Initially planning to major in International Affairs, Anna McMahon fell in love with the Middle East Studies program instead and graduated with her BA in 2015. While at GW, Anna interned with the American Taskforce for Palestine and completed studies in both Hebrew and Arabic. She also studied abroad for 11 months in Tel Aviv. She struggled with the often one-sided views of the region, and as such she traveled across the West Bank and attended Combatants for Peace tours, which work to shed light on the impacts of Jewish settlements on Palestinian villages. While abroad, she also traveled and backpacked throughout Egypt, Oman, the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, and Turkey.
Anna's experiences solidified her interest in wanting to continue to support and understand the region, and after returning to GW, she interned for both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, focusing on human rights issues in the Middle East. Shortly after graduating, she took a job with the non-governmental organization International Medical Corps (IMC), which works to respond to sudden onset disasters and protracted conflict in providing humanitarian aid. Anna worked at IMC in various capacities abroad and in Washington D.C., traveling to and working in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Iraq, largely supporting programs providing humanitarian assistance to refugees and displaced persons impacted by the Yemen, Syria, Gaza, and Iraq crises. Though she has chosen not to pursue a master’s degree for now, Anna has continued her Arabic studies at Johns Hopkins University, studying in their intensive summer graduate-level Arabic program. She is currently working in USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (formerly the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance/OFDA) as a Disaster Operations Specialist/Humanitarian Assistance Officer.
1. What professor or class stands out in your memory of the program?
I very much enjoyed my global Islamic feminism course as it enabled me to do a lot of un-learning of the more Western feminism I was accustomed to hearing and seeing. I also took one of my required Middle East Studies courses with Marc Lynch and loved the class as it served as my core foundation in Middle East Studies.
2. What advice would you give new students?
I know now that the path isn’t linear. Much of what I initially planned to study at GW and become involved in with my internships and professional life changed over time, sometimes purposefully and oftentimes by accident. It’s okay to be flexible to whatever life throws at you—both in school and outside of school. Also, studying humans and their actions is complex and ever changing, and I personally argue that there is no rule book to predicting their actions (100% of the time). While diverse academic studies are incredibly important, meeting people in the region, listening to their stories (on all sides of any conflict) and their histories, as well as spending extended time in the region, is just as critical as classroom studies. I also wish I’d known how much work it would take to try and separate myself from a Western view on the region, though I think some of my classes at GW did a good job of that. I could not appreciate it at the time, but I wish I’d known just how important my studies and travels would be in building a professional life for myself later on.
Sina Azodi is a PhD candidate in International Affairs at the University of South Florida. His research interests include international security, nuclear non-proliferation, and US-Iranian relations. He previously worked as a Research Assistant at Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Sina is a frequent commentator on both English and Persian speaking media, including BBC Persian service, Sky News, Al-Jazeera, TRT World and i24. His analysis has appeared in Columbia University’s Journal of International Affairs, The National Interest, LobeLog, and the Middle East Institute. Sina earned his BA and MA in International Affairs from GW's Elliott School of International Affairs. Follow him on Twitter: @azodiac83.
What is your current research project?
My research project focuses on Iran's nuclear program from its inception in the 1950s until 2003. It specifically focuses on how Iranians view the nuclear program as essential to their security and a symbol of Iran's entry to the nuclear club. It seeks to analyze the strategic logic of Iran's nuclear program and its roots.
I believe GW's Gelman library and National Security Archive provide essential resources that are vital to my research.
What advice do you have for students thinking about going on to a PhD program?
Do not get discouraged if you are rejected -- keep trying and make sure you have related work experience. Do not forget to take the GRE seriously.
Dania Thafer
Dr. Dania Thafer is a political scientist with a focus on the political economy and international relations of the Arab Gulf states. More specifically, her area of expertise is on the Gulf region’s geopolitics, US-Gulf relations, and the political economy of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Her current research explores the effect of state-business relations on economic development for the existing youth bulges in rentier economies with an emphasis on the Arab Gulf states.
What is your current research project?
A book examining how the surge in youthful human capital and the institutionalized dominance of the business elite affect innovation and economic diversification in the Arab Gulf states.
Are there unique research tools or resources available at GW that brought you here?
