LSE Middle East Centre Podcasts

Speaker: Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies Chair: Fawaz Gerges, LSE While US policy towards Israel remains unchanged, the long-standing assumption that most Americans – even most Jewish Americans – agree with that policy no longer holds. In the media, in popular culture, in universities and particularly within the Jewish community, there are signs of major shifts. In conversation with Fawaz Gerges, Phyllis Bennis discusses these changes with reflection on her own political evolution from Zionist youth leader to anti-war internationalist and Palestinian human rights activist. Recorded on 8 February 2013.

Speakers: Lulu al-Sabah, Abolish Article 153; Hatoon al-Fassi, Qatar University Chair: Courtney Freer, LSE Kuwait Programme A great deal of misinformation exists about women's rights in the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In an effort to dispel outdated notions of women's places in such societies, top experts from the Gulf states will speak about the extent to which women today in the GCC face legal restrictions in everyday life and how women in the region are endeavouring to change the status quo. Recorded on 22 March 2017. This is an LSE Kuwait Programme event.

Speaker: Shafeeq Ghabra, Kuwait University Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Middle East Centre Shafeeq Ghabra discusses some of the major political changes that the Arab world has undergone since 2011, focusing on power shifts, sectarianism, the role of youth groups and the challenges of reform in the region. He focuses in particular on the Gulf’s role in the Arab Spring and its aftermath, tracing GCC monarchies’ efforts at domestic reform and their involvement in the overarching political changes in the Middle East. Recorded on 12 January 2016. This is an LSE Kuwait Programme event.

Speaker: Courtney Freer, LSE Kuwait Programme Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Middle East Centre Muslim Brotherhood affiliates in the Gulf are greatly discussed yet little understood. This lecture, based on findings from extensive field work in Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE, examines the historical and current political role of the Ikhwan in states traditionally considered impenetrable to Islamist movements due to their status as wealthy rentier states. Recorded on 11 November 2015. This is an LSE Kuwait Programme event.

Speaker: Michael Herb, Georgia State University Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE Despite recent setbacks, Kuwait's parliament remains the strongest amongst the GCC states. Michael Herb delves into Gulf history to explain why Kuwait's political system differs from those of its neighbours. Recorded on 18 March 2015. This is an LSE Kuwait Programme event.

Speaker: Kristin Smith Diwan, American University Chair: Toby Dodge, LSE MEC In November 2014 Bahrain held parliamentary elections which took place under an election boycott by the political opposition. This talk will explore the implication of these elections for Bahrain's political development and stability. It will also draw upon Kuwait's own recent experience with an opposition boycott to reflect more generally on the evolving political order in the Gulf states, in the context of the the failure of the 2011 Arab uprisings and the emergence of the threat of the Islamic State. Recorded on 20 January 2015. This is an LSE Kuwait Programme Event.

Speaker: Anastasia Nosova, LSE Chair: Courtney Freer, LSE Kuwait Programme When applied to the Gulf region in general and Kuwait more specifically, rentier state theory stipulates that the political relations between state and business are determined by rents, and therefore that business ceases to represent a strong political force and withdraws from the formal political field in exchange for wealth provided by the state. However, the evidence from Kuwait’s recent history suggests that there is great variation between the patterns of political engagement in Kuwait’s merchant families. Anastasia Nosova defines which factors explain why some merchant families engage in parliamentary politics, while others do not, and why at times the merchant community allies with the opposition, and at other times with the government. She also examines what impact this political engagement by business has on the country’s economic reform policies. Recorded on 17 January 2017. This is an LSE Kuwait Programme event.

Speaker: Aisha Al-Sarihi, LSE Kuwait Programme Discussant: Michael Mason, LSE Chair: Dr Courtney Freer, LSE Kuwait Programme The entry of the Paris Agreement into force in November 2016 coincides with the Gulf states’ acceleration of economic diversification strategies driven by the pressure to adjust fiscal deficits as a result of low oil prices. Aisha Al-Sarihi explains how economic diversification strategies create a window of opportunity for Gulf countries to progress towards the goal set in the Paris Agreement. Capturing these two challenges in a single policy could bring about ‘win-win’ outcomes that ensure both long-term benefits for climate and development. Using specific examples from Oman and the UAE, Aisha discusses the drivers of climate change action in the GCC, and potential challenges to including climate change in economic diversification strategies. Recorded on 25 April 2017. This is an LSE Kuwait Programme event.

Speaker: Michael Stephens, RUSI Chair: Courtney Freer, LSE Kuwait Programme As the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen moves into its eighth month, the country shows little sign of returning to stability. GCC operations in the country have swung the tide against the Houthi militias and their backer Ali Abdullah Saleh, however there appears little ability to connect military action to political reconciliation. The talk will focus on the ability of the GCC coalition to forge a political consensus in Yemen, on the back of a highly controversial military operation. Recorded on 17 November 2015. This is an LSE Kuwait Programme event.

Speakers: Nadje Al-Ali, SOAS; Latif Tas, SOAS Chair: John Chalcraft, LSE Horizontal organising within social movements is not necessarily sensitive to gender-based and other intersectional forms of inequalities and hierarchies. Nadje Al-Ali and Latif Tas present their paper on 'the Feminist Turn in the Kurdish Political Movement', in which they critically explore the attempts by political activists and elected representatives of the Kurdish political movement in south-eastern Turkey (northern Kurdistan) to challenge patriarchal and masculinist ideology and practices. Recorded on 7 March 2017. This seminar forms part of the Social Movements and Popular Mobilisation in the MENA Research Network.