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In-Person
Study Group

MEI Study Group: Identity and Politics: Managing Diversity in the Middle East

Harvard Faculty, Fellows, Staff, and Students

Fall 2025 Middle East Initiative Study Group with MEI Senior Fellow H.E. Dr. Barham Salih, former President of Iraq, and MEI Visiting Scholar Dr. David Siddhartha Patel as they explore ethnic and religious diversity in the Middle East.

 

APPLICATIONS OPEN: Seats for this study group are limited. Applications are open to all Harvard University ID holders, including students, staff, faculty, and fellows. Participants must commit to attending all sessions of the study group. Applications will close on Friday, October 10, at 11:59pm ET. Decision notice will be sent out to all applicants no later than Tuesday, October 14. Apply here: https://forms.gle/veN4fmMjXGgAy3qa9

 

For any questions related to the study group, please reach out to MEI Research Assistant Mark van de Fliert: mark_vandefliert@hds.harvard.edu

Date: Time: -

Speaker
Barham Salih

Speaker
David Patel

Identity and Politics: Managing Diversity in the Middle East

Join MEI Senior Fellow H.E. Dr. Barham Salih, former President of Iraq, and MEI Visiting Scholar Dr. David Siddhartha Patel as they explore ethnic and religious diversity in the Middle East. The study group will discuss how various political structures have attempted – successfully and unsuccessfully – to accommodate such diversity. After an introductory session on identity in the region, we will explore Iraq's twenty-year-old quota-based parliamentary system; confessionalism in Lebanon; linguistic and religious groups in Iran’s Islamic Republic; cultural diversity in GCC states; and contemporary Syria. Throughout we will focus on the role of constitutions, legal systems, and informal agreements. We will aim to draw lessons for Syria’s ongoing political transition and the possibility of reform in Iraq and other states in the region. 

Format: Each session will include a short lecture component and an exchange of views on the topic under consideration – in part a debate and in part a discussion of what happens “when theory meets reality.” Some sessions might include guest speakers with expertise on the country or groups being discussed. Participants will be expected to attend all four sessions and come prepared to engage in deep discussion. In all study group sessions, Chatham House rules will apply. Refreshments will be provided.

Schedule: The study group will consist of 4 sessions on Tuesday afternoons from 4:30 – 6:00pm on 10/21; 10/28; 11/4; 12/2