There is a substantial surge of interest in Gulf studies and there is an increase of opportunities in the field. According to Google Scholar, the number of publications focusing on the Gulf States experienced a threefold increase — from 346 to 1,040 — between 2008 and 2016. Likewise, from 2008 to 2017, the publication output of the top six Middle East-focused think tanks increased by 400%.
How did you come up with the idea of writing a textbook on Business Arabic?
My interest in business Arabic began in 2008, when GW-CIBER expanded its scope to include business languages. With a small seed grant I received from CIBER (GW's Center for International Business Education and Research), I excitedly began developing materials for a full course in business Arabic. Part of my excitement was that I found it to be an opportunity to reactivate and harness my academic background in international business and integrate it with my academic training in applied linguistics and extensive professional experience in teaching and conducting research in Arabic. As soon as I began developing the curriculum for a full course in business for upper-level undergraduate students, I noticed a critical gap in the field, namely the lack of appropriate authentic and interactive material suited for the 21st century teaching and learning. This curricular gap, while a challenge then, turned into an opportunity to fill it with up-to-date, classroom-tested textbook material, which meets the academic and professional needs of today’s Arabic language learners.
How has your academic and professional experience as an Arabic linguist and as the coordinator of the Arabic program at GW informed your decision to write a book on business Arabic and the writing process? The international business concentration of my M.A. in Near Eastern and North African Studies, along with my Ph.D. in Arabic (linguistics), the applied linguistics research I conducted, and my extensive teaching experience in higher educations—all have prepared me for the writing of al-Munjiz: Advanced Business Arabic. The writing process was incremental and required many steps: developing the pedagogical goals of each textbook module, carefully selecting texts at the intended advanced level with appropriate business content that fits the theme of the module contributes to the goals of the module, developing stimulating exercises integrated with research-based activities to be carried out by the textbook user, simulation practice, and culminates with a challenging case study—commonly used in business curricula—closely related the theme and content of the module, which requires a well-reasoned and defensible solution on the part of the learner.
These are the principles that guided the selection of materials and design of instructional activities: (1) challenging contemporary authentic, and author-composed materials equating published ones in each domain. (2) stimulating and meaningful instructional activities simulating those found in “real life” and motivating the learner to perform her/his best. (3) Utilizing lexico-grammatical knowledge to bridge the gap in processing business content. (4) Promoting learner’s autonomy by motivating him/her to be an active, confident learner who conducts own research to complete a task or assignment. (5) increasing analytical abilities through critical thinking in the process of evaluation of data, synthesizing details before formulating an opinion or recommending solutions to business-related challenges.
Who is this textbook intended for?
Al-Munjiz: Advanced Business Arabic fills an existing critical curricular gap in foreign language education for non-native learners of Arabic. It integrates the Arabic language and business content in thematic modules of high interest for a broad spectrum of learners of Arabic. The six major business domains contained within: business geography, employment, Islamic banking, fuel and energy, e-commerce, and tourism, are intended for undergraduates, graduate students, business professionals, business establishments seeking to train its nonnative workforce in Arabic, and for anyone whose primary focus is business in the Arabic-speaking regions.
How is this textbook situated in the wider field of language pedagogy? What are the innovative aspects of it?
This business-focused textbook is the first to be published after a twenty-year hiatus in Arabic. It is also the first textbook to integrate business modules with exercise requiring data collection and analysis, and the first to adopt the case study method. The innovative content and approach in this textbook foster learner autonomy while targeting the development of language and business skills that commensurate with the expectations for college and advanced degree students to assume an appropriate corporate position in the business world, where they likely use higher order skills such as conducting research, evaluating data, and recommending solutions to business challenges. As such, this curriculum distinguishes itself from existing ones, which focuses on tasks that are transactional in nature and often do not sufficiently lend themselves to the development of high order skills.
Learners using this textbook are offered not only language, idiomatic and formulaic expressions of the business domain, but also the conventions and cultural norms of Arab businesses and practices. Strategies and skills that contribute to increased language proficiency efficiently such as pre-reading activation exercises, skimming, scanning, paraphrasing, expressing and supporting opinions, which are contained within are geared towards encouraging the learner to delve deeper into the various business-related contexts with increasing confidence.
