MENA-related Events Calendar

Organiser: SOAS Middle East Institute

Speakers: Francesco Belcastro (University of Derby); Edward Wastnidge (Open University)
Chair: Maria Gloria Polimeno (SOAS)

The tumult following the Arab Uprisings has expanded the arenas competed over by regional powers, global actors and non-state players. The United States, once seemingly intent on a hegemonic 'Pax Americana' has stepped back, leaving powers such as Russia, China, India and the EU with opportunities to increase their reach and expand their influence. Meanwhile, regional rivalries and alliances have continued to shape conflict and cooperation in the Middle East.

Organiser: Department of Media Studies; Centre for Palestine Studies; SOAS Middle East Institute

Speakers: Nadeshda Jayakody, Legal Advisor at eyeWitness to Atrocities; Oriol Galobart, Programme Analyst at eyeWitness to Atrocities; Tareq Shrourou, Director and Principal Lawyer of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights (LPHR)

Chair: Dina Matar (SOAS)

This panel will discuss the importance of documenting international crimes and human rights violations in Palestine to seek justice.It will address the role that mobile technology can play in authenticating photographic and video evidence and bridging the gap between human rights documenters and accountability mechanisms, as well as how holding businesses to account is an important aspect of pursuing justice.

Explore the captivating story of Oman's iconic frankincense trees at the 8th Oman Natural Heritage Lecture (ONHL), brought to you by The British Omani Society with the kind sponsorship of Amouage and support from London Speaker Bureau. This year, our distinguished speakers will bring to life the rich history and cultural significance of Oman's frankincense tree, exploring the place of frankincense in history, key contemporary challenges from cultivation to climate change, as well as the commercial opportunities they bring for Oman, including for eco-tourism.

Organiser: Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter

Speaker: Michael Shenkar (Associate Professor of Ancient Iranian and Central Asian Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

From the second half of the eighth century, following the Arab conquest, Sogdian culture, art, and religion entered into decline. This decline was not the result of large-scale destruction, since the principal Sogdian cities were not razed, but rather of the irreversible collapse of the unique Sogdian social organisation. The talk examines the evidence for the transformation of Sogdian urban society in this period, with particular attention to settlement patterns and art, continuities, and cultural shifts in the early Islamic era. The discussion is based on new data from the Sanjar-Shah excavations, along with archaeological and historical sources, to reassess the consequences of the Arab conquest for Sogdian civilisation. 

Organiser: LSE Middle East Institute

This talk delivered by Raya Jalabi, Middle East correspondent for the Financial Times, as part of the annual Ian Black Memorial Lecture Series, will examine Syria’s fraught first year in the aftermath of Bashar al-Assad’s fall.

In Damascus, the streets hum with the prospect of returning commerce and a flurry of international diplomacy. Yet beyond the capital’s reach, scars of conflict still linger: villages emptied by displacement, communities unsettled by cycles of revenge and the scourge of poverty in a country where trauma, fear and hope for a new future are frenetically enmeshed.

At its centre is Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former rebel commander who has recast himself as the country’s new powerbroker. His efforts to steady a nation scarred by fourteen years of conflict have been defined by competing pressures: restive minorities demanding greater autonomy, the persistence of revenge killings and social upheaval, and the delicate task of reintroducing Syria to the international stage. This lecture will look at how Sharaa has navigated these crosscurrents in his first year, consolidating authority while attempting to stabilise the country and stave off fragmentation — and consider whether his grip on power can hold.

Organisers: SOAS Middle East Institute; Centre for Palestine Studise

Speaker: Gilbert Achcar, Emeritus Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at SOAS
Discussants: Dina Matar (SOAS); Nimer Sultany (SOAS)
Chair: Maria Gloria Polimeno (SOAS)

From a foremost expert on the Middle East, The Gaza Catastrophe is a searing indictment of the forces that led to the genocidal war on Gaza and its reverberations across the globe. The Gaza Catastrophe reckons with the lethal consequences and the significance of a war waged by an advanced military-industrial state – with full US participation and support from the West. Renowned political scientist Gilbert Achcar explores the dynamics of a complex historical process that culminated in the war on Gaza and wider conflict in the Middle East. He offers critical insights on the genocide’s regional and international ramifications, as well as radical critiques of Zionism, Hamas and other state and non-state actors.

Registration is open for an upcoming online conference hosted by the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, in partnership with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Association and the International Institute for Asian Studies. 

The conference will consist of six panel discussions across the 6th & 7th November that will explore US policy towards Asia one year into the second Trump presidency. The panels will focus, respectively, on China, India and South Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia and will consist of a broad range of experts and specialists.

Organiser: Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter

Speaker: Gabriel Said Reynolds (Crowley Professor of Islamic Studies and Theology, University of Notre Dame)

The Qur’an’s engagement with Christian stories, including the story of young men and their miraculous “sleep” in a cave, and the story of a clay bird brought to life by the breath of Jesus, points to its emergence in a late antique Christian world. In this talk I will argue that the Qur’an competes with Christian claims by reshaping these stories for its own theological program, thereby undermining their Christian apologetic uses. The clay-bird miracle, for example, was popular among Christians for its presentation of Christ’s divine nature (even as a child). In the Qur’an it becomes simply one of the signs that God works through prophets. These case studies reveal a scripture at once deeply conversant with and strategically resistant to its Christian world.