LSE Middle East Centre Podcasts

This talk delivered by Professor René Provost explored important lessons on the promises and limits of non-state justice in conflict zones, specifically looking at the Kurdish-dominated Democratic Autonomous Administration of North East Syria. Zones of armed conflict are spaces of disorder, which state and non-state belligerents alike aim to curtail through law. Starting in 2014, the Kurdish-dominated Democratic Autonomous Administration of North East Syria established its own courts and enacted its own laws, in civil as well as criminal matters. For a decade, this unrecognised system of administration of justice has struggled to bring social order to this war-afflicted territory. Meet our speaker and chair René Provost Ad.E. FRSC is the James McGill Professor of Justice Beyond the State at the Faculty of Law of McGill University. He joined the Faculty of Law of McGill University in 1994, where he was Associate Dean (Academic) from 2001 to 2003 and the founding Director of the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism from 2005 to 2010. Professor Provost teaches Public International Law, International Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, International Environmental Law, Legal Anthropology, and various courses in legal theory. His latest book is 'Rebel Courts – The Administration of Justice by Armed Insurgents' (Oxford University Press 2021), winner of the 2022 ICON-S Prize for Best Book in Public Law and the 2023 American Society of International Law Certificate of Merit for Creative Scholarship. Robert Lowe is Deputy Director of the LSE Middle East Centre and Co-Convenor of the Kurdish Studies Series at the LSE Middle East Centre. His main research interest is Kurdish politics, with particular focus on the Kurdish movements in Syria. He is Co-Editor of the Kurdish Studies Series, published by I.B. Tauris.

This event celebrated the work of Professor Charles Tripp through a new edited volume by Toby Dodge, Daniel Neep and Ali Ansari. The work of Charles Tripp – professor at SOAS University of London for over three decades – has shaped a distinct approach to the study of Middle East politics: an analytical sensibility that is empirically rich, theoretically insightful, and historically sensitive. This edited volume brings together contributions from ten political scientists and historians from across Europe, the United States, and the Middle East, each of whom takes Tripp’s work as the intellectual point of departure for studying politics in the region. Speakers: Ali M. Ansari is Professor of Iranian History and founding Director of the Institute for Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews. Eberhard Kienle is Directeur de recherche (Research Professor) at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in Paris and teaches politics at SciencesPo Paris. Daniel Neep is a political scientist who works on conflict and state-building in the Middle East, with a focus on Syria. Evaleila Pesaran is Senior College Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge.

Helen Lackner, a seasoned expert on Yemen with over fifty years of experience, delves into the country's tumultuous history and future potential. She reflects on political transformations since the 1960s, the impact of unification, and the humanitarian crisis overshadowing Yemen's struggles. Lackner emphasizes the importance of education and resource management for a hopeful democratic future. She also discusses the shifting dynamics of port control and grassroots mobilization, highlighting the role of civil society in pursuing a positive path forward for Yemen.

This event was the launch of Seçkin Sertdemir's latest book 'Civic Death in Contemporary Turkey: Mass Surveillance and the Authoritarian State' published by Cambridge University Press. What does it mean for a government to declare its citizens 'dead' while they still live? Following the failed 2016 coup, the Turkish AKP government implemented sweeping powers against some 152,000 of its citizens. These Kanun hükmünde kararnameli ('emergency decreed') were dismissed from their positions and banned for life from public service. With their citizenship rights revoked, Seçkin Sertdemir argues these individuals were rendered into a state of 'civic death'. This study considers how these authoritarian securitisation methods took shape, shedding light on the lived experiences of targeted people. Meet the speakers and chair Seçkin Sertdemir is a Visiting Fellow in the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on ideas of democracy, and current problems of political philosophy such as civil disobedience and political rights. Zerrin Özlem Biner is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at SOAS working at the intersection of political and legal anthropology. She is author of 'Dispossession: Violence and Precarious Co-existence in Southeast Turkey' (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020). With Özge Biner, she co-edited a special section on the 'Politics of Waiting: Ethnographies of Sovereignty, Temporality and Subjectivity in the Margins of the Turkish State' in the Journal of Social Anthropology. Katerina Dalacoura is Associate Professor in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dalacoura’s work has centered on the intersection of Islamism and international human rights norms. She has worked on human rights, democracy and democracy promotion, in the Middle East, particularly in the context of Western policies in the region.

Naila Kabeer, Emeritus Professor of Gender and Development, and Ragui Assaad, Freeman Chair in International Economic Policy, delve into the complexities of women's labor participation in MENA and South Asia. They address the paradox of educated women not joining the workforce, influenced by traditional gender roles and cultural norms. Legal barriers affecting women's economic rights are highlighted, alongside the importance of the care economy in empowering women. The conversation explores how societal attitudes and policy reforms can unlock women's potential in these regions.