What is it that this textbook adds to current Arabic textbooks?
One of the main contributions this textbook makes to fill the existing curricular gap in business language education in Arabic is providing its users the opportunity to learn from the business and economics scholars and CEOs across several key business domains in the recorded interviews I had in a number of Arab states, as I developed the textbook materials. Those interviews provide first-hand knowledge not only of the specific business domain but also the sociocultural environment in which each business entity operates. Additionally, the textbook affords the learner the opportunity to become acquainted with the factors that facilitate or otherwise impede the business establishment. The textbook content helps enhance its users’ self-confidence through practicing simulated situations they likely encounter in “real” business contexts (e.g., developing their own resume, responding to a job ad, and analyzing the foreign exchange markets, and energy and fuel markets).
Users of the instructional material in the textbook conduct guided online research utilizing the language tools and (re)constructed knowledge from content to fulfill certain required tasks. Similarly, learners engage in problem analysis and solving of the case study present in the module to demonstrate their mastery over content and confidence in their language skills to successfully complete the business-focused tasks. To demonstrate their progress, learners apply the concepts they learned from the business and culture content while using the language tools they sharpened when working on individual or group tasks and assignments. Finally, each module ends with a few suggested further readings, which can be utilized as springboard for extensive readings in a personalized reading project on a business topic. Two handy specialized business-focused glossaries (Arabic-English and English-Arabic) at the end of the textbook are incorporated as a reference for specialized business terms organized by thematic module.
Can you share with us some of the fun and challenging aspects about the process of collecting material for this book?
Recording interviews with business and economics academics and CEOs was unexpectedly quite challenging. Identifying and selecting the scholars and CEOs, coordinating and setting up the interviews and traveling halfway around the world and finding a competent videographer overseas were some of the most unexpectedly challenging but also rewarding aspects in the development of the textbook.
What are the recommendations that you would give to an Arabic instructor or an Arabic program coordinator who would like to adopt your textbook?
This book is unlike a traditional textbook where there is an established sequence for covering the book units. The modules in al-Munjiz are self-contained and allow maximal flexibility in the choice of the modules and their sequence for class. In a standard 3-credit course, this textbook can be realistically fully covered in a two-course sequence.
It is highly recommended that the course instructor surveys the students before the first class meeting to find out which modules they wish to study in the semester. Doing so, will arouse the students’ interest and make them feel invested in the selection of the content they are about to learn.
Also, while the language variety in the book is Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), it is highly recommended that the business language instructor reserves time in class for integration of a spoken vernacular with MSA.
Each module roughly follows a predictable format that integrates all the four language skills, reading, writing, speaking, and listening plus culture.
Kristin Diwan is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. She works at the intersection of comparative politics and international relations with an emphasis on social movements and political identity. Her current projects concern generational change, nationalism, and the evolution of Islamism in the Arab Gulf states. Her articles and commentary have appeared in both academic and policy journals such as Geopolitics and Foreign Affairs, as well as prominent media such as The New York Times, Financial Times, and The Washington Post.
Diwan teaches part-time at GW's Elliott School of International Affairs and was previously an assistant professor at American University's School of International Service. She holds a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard University.
1) What course are you teaching at GW, and what's it been like to teach during such a tumultuous time?
I’m teaching a graduate level seminar on youth politics in the Middle East. Underlying the subject are the youth protests in Iran, Turkey, and the Arab world that peaked in 2009-2013, with a second wave of protests – in Sudan, Algeria, Iraq and Lebanon – in more recent years. But the class also seeks to expand beyond protests to other forms of youth activism, in the arts and urban life for example, and to understand the role of generational change in other political dynamics such as populism and nationalism.
Teaching during the global pandemic and during the US presidential elections means lots of disruptions and distractions, of course. But, there are also opportunities to bring in more outside speakers and comparative topics. Being aware of rising nationalism in the US and youth-led movements for social and racial justice such as Black Lives Matter, helps to situate changes in the Middle East in a more global context.
2) What advice would you give students who are interested in working for a think tank/research organization?
