The Middle East

  • Founded
    1971
  • Seminar Number
    525

The seminar usually meets once a month during the academic year. A prominent expert from here or abroad, commonly from the Middle East, leads a four-hour discussion at each meeting, assuring ample time for seri- ous dialogue on focused issues. The seminar provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences by Middle East experts in various spheres—business, banking and investment, federal service, the foundations, the media, and the liberal professions as well as academia. The seminar has become a medium for carefully defined and informed evaluation of stubborn problems in a region that symbolizes mounting instability and proliferating crises. Detailed minutes are circulated to participating members for use without attribution to uphold the confidentiality of the discussion.

Chair
Professor Gary Sick
ggs2@columbia.edu

Associate Chair
Professor Lawrence G. Potter
lgp5@columbia.edu

Rapporteur
Eric Simmons
els2222@columbia.edu

Meeting dates and locations are subject to change. Please confirm details with the seminar rapporteur.

Welcome

Meetings

09/13/2017 Faculty House, Columbia University
5:00 PM
US Middle East Policy in the Era of Trump
Gary Sick, Columbia University




10/18/2017 Faculty House, Columbia University
5:00 PM
How Many Shocks Can Iraq Withstand?: the Kurdish Referendum and After
Joost Hiltermann, International Crisis Group




11/15/2017 Faculty House, Columbia University
5:00 PM
The Future of the Iran Nuclear Agreement
Richard Nephew, Center on Global Energy Policy




12/06/2017 Faculty House, Columbia University
5:00 PM
Change and Continuity in the Middle East: From Tunisia to Saudi Arabia
Steven A. Cook, Council on Foreign Relations




01/24/2018 Faculty House, Columbia University
5:00 PM
The Contest for Lebanon: Hezbollah, Sectarianism and Outsider Intruders
Randa Slim, The Middle East Institute and Johns Hopkins University




02/14/2018 Faculty House, Columbia University
5:00 PM
Avenues of Participation, Streets of Protest: Politics in Contemporary Iran
Arang Keshavarzian, New York University




03/22/2018 Faculty House, Columbia University
5:00 PM
Choosing between Turkey and the Kurds in the Fight Against ISIS
David L. Phillips, Columbia University




04/18/2018 Faculty House, Columbia University
5:00 PM
The New US Alliance with Saudi Arabia: What are the Implications?
Amy Myers Jaffe, Council on Foreign Relations