motivations and consequences. Recorded on 27 January 2015.

Speaker: Fadi Bardawil, University of North Carolina Discussant: Fuad Musallam, LSE Chair: John Chalcraft, LSE Drawing on the theorisation of the Marxist group Socialist Lebanon, Fadi Bardawil looks at how Lebanon's simultaneous economic integration into the Arab area through its services-based mode of production, and its isolation from Arab political causes, was affected by the advent of the Palestinian Resistance on the national political scene. Bardawil pays particular attention to how the Left theorised the Lebanese State, class-formation, as well as the role of Palestinian Resistance as an external force that would transform the rules of the Lebanese sectarian political game by rallying the masses around the national question. Recorded 21 January 2015. This seminar forms part of the 'Social Movements and Popular Mobilisation in the MENA Research Theme'.

Speakers: Lina Khatib, Carnegie Middle East Center; Dina Matar, SOAS; Atef Alshaer, University of Westminster Chair: Filippo Dionigi, LSE Middle East Centre In this talk, Dr Lina Khatib, Dr Dina Matar, and Dr Atef Alshaer present their most recent book, 'The Hizbullah Phenomenon: Politics and Communication'. The book addresses how Hizbullah uses image, language and its charismatic leader, Hassan Nasrallah, to legitimise its political aims and ideology and appeal to different target groups. Recorded on 2 December 2014.

Speaker: Ali Ansari, St Andrews University Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE In this talk, Professor Ansari looks at the Iranian proposal in 1977 to establish a joint British-Iranian nuclear company which would have entailed the construction of up to twenty nuclear reactors in Iran in return for significant Iranian investment in British Industry. Had the deal been followed through, it would have marked an unprecedented shift in British-Iranian relations. Professor Ansari charts the rise and fall of the negotiations and what they reveal about the nature of Iran’s relations with Britain. Recorded 19 November 2014.

Speaker: Natalya Vince, University of Portsmouth Chair: John King, Society for Algerian Studies As recent events in North Africa have demonstrated, the post-revolution is often accompanied by moral panic and a desire to 'reinstate' gendered order. This talk explores debates about the place of women in public space in Algeria in the 1960s. Seeking to go beyond commonly-held views of post-independence Algeria as locked in a binary struggle between, on the one hand, 'tradition' and ethno-cultural nationalism and, on the other hand 'modernity' and socialist development, Dr Vince considers how revolutionary progress could embrace puritanical single-mindedness and also how Algerian women in the 1960s responded to and contributed to these debates. Recorded on 12 November 2014.

Speaker: Aitemad Muhanna-Matar, LSE Chair: Lori Allen, SOAS Aitemad Muhanna-Matar presents the findings of field research conducted in five countries (Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Yemen and the occupied Palestinian territory) in 2013. The research focuses on the emergence of young female leaders who have shaped a new form of women’s activism that merges Islamism with feminism. It also reflects on the form of women's leadership that developed during and after the Arab Uprisings and how it could contribute to redefining women's activism and empowerment and its effect on social and gender transformation in Arab countries. Recorded on 6 November 2014.

Speaker: Joel Beinin , Stanford University Chair: John Chalcraft, LSE Since 2002, local Palestinian popular committees have led a grass roots struggle against the separation barrier Israel has constructed, mostly on Palestinian land inside the West Bank. Israelis and internationals have joined this social movement. Using Doug McAdam’s conception of “high-risk activism” (derived from his study of the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964) Joel Beinin explores the history of the struggle and the motivations of Israelis for participating in it. Recorded on 4 November 2014. This seminar forms part of the 'Social Movements and Popular Mobilisation in the MENA Research Theme'.

Speaker: Roham Alvandi, LSE Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Middle East Centre Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, is often remembered as a pliant instrument of American power during the Cold War. In this lecture and book launch, Roham Alvandi offers a revisionist account of the Shah's relationship with the United States by examining the partnership he forged with Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. Dr Alvandi will discuss how the Shah shaped US policy in the Persian Gulf under Nixon and Kissinger, including the CIA’s covert support for the Kurdish revolt in northern Iraq, and the US role in the origins of Iran’s nuclear program. Dr Alvandi will draw on the history of Iran’s Cold War partnership with the United States to examine the potential for Iranian-American cooperation in the Middle East today. Recorded on 16 October 2014.

Speakers: Toby Dodge, Faleh Jabar Chair: Sami Zubaida, Birkbeck, University of London The seizure of Mosul by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant and their rapid move south towards Baghdad has thrown Iraq into another post-regime change crisis. This panel examines the identity and background of the fighters in northern Iraq, as well as the root causes behind the violence and explains why the Iraqi armed forces, comprising over a million men under arms, collapsed so quickly. It explains how the political and constitutional system, set up in the aftermath of regime change, has contributed to the current situation. The speakers also discuss the consequences of the current crisis and what it means for the future of Iraq. Recorded on 26 June 2014.