Well, you are in the right place! There are so many think tanks and research organizations in Washington, DC, and almost all of them hold public events, albeit now mostly virtual. Attending them is a great way to demonstrate interest and make initial connections. You may also reach out directly to scholars who share your interests. Most of these organizations have internships, although often unpaid. Reach out early, be ready, and know when the openings and application processes begin.
3) How are populations in the Gulf region responding to US politics right now? What do they perceive as the most central problem facing Americans? (an attempt to flip the script from the "biggest issue facing the MENA question")
I’ve been amazed at how involved Gulfis were in the US presidential elections. Saudi Twitter has been immersed in even the most arcane political debates and conspiracies, especially those coming from right-leaning political personalities and media outlets. Social media allows for more opinionated engagement and boosterism. It has gotten quite partisan. There is definitely a lot of concern about where America is headed, both as a society and in terms of global leadership. I get challenged on issues from social justice to Iran policy. It feels like our futures are tied together like never before.
Rawan Alkhatib graduated from the Middle East Studies MA program in 2017. She chose the Elliott School because of the graduate program's focus on writing policy-type papers, specifically consolidating the wide breadth of academic research on the Middle East region to short, actionable papers. This proved especially useful in her next role. She was looking to move back to the Middle East to rejoin her family, and with the help of her professor, Amb. Gnehm, she moved to Dubai to begin her career as a security analyst with International SOS.
In this new role, Rawan had to not only apply the MENA knowledge she gained at the Elliott School, but also expand her scope to include southern and eastern Africa as well as eastern Europe and Central Asia -- a wide geographic scope indeed! Rawan organized evacuations from high-risk locations, coordinated natural disaster relief efforts, and provided profile-specific briefings on countries in this region to ISOS clients. In her current role as security analyst for BCG, she does much of the same for the company's Middle East offices, playing a pivotal role in the organization's response to the ongoing pandemic, the security environment of Lebanon, and heightened US-Iran tensions, among other security matters.
What do you like most about living in Dubai?
From a professional perspective, it is great to be based in the region I study and report on. Living in the same/nearby time zones as the countries I follow has not only been helpful, but has also helped me feel quite grounded to what's going on in surrounding countries. I've made professional connections and also dear friends from the region, who have enriched my perspective of the Middle East. Personally, it's wonderful to live in a young, vibrant, and diverse city -- you feel like you are helping build its culture and contributing to the city's growth, in a way! Dubai is a major hub for travel, so I've also been able to fly to more interesting destinations (pre-COVID) given the city's central location.
What was the biggest challenge or advantage of transitioning to living abroad?
The biggest advantage career-wise is that the 'market' in Dubai for security professionals is not yet saturated the way it is in the US. I've been able to find incredible positions at the multinational companies here.
What professor or class stands out in your memory of the program?
Amb. Gnehm's class -- if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have gotten my first job in Dubai out of graduate school! I also enjoyed my class on Sectarianism with Professor Alex Henley -- class discussions were always lively and it really reshaped my understanding of sectarianism in the Middle East.
What advice would you give new students?
Get to know your professors and seek friendships in your fellow classmates. The professors are not only knowledgeable, but can also support your career aspirations (or even to help shape your career aspirations). Build friendships with your classmates -- my closest friends to this day are fellow Elliott students. I'm always in awe at how far they've come in their lives.
How do you think alumni can be a resource for current students?
We will help you network where we can. For example, if I myself can't directly help, I can connect you with my friends here in Dubai to see if there's an opportunity for you.
The Project on Middle East Political Science, POMEPS, is a collaborative network designed to enhance the broader Middle East’s political science field and its engagement with the broader academic discipline, public policy, and the public sphere. POMEPS seeks to shape innovative new approaches to the political science of the region, support the field’s publication in leading academic journals, and ultimately build the number of tenured political scientists specializing on the Middle East. It also aims to increase their contribution to the public foreign policy debate and to the policy-making process, in order to allow their expertise to have more of an impact on vital decisions about the Middle East.
POMEPS is based at the Institute for Middle East Studies at the George Washington University and is supported by grants from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Henry Luce Foundation. POMEPS is directed by Marc Lynch, and guided by a Steering Committee, which includes leading political scientists from major research universities.
