| East of Empire: Egypt, India, and the World between the Wars |
In this joint seminar with the Asian Studies Centre, Dr Erin MB O’Halloran, University of Cambridge, presents her new book 'East of Empire' (2025 Stanford University Press). Chaired by Professor Faisal Devji (St Antony’s College). |
Erin O'Halloran, Faisal Devji |
8 May, 2025 |
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| Understanding Syria through Syrian Voices: Refugees’ Stories of Revolution, War, and the Struggle for Home |
In this joint seminar with Oxford University’s Refugee Studies Centre, Wendy Pearlman, Professor at Northwestern University, shares personal testimonies collected from displaced Syrians around the world. |
Wendy Pearlman, Dawn Chatty |
24 March, 2025 |
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| From Jihad to Politics: How Syrian Jihadis Embraced Politics |
In this Friday seminar, Jérôme Drevon discusses his book ‘From Jihad to Politics: How Syrian Jihadis Embraced Politics’ (OUP 2024). |
Jérôme Drevon, Neil Ketchley |
11 March, 2025 |
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| Genocide in Gaza |
On Tuesday 18 February 2025, the Middle East Centre hosted the launch for St Antony’s Emeritus Fellow, Professor Avi Shlaim’s, new book ‘Genocide in Gaza: Israel’s Long War on Palestine’ (Irish Pages Press, 2025). |
Avi Shlaim, Eugene Rogan, Chris Agee |
7 March, 2025 |
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| The Oxford Handbook of Religion in Turkey |
A launch event for ‘The Oxford Handbook of Religion in Turkey’ (OUP), jointly convened by the MEC and SEESOX, with panellists Caroline Tee, Fabio Vicini, Sertaç Sehlikoğlu, and Stefan Williamson Fa. |
Caroline Tee, Fabio Vicini, Sertac Sehlikoğlu, Stefan Williamson Fa, Eugene Rogan |
30 January, 2025 |
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| Writing Middle Eastern Lives: Biography in Modern Arab History |
Sonja Mejcher-Atassi, author of ‘An Impossible Friendship’, Marilyn Booth, author of ‘The Career and Communities of Zaynab Fawwaz’, and Peter Hill, author of ‘Prophet of Reason’, discuss the writing of biography in modern Middle Eastern history. |
Sonja Mejcher-Atassi, Marilyn Booth, Peter Hill, Eugene Rogan |
29 November, 2024 |
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| The Abraham Accords: The Gulf States, Israel, and the Limits of Normalization |
In this talk, Dr Elham Fakhro, a Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, launches her new book ‘The Abraham Accords: The Gulf States, Israel, and the Limits of Normalization’ |
Elham Fakhro, Pascal Menoret |
29 November, 2024 |
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| God’s Man in Iraq: The Life and Leadership of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani |
In this talk, Iraqi political analyst, Sajad Jiyad, discusses his new book ‘God’s Man in Iraq: The Life and Leadership of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’. |
Sajad Jiyad, Raihan Ismail |
29 November, 2024 |
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| Tahrir, Gaza, and beyond: revolution, liberation, and praxis |
Researcher and writer, Rusha Latif, gives a talk based on her new book ‘Tahrir’s Youth: Leaders of a Leaderless Revolution’ |
Rusha Latif, Walter Armbrust |
31 October, 2024 |
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| The challenges of writing Middle East history after 7 October: from Gaza to the climate crisis |
Dr Ibrahim Al-Marashi reflects on the process of researching and writing the latest edition of his book, ‘A Concise History of the Middle East’. |
Ibrahim al-Marashi, Eugene Rogan |
25 October, 2024 |
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| The New Spirit of Islamism: Interactions between the AKP, Ennahda and the Muslim Brotherhood |
Journalist and scholar, Dr Ezgi Başaran, presents her book which traces the links between the AKP, Tunisia’s Ennahda, and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood after the Arab Spring. |
Ezgi Başaran, Michael Willis |
22 October, 2024 |
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| The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa |
Professor Malika Zeghal (Harvard University) presents her new book 'The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa', an innovative analysis that traces the continuity of the state’s custodianship of Islam. |
Malika Zeghal |
30 July, 2024 |
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| The Loneliest Revolution: A Memoir of Solidarity and Struggle in Iran |
Ali Mirsepassi in conversation with Stephanie Cronin about his new book |
Ali Mirsepassi, Stephanie Cronin |
6 June, 2024 |
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| The Damascus Events Book Launch, Oxford |
Book Launch for "The Damascus Events: the 1860 Massacre and the Destruction of the Old Ottoman World" By Eugene Rogan, Published in hardback by Allen Lane, 2 May 2024. |
Eugene Rogan |
17 May, 2024 |
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| The United Nations and the Question of Palestine |
Professor Ardi Imseis new book explores the UN’s management of the longest-running problem on its agenda, critically assessing tensions between the Organisation’s position and international law. |
Ardi Imseis, Eugene Rogan |
7 May, 2024 |
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| Book Launch - Russia and the GCC 'The Case of Tatarstan's Paradiplomacy' |
Dr. Diana Galeeva introduces her book which examines the relations between the Gulf States and Russia from the Soviet era to the present day. |
Diana Galeeva, Roy Allison, Eugene Rogan |
7 September, 2023 |
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| Israel's Covert Diplomacy in the Middle East |
This lecture explores Israel’s secret relations with its neighbors during the years 1948-2022. |
Elie Podeh, Eugene Rogan |
3 August, 2023 |
