At a moment when public policy and public health are becoming increasingly intertwined, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini will share his unique perspective on UNRWA’s past, present, and future strategies for supporting Palestinian refugees. MEI Faculty Director, Tarek Masoud, will moderate this discussion. 

Come meet the MEI staff and fellows, learn about the programming and research opportunities we offer, and enjoy some sweet Middle Eastern treats!

*Harvard ID required*

A seminar with Michael Hoffman, assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame, on his new book Faith in Numbers: Religion, Sectarianism, and Democracy from Oxford University Press.

In the wake of the Arab Spring, political elites passed a new constitution, held parliamentary elections, and demonstrated the strength of their democracy with a peaceful transfer of power. Yet in Egypt, unity crumbled due to polarization among elites. Elizabeth Nugent, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science presents a new theory of polarization under authoritarianism in her new book After Repression and reveals how polarization and the legacies of repression led to these substantially divergent political outcomes.

As the initial promise of the Arab uprisings has collapsed and curdled, many have revisited nagging questions posed by political dysfunction in the Arab world. Special guest Michael Hanna, Senior Fellow of The Century Foundation joins MEI to discuss the question of whether or not the Arab uprisings were a failure and what this all means for the new Biden Administration. 

Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi ascended to the premiership after months of political instability. Join Marsin Alshamary, post-doctoral research fellow with the Foreign Policy program and fellow at the Institute of Regional & International Studies at the American University of Iraq - Sulaimani as she discusses whether this event has ushered in positive change for Iraq and what this means for the future of the country.

How much power does a charismatic leader have on its citizens? Lydia Assouad, Ph.D. Candidate at the Paris School of Economics and a Research Fellow at the World Inequality Lab addresses this question in her latest research by studying the role of Mustafa Kemal "Ataturk," the founder of modern Turkey, and what effect he had in spreading a new national Turkish identity.

As the shift towards clean-energy gains traction worldwide, where does that leave Saudi Arabia, one of the world's largest oil producers? In what ways will this affect Saudi Arabia's relationship with the US? Guest speaker Bernard A. Haykel, Professor of Near Eastern Studies and Director of the Institute for Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East discusses the economic, social, and political effects of oil, and its place in Saudi political debates and discourse.

In August 2020, a massive explosion in downtown Beirut killed hundreds, caused billions of dollars worth of damage, and galvanized Lebanese demands for more responsible, accountable government. Nadim Shehadi, Executive Director of the Lebanese American University’s New York Headquarters and Academic Center, and Associate Fellow of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House in London discusses the current state of that country, and the prospects for reform.

What role does Islam—the religion of the vast majority of the Arab world’s 440 million inhabitants—play in the region’s governance and in its prospects for peace, progress, and prosperity? Shadi Hamid, author of Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World, explores this and other questions. His findings bear not just on the future of the Middle East, but of the West as well.