Check your inbox for regular invites to Middle East Studies Student-Alumni happy hours, which feature GW faculty and researchers affiliated with the Institute for Middle East Studies, speaking about their own education, current research, and career advice. To be sure you’re receiving these invites, contact the Elliott School's Alumni Programs Office. Events, news, and notices are also posted on the Middle East Studies LinkedIn group.
Drop in for the Institute for Middle East Studies’ virtual Scholarly Lecture Series
Egypt’s Occupation: Colonial Economism and the Crises of Capitalism with Aaron Jakes
January 28, 12:00 pm
IMES Lecture with Ben White (topic TBA)
February 18, 12:00 pm
The Lived Nile: Environment, disease, and material colonial economy in Egypt with Jenn Derr
April 15, 12:00 pm
Sign up to receive weekly emails on upcoming IMES events by emailing our Events Assistant at: imes_events@gwu.edu
Join us (virtually) for the annual IMES conference March 25-26.
This year’s annual conference theme is “Producing the Region: New Directions in Middle East Media and Politics.” It will take place March 25-26, 2021. Links to RSVP for each panel session will be available here.
The media landscape of the Middle East is changing rapidly. Turkish entertainment series are globalizing visions of the region. Netflix started a project of commissioning Arabic original entertainments, charting a new path towards localization of media production. Displaced populations from wars in Iraq, Yemen and Syria are creating new digital diasporas, where fractured expressions of nostalgia and witnessing circulate. Media are vital to making the Middle East a lived region of shared and contested meaning. The next IMES annual conference presents cutting-edge research by media scholars who examine this closely.
The genealogy of the idea of the ‘Middle East’ is by now well-rehearsed, and is often criticized as an external imposition that geographically centers the West. However, there is a viable contemporary current of felt belonging, along with an array of existing policies, institutions and other infrastructures of regionality, that makes the Middle East meaningful as an analytical framework that intertwines media and events.
The conference presenters possess expertise in media studies and the Middle East. They represent a breadth of theoretical interests, methodological approaches and disciplinary backgrounds. Confirmed speakers include: Will Youmans (The George Washington University), Omar al Ghazzi (LSE), Narges Bajoghli (Johns Hopkins), Adel Iskander (Simon Fraser University), Hatim el-Hibri (George Mason University), Nihat Celik (San Diego State University), Kay Dickinson (Concordia University), Ziad Fahmy (Cornell University), Melani McAlister (The George Washington University), Marwan Kraidy (University of Pennsylvania), Yasmin Moll (University of Michigan), Bilge Yesil (CUNY Staten Island), Elliott Colla (Georgetown), Niki Akhavan (Catholic University), Rayya El Zein (Wesleyan University), and Heather Jaber (University of Pennsylvania).
For more information and updates on upcoming events, follow the Institute for Middle East Studies on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. To view recordings of our previous events, subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Wednesday February 5, 6pm: Middle East Studies Alumni-Student Networking Reception at the Elliott School. Join fellow Middle East Studies students and alumni for a networking reception at the Elliott School. Hors d'oeuvres, beer, wine, and soda will be provided. For details and to register, visit go.gwu.edu/MESPNetworking2020.
Institute for Middle East Studies Scholar Lecture Series
Iran Reframed: Anxieties of Power in the Islamic Republic with Narges Bajoghli
January 23, 5:30pm
Film Screening & Discussion: Naila and the Uprising
February 6 , 5:30pm
The Levant Express: The Arab Uprisings, Human Rights, and the Future of the Middle East with Micheline Ishay
February 27, 5:30pm
City of Black Gold: Oil, Ethnicity, and the Making of Modern Kirkuk with Arbella Bet-Shlimon
March 26, 5:30pm
Intersection of Sex, War, and Sectarianism with Maya Mikdashi
Join us at the annual IMES conference on April 17!
This year’s annual conference theme is "Producing the Region: New Directions in Middle East Media and Politics.” It will take place Friday, April 17, 2020.
The media landscape of the Middle East is changing rapidly. Turkish entertainment series are globalizing visions of the region. Netflix started a project of commissioning Arabic original entertainments, charting a new path towards localization of media production. Displaced populations from wars in Iraq, Yemen and Syria are creating new digital diasporas, where fractured expressions of nostalgia and witnessing circulate. Media are vital to making the Middle East a lived region of shared and contested meaning. The next IMES annual conference presents cutting-edge research by media scholars who examine this closely.
