Press Release
CAMBRIDGE, MA – The Middle East Initiative (MEI) at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs announced today that Professor Michael C. Hudson, a preeminent senior scholar of the Middle East, will join the HKS community this semester as the Spring 2015 Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar.
Michael Hudson is the Seif Ghobash Professor of International Relations and Arab Studies, Emeritus, at Georgetown University, where he began as Professor of International Relations in 1979. He directed the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in the Georgetown School of Foreign Service intermittently from 1979 to 2010. From 2010 to 2014, he was the first director of the Middle East Institute and Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore. He holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College and the M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. He has held Guggenheim, Ford, and Fulbright fellowships and is a past president of the Middle East Studies Association. Among Hudson's publications are The Precarious Republic: Political Modernization in Lebanon (1968, 1985); The World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators (1972, co-author); Arab Politics: The Search for Legitimacy (1977); The Palestinians: New Directions (1990, editor and contributor); and Middle East Dilemma: The Politics and Economics of Arab Integration (1999, editor and contributor). His most recent book is Gulf Politics and Economics in a Changing World (2014, co-editor and contributor). He has contributed to the BBC, PBS, National Public Radio, Al Jazeera, Channel News Asia, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Thomson Reuters TV, CCTV, Jadaliyya, and major newspapers.
As the Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar, Professor Hudson will lead the study group “Rethinking the Arab State: The Collapse of Legitimacy in Arab Politics.” The study group will bring together Middle East experts from a variety of disciplines to re-examine the foundational concepts of legitimacy, the state, civil society, religion and regional stability in the wake of the Arab uprisings. In addition, Hudson will collaborate with scholars and researchers and will meet with students and other members of the HKS community during his semester in residence at the Middle East Initiative.
“It is a great honor to welcome Dr. Michael C. Hudson as our Spring 2015 Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar,” said Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics and Faculty Chair of the Middle East Initiative. “As a foremost authority on the Middle East, Dr. Hudson brings profound knowledge of the region’s contemporary politics and complexities to the position, particularly regarding the Arab uprisings. His extensive expertise and insights will be a valuable addition to intellectual life at the Kennedy School.”
The Kuwait Foundation Visiting Scholar Program is one of five components of the Kuwait Program at Harvard Kennedy School and is supported by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. The Visiting Scholar program attracts regional experts who teach, conduct research projects, lead workshops, and interact with other research fellows at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). Their presence helps enrich on-campus program offerings regarding the Middle East and supports the broader mission of the Middle East Initiative.
The Middle East Initiative is dedicated to deepening and strengthening Harvard Kennedy School's relationship with the governments, universities, and peoples of the Middle East. MEI has launched a series of programs designed for political, civil service, and business leaders from the region with the aim of strengthening good governance and seeking solutions to public policy problems in the Middle East. MEI also offers numerous events with dynamic discussion and debate on Middle East-related issues.
Contact: Sharon Wilke | Sharon_Wilke@hks.harvard.edu | +1 (617) 495-9858