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| Book Launch: Locked Out of Development: Insiders and Outsiders in Arab Capitalism |
Dr Hertog presents the key arguments of his new short monograph “Locked Out of Development: Insiders and Outsiders in Arab Capitalism” published by Cambridge University Press. |
Steffen Hertog, Neil Ketchley |
23 March, 2023 |
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| Algeria: Politics and Society from the Dark Decade to the Hirak |
Dr Michael Willis' new book offers an explanation of this unexpected development known as the Hirak Movement, examining the political and social changes that have occurred in Algeria since the ‘dark decade’ of the 1990s |
Michael Willis, Eugene Rogan |
10 February, 2023 |
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| Book Launch: Pacted Democracy in the Middle East: Tunisia and Egypt in Comparative Perspective |
A new theoretical framework for how democracy can emerge in the Middle East and wider Muslim world, where political conflicts over religion often predominate. |
Hicham Alaoui, Michael Willis |
23 December, 2022 |
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| Inside Qatar: Hidden Stories from One of the Richest Nations on Earth |
A talk based on John McManus’s book, Inside Qatar: hidden stories from one of the richest nations on earth. |
John McManus, Eugene Rogan |
6 December, 2022 |
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| In the Shade of the Sunna: Salafi Piety in the 20th-Century Middle East |
Aaron Rock-Singer presents their latest book "In the Shade of the Sunna: Salafi Piety in the 20th-Century Middle East". |
Aaron Rock-Singer, Usaama al-Azami |
6 December, 2022 |
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| All Necessary Measures? The United Nations and International Intervention in Libya |
Ian Martin presents his latest book on Libya: All Necessary Measures? The United Nations and International Intervention in Libya. |
Ian Martin |
29 November, 2022 |
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| The Making of the Modern Middle East |
A vivid and authoritative account of the making of the modern Middle East, from the BBC’s long-serving correspondent in the region. |
Jeremy Bowen, Eugene Rogan |
23 November, 2022 |
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| Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema |
Join us for Booktalk Episode 9, Professor Deborah Starr (Cornell University) in conversation about her new book, Togo Mizrahi and the Making of Egyptian Cinema, published by California Press. |
Deborah Starr, Walter Armbrust |
21 October, 2021 |
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| Egypt’s Football Revolution: Emotion, Masculinity, and Uneasy Politics |
Join us for Booktalk Episode 8, Dr Carl Rommel (University of Helsinki) in conversation about his new book Egypt’s Football Revolution: Emotion, Masculinity, and Uneasy Politics, published by University of Texas Press in July 2021. |
Carl Rommel, Walter Armbrust |
29 September, 2021 |
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| Making Film in Egypt |
Join us as we listen to Dr Chihab El Khachab (King’s College, Cambridge) in conversation about his new book – Making Film in Egypt: How Labor, Technology, and Mediation Shape the Industry. Published by American University in Cairo Press. |
Chihab El Khachab |
18 May, 2021 |
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| Booktalk episode 6: Rivals in the Gulf: Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Abdullah Bin Bayyah, and the Qatar-UAE Contest Over the Arab Spring and the Gulf Crisis |
For our sixth episode of MEC Booktalk, guest author David Warren (Washington University in St Louis) discusses his recent book, Rivals in the Gulf, published by Routledge in January 2021. |
David Warren, Usaama al-Azami |
12 April, 2021 |
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| A Revolution in Rhyme: Poetic Co-option under the Islamic Republic |
Guest author Dr Fatemeh Shams (Assistant Professor of Modern Persian Literature, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania) talks with Booktalk host Dr Zuzanna Olszewska (University of Oxford). |
Fatemeh Shams, Zuzanna Olszewska |
4 March, 2021 |
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| The Caliphate of Man: Popular Sovereignty in Modern Islamic Thought |
Join us for the fourth MEC Booktalk episode where Dr Usaama al-Azami talks with guest author Andrew March about his new book, The Caliphate of Man: The Invention of Popular Sovereignty in Modern Islamic Thought, published by Harvard University Press, 2021 |
Usaama al-Azami, Andrew March |
16 February, 2021 |
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| Rediscovering the Islamic Classics: How Editors and Print Culture Transformed an Intellectual Tradition |
Join us for the third MEC Booktalk episode where Dr Usaama al-Azami talks with guest author Ahmed El Shamsy about his new book, Rediscovering the Islamic Classics: How Editors and Print Culture Transformed an Intellectual Tradition. |
Ahmed El Shamsy, Usaama al-Azami |
7 February, 2021 |
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| The Idols of ISIS: From Assyria to the Internet |
Episode 2, with Dr Faisal Devji, (St Antony’s College, Oxford), talks with Joshua Craze (University of Chicago) and writer Aaron Tugendhaft about Aaron's new book The Idols of ISIS: From Assyria to the Internet, University of Chicago Press 2020. |
Faisal Devji, Joshua Craze, Aaron Tugendhaft |
18 January, 2021 |
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| Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads |
First episode of Booktalk, where host Professor Eugene Rogan (St Antony's College, Oxford) talks with David Rundell on his book Vision or Mirage: Saudi Arabia at the Crossroads, Bloomsbury Publication (2020. |
Eugene Rogan, David Rundell |
18 January, 2021 |
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