The genealogy of the idea of the ‘Middle East’ is by now well-rehearsed, and is often criticized as an external imposition that geographically centers the West. However, there is a viable contemporary current of felt belonging, along with an array of existing policies, institutions and other infrastructures of regionality, that makes the Middle East meaningful as an analytical framework that intertwines media and events.
The conference presenters possess expertise in media studies and the Middle East. They represent a breadth of theoretical interests, methodological approaches and disciplinary backgrounds. Confirmed speakers include: Marwan Kraidy (University of Pennsylvania); Narges Bajoghli (Johns Hopkins); Omar al Ghazzi (LSE); Yasmin Moll (University of Michigan); Ziad Fahmy (Cornell University); Elliott Colla (Georgetown); and many others.
The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), the leading professional organization for scholars and students of the Middle East, has established its headquarters at the Institute for Middle East Studies (IMES) in GW’s Elliott School of International Affairs.
Several IMES faculty members have shared their support for the institutional transition.
Will Youmans, the interim director of IMES, said about MESA that “As the professional center of the field, having it at GWU could help highlight the University’s growing expertise on Middle East affairs, but it’s an independent, international organization that has its own interests in being in D.C. now,”
Nathan Brown, a former director of IMES and a professor of political science and international affairs at GW, said the move will lead to more Middle East scholars visiting campus to share their research. He said MESA will continue its work “to connect scholars throughout the world interested in the Middle East” by holding its annual scholarly conference and publishing its academic journal on Middle East research.
He added that the association’s leaders want to be able to use the resources that the District and the University have to offer, like a well-established background in Middle East studies, to expand the group’s ability to connect individuals interested in studying the Middle East. Brown said the organization’s move to the Elliott School will give faculty members more opportunities to work with MESA and potentially give students more part-time work opportunities.
“The hope is that by placing it in a city rich in institutions focusing on the Middle East and in a university with a strong commitment to Middle Eastern studies, informal as well as formal ties will develop,” Brown said in an email.
Dina Khoury, the president-elect of MESA from December 2019 to December 2021 and a professor of history and international affairs at GW, said she does not expect the move to affect the work each MESA member does, but it will give the organization more opportunities to collaborate with students and faculty interested in Middle East research and education.
Khoury said the group’s executive director and the IMES director will work out the specific details of MESA’s move. “We are grateful for GWU for giving us the space and resources to establish our headquarters,” she said in an email.
The association named a new director, Jeffrey Reger. A Georgetown University graduate, Dr. Reger most recently served as assistant director of the National History Center of the American Historical Association and as the Middle East and North Africa area studies chair for the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State.
MESA is a non-profit association that seeks to foster the study of the Middle East, promote high standards in scholarship and teaching in the study area and encourage public understanding of the region through programs, publications and education.
Reza H. Akbari received his MA in Middle East Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs in 2012. While at the Elliott School, Reza interned at the U.S. Treasury Department and The Century Foundation. He is currently a Program Manager at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that focuses on strengthening media and civil society worldwide. In September 2019, Reza began attending American University to pursue a PhD in History. He plans to focus on modern Middle East and study the process of formation, evolution, and impact of political parties in semi-authoritarian states. Reza has previously served as a Research Associate for the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute and a Research Assistant at the Wilson Center. He has written for a number of publications, including Foreign Policy, CNN’s Global Public Square, Jadaliyya, and Al Monitor. Reza holds a BA in Political Science and International Studies from the State University of New York at Fredonia. His master’s thesis explored the potential for political reconciliation in Bahrain.
Advice for students:
I highly recommend taking any course taught by Professors Nathan Brown, Marc Lynch, and Ambassador Edward Gnehm. They provide a tremendous amount of practical experience as well as academic rigor. Professor Lynch constantly challenges preconceived notions and theories about the region by inviting his students to consider alternative viewpoints. Ambassador Gnehm’s experience as a former diplomat enriches every lecture. Professor Brown is one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable individuals on Middle East affairs. He is able to explain the most complex issues in simple terms and inspire lively class debates.
