Papers, Articles and Conferences Proceedings

Mission impossible? Genuine economic development in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries|

Dr Duha Al-Kuwari, LSE Kuwait Programme, September 2013

LSE Middle East Centre's Visiting Fellow, Dr Duha Al-Kuwari| has published her new research paper Mission Impossible? Genuine Economic Development in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries|through the LSE Kuwait Programme.| 

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When the Researcher becomes a Subject of Ethnographic Research: Studying “Myself” and “Others” in Gaza|

Dr Aitemad Muhanna, Women's Studies International Forum (2013)

This paper examines the model of ethnographic framing of the self/other relationship, and how this framing contributes to de-essentializing the theorizing of women's agency and subjectivity. In a situation where the researcher and the research subject share the spatial history, as well as the multiple positionalities in their life cycle, the researcher's self inevitably becomes a subject of the ethnography.

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An Examination into the Markets for Corporate Control: Evidence on Merger and Acquisition Deals Involving Qatari Companies|

Dr Virginia Bodolica, Corporate Ownership & Control (Volume 10, Issue 4, 2013)

During her fellowship at the Middle East Centre, Dr Virginia Bodolica| published an article in the Journal of Corporate Ownership & Control (Volume 10, Issue 4, 2013) in which she seeks to contribute to the building of a contextual knowledge in the field of corporate control in Qatar by providing empirical evidence on M&A transactions involving Qatari targets and acquirers.

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The Islamist Moment: From Islamic State to Civil Islam?|

Professor Fawaz Gerges, Political Science Quarterly (Volume 128, Number 3, Fall 2013)

In this article, Fawaz Gerges discusses the rise to power of Islamist parties in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. He argues that the political future of Islamists will depend on whether they meet the rising expectations of the Arab public. He concludes that if the Islamists fail to deliver local public goods, the voters and society will turn against them.

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Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: The Origins of Iranian Primacy in the Persian Gulf|

Dr Roham Alvandi, Diplomatic History (Volume 36, Issue 2, 2012)

Drawing on American, British, and Iranian sources, this article makes the case that the shift in U.S. Gulf policy from balancing under Johnson to Iranian primacy under Nixon reflected a change in American thinking about the shah of Iran, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. This change in American thinking provided fertile ground for the shah's relentless efforts to secure Washington's backing for Iran's regional primacy throughout the 1970s.

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Hezbollah’s New and Old Wars: From Ideological Struggle to Fight for Survival?|

Dr Filippo Dionigi, The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), November 2013

Hezbollah has seen the fronts of its struggle multiply over the last two years. It is both engaged militarily on the Syrian front and is dealing with a domestic situation in which it faces unprecedented attacks. Furthermore, its international reputation is increasingly challenged. The EU has recently added the military wing of Hezbollah to its terrorist blacklist, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has added a fifth Hezbollah member to its list of indicted persons. Whatever its outcome, the Syrian crisis will not leave Hezbollah unchanged writes Filippo Dionigi for The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF)|

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Inside Syria: 18 Months On|

This report is the outcome of the conference 'Inside Syria: 18 Months On'| organised on 20 September 2012 at LSE. The conference, featuring four panels and a keynote address from former Syrian National Council chairman and Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle Professor Burhan Ghalioun, explored the dynamics of the key  domestic forces influencing the struggle: the regime, the opposition, the economy and the Syrian people.

The conference was supported by the RCUK Global Uncertainties Programme| and the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster|.

Read the report online || Download the full report in PDF|

Addressing the Demographic Imbalance in the Gulf States: Implications for Labour Markets, Migration, and National Identity  |

This report contains the proceedings from a workshop organised by the LSE Middle East Centre and led by Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen which examined demography in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. The event took place on 24 January 2014 under the Chatham House Rule and hosted six speakers from the Gulf and Europe who addressed the shifting dynamics of the study of demographic issues in the GCC states.

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The New Politics of Intervention of Gulf Arab States|

This report is the outcome of a workshop held on Wednesday 26 March at the LSE Middle East Centre. Nine papers were presented, discussing the following issues: The use of complex realism in assessing Gulf foreign policy; State formation and militarisation; The role of the GCC: identity, cohesion, and foreign relations; Case studies: Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE; Gulf interventionist foreign policies.

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Statebuilding and Gender in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq|

This report features the proceedings from a workshop held at the University of Kurdistan-Hewlêr in Erbil on 27 May 2014 as part of the Academic Collaboration research project between LSE MEC and AUD. The workshop focused on the relationship between international actors in institutional reconstruction and gender relations in Kurdistan-Iraq since 2003. 

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