This event disseminated the findings of a series of papers produced for the LSE Middle East Centre by Ahmed Tabaqchali exploring the economic and financial interactions of the Iraqi economy with the outside world, particularly the use of the dollar in relation to Iran and the US. While the US’ Iraq policy is still fluid, there have been signs that America’s ‘maximum pressure campaign’ towards Iran will have spillover effects in Iraq, with the Trump administration viewing policy towards Iraq solely through the lens of a perceived threat of Iranian dominance in the country. Iran’s economic footprint in Iraq, both perceived and real, will be an issue for Iraq and its relationship with the US and the West. Meet the speaker: Ahmed Tabaqchali is a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. Ahmed is a capital markets professional with over 25 years’ experience in US and MENA markets. He is the Chief Strategist of the AFC Iraq Fund. Ahmed is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS), and non-resident Senior Fellow with the Atlantic Council - Iraq Initiative. He is a board member of the Iraq Fund for Higher Education (IFHE)/Baghdad Business School (BBS). Access the papers here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/publications/paper-series

This event was the launch of Dr Anne Kirstine Rønn's latest paper as part of the LSE Middle East Centre Paper Series on 'The Struggles of Labour Mobilisation in Lebanon and Iraq'. Despite facing significant challenges, including elite control and repression, labour movements in both Lebanon and Iraq have sought to assert their independence and challenge the status quo. This paper explores the main types of labour organisations in both countries – trade unions and professional syndicates – and the distinct structural and strategic obstacles they face. The paper discusses the internal debates within these organisations, where the tension between idealism and pragmatic goals often influences their strategies. By drawing on interviews with labour activists and secondary sources, the paper reflects on the potential for strengthening these movements and explores the trade-offs between formal and informal labour organising. It concludes by calling for further research to identify the conditions under which labour mobilisation can be effective in similar political contexts. Read the paper here: https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/127301/3/Struggles_of_Labour_Mobilisation.pdf Meet our speakers and chair Anne Kirstine Rønn is a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. Her research explores opposition movements in ethno-religiously divided societies with a particular focus on Lebanon and Iraq. Fuad Musallam is an Assistant Professor in Social Anthropology at the University of Birmingham. He focuses on activism, labour, the imagination, and how people come together to form community. Razaw Salihy is the Iraq Researcher at Amnesty International. Since 2014, she has investigated and reported human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

The return of Donald Trump to the White House in 2025 comes on the back of extreme violence in the Middle East, led by Israel and with great financial and political investment from the United States. What impact will Trump's second term have on the Middle East region, and what can we learn from his policies in his first term as President of the United States? Between 2017- 2021 several major policies helped alter regional dynamics. From the Abraham Accords to the withdrawal from the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement; from a strengthening of ties with the Saudi monarchy to both airstrikes and calls for troop withdrawal in Syria. What are the current legacies of those policies, and what can the Middle East expect from Trump’s second term? Panellists discussed these questions from the perspective of the region, the United States, and global politics with a view to the impact on both citizens and states. Meet our speakers and chair Gilbert Achcar is Emeritus Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at SOAS, University of London. Tom Bateman is an international correspondent with BBC News currently covering the US State Department in Washington DC. Sharri Plonski is a senior lecturer in international politics at Queen Mary University of London. Mezna Qato is Director of the Margaret Anstee Centre for Global Studies at the University of Cambridge. Jasmine Gani is Assistant Professor in International Relations Theory at LSE.

This event was the launch of Dr Marouf Cabi's latest book 'Iranian Kurdistan Under the Islamic Republic: Change, Revolution, and Resistance' published by I.B. Tauris. Cabi presents a social, political, cultural, and socioeconomic history of Iranian Kurdistan since the 1979 Revolution. In this study, Marouf Cabi shines a spotlight on the modern history of Iranian Kurdistan – an area of Greater Kurdistan understudied in comparison to its regions in Syria and Iraq. The book provides a historical narrative and analysis of Kurdistan since the Revolution. It addresses key changes and events in detail, such as the participation of the Kurds in the Revolution, the reinvigoration of the Kurdish movements and the emergence of the women's movement, the armed struggle of the 1980s, socioeconomic and political change of the 1990s, and the emergence of civil society since 2000. Cabi draws on extensive primary sources, including oral history, various newspapers, journals, and books published during the period. Meet our speakers and chair Marouf Cabi is a Visiting Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. He received his PhD in History from the University of St Andrews, UK, and is a social and cultural historian of modern Iran. He is author of 'The Formation of Modern Kurdish Society in Iran: Modernity, Modernization, and Social Change 1921-1979' (2022). Kamran Matin is a Reader in International Relations in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex where he teaches international history, international theory, and Middle East politics. He is the author of 'Recasting Iranian Modernity: International Relations and Social Change' (Routledge, 2013) and co-editor of 'Historical Sociology and World History: Uneven and Combined Development over the Longue Durée' (Rowman & Littlefield International, 2016). Robert Lowe is Deputy Director of the LSE Middle East Centre and Co-editor of the Kurdish Studies Series, published by I.B. Tauris. His main research interest is Kurdish politics, with particular focus on the Kurdish movements in Syria.

This event was the launch of Jerome Drevon's latest book 'From Jihad to Politics: How Syrian Jihadis Embraced Politics' published by Oxford University Press. Drevon's timely book offers an examination of the Syrian armed opposition, tracing the emergence of Jihadi groups in the conflict, their dominance, and their political transformation. Meet our speakers Jerome Drevon is Senior Analyst on Jihad and Modern Conflict at International Crisis Group (ICG) and Research Associate at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID). Drevon has conducted extensive field research in conflict zones, including Syria. He has interviewed hundreds of Jihadi militants and foreign fighters--from their military, political, and religious leaders to their foot soldiers--to gain a deeper understanding of their changing political views in armed conflicts. Haid Haid is a Syrian columnist and a consulting fellow with the Middle East and North Africa programme at Chatham House. Previously, Haid was a research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), King’s College London. Raihan Ismail is the His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford. Raihan’s research interests include Political Islam, sectarianism, and the intertwining nature of religion and politics in the Middle East. More about this event: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/events/how-syrian-jihadis-embraced-politics/from-jihad-to-politics-how-syrian-jihadis-embraced-politics