Scholars from several Middle East (ME) countries took part in a symposium to share their ideas on some of the most influential themes in the region.
Dubbed as “Trending Middle East (ME) Politics: Tentative Dialogues,” the two-day symposium was hosted by the Department of International Affairs (DIA) at Qatar University College of Arts and Sciences (QU-CAS).
The event included a series of dialogues aimed at mapping and assessing conflicting trends within and across the ME countries and societies.
Scholars from Qatar, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunis, and the United Arab Emirates also discussed a wide range of topics such as ‘Iran’s role in the region,’ ‘Islamists and governance: the test and contest of power,’ Religion: systemic vs anti-systemic,’ and ‘In search of a conceptual framework: theory, practice and research.’
“There is no doubt that the Arab region is going through serious challenges which require working on finding political solutions to face the crisis taking place in many countries in the Arab world,” CAS research and graduate studies associate dean Hala Sultan al-Essa said.
She added that this symposium brings together CAS’ academic departments and research centres, along with other research centres within and outside Qatar.
The programme also featured several sessions delivered by University of Jordan Centre of Strategic Studies researcher Dr Muhammad Abu Rumman, visiting senior fellow at LSE and chairman of the Arab Council for Social Sciences professor Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, head of the Palestinian Academic Society for the study of international affairs in Jerusalem Dr Mahdi Abdul-Hadi, senior researcher at Al Jazeera Centre for Studies Dr Fatima Ahmad Alsmadi, Palestinian academic and associate professor of public relations and advertising at Birzeit University Dr Nashat Aqtash, and researcher at the Grenoble Université Pierre-Mendès Dr Amal Boubekeur.
“We are honoured to host this distinguished group of outstanding researchers and specialists within the field of political science and international relations and from various Arab countries,” DIA head Dr Ahmed Ibrahim said.
He noted that this conference comes at a critical time when many sectarian and political groups are impacting the Arab political scene.
The symposium was also attended by CAS associate deans Dr Hassan Abdel Aziz (academic affairs), and Dr Yaser Hussein (students affairs), as well as CAS faculty and students.