The latest Middle East & Mediterranean Studies events...
Forthcoming events in the MEMS Programme
January 24
Turkish Influence in the Middle East: An Opportunity for the EU?
Ahmet Ünal Çeviköz (Turkish Ambassador in London)
18.00-19.30, Anatomy Lecture Theatre
January 31
Syria's Internal and External Challenges
Patrick Seale (Journalist & Author)
18.00-19.30, Safra Lecture Theatre
February 7
The EU and the ‘Arab Spring’: Help or Hindrance
Dr. Rosemary Hollis (City University)
18.00-19.30, Anatomy Lecture Theatre
February 16
Israel and the European Left
Professor Colin Shindler (SOAS)
18.00-19.30, S-3.20
February 28
Kurdistan regional government: Future Challenges and Possibilities
Gary Kent (All Parliamentary Group for Kurdistan)
18.00-19.30, Anatomy Lecture Theatre
March 6
The Egyptian Revolution One Year On
Dr Ashraf Mishrif (King’s College London)
18.00-19.30, Anatomy Lecture Theatre
March 8
Poetry Reading: Speaking in Tongues
Micheal O'Siadhail (Poet)
18.00-19.30, Venue: TBA
March 20
Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Weapons in the Middle East: the Outlook after Fukushima and the Arab Spring
Bruno Tertrais (Fondation pour la recherche stratégique, Paris)
18.00-19.30, Edmond J Safra Lecture Theatre, King's Building
March 27
Film screening: Battle for Algiers
18.00-20.00, Venue: TBA
To see all our forthcoming and past events, please see the Middle East & Mediterranean Studies Research Group (MERG) pages.
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Major past events
The Conflict Within: Graham Greene, the Northern Ireland Troubles, and the Deconstruction of Identity Forming Narratives in Divided Societies
Friday 28 October, 18.00, Safra Lecture Theatre, King's Building, Strand Campus
In this lecture, Michael Kerr, Director of the Centre for the Study of Divided Societies, discusses his new book, The Destructors: The Story of Northern Ireland’s Lost Peace Process. Michael Kerr applies literary analogy in setting the tone to what is the first major historical work on Northern Ireland’s first peace process (1972-76), borrowing from Graham Greene’s short story The Destructors, which plays on the themes of desensitisation to violence and the socialisation into conflict in war-time Britain.
He questions whether we should, and how we might deconstruct the identity forming narratives that engrain ethnic conflicts in the hearts and minds of people living in deeply divided societies.
Drawing on previously unavailable British and Irish archival material, and over forty interviews with politicians and officials central to a peace process that led to an Anglo-Irish settlement at Sunningdale, in December 1973, The Destructors re-examines why Northern Ireland’s first power-sharing experiment failed.
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Panel Debate: Egypt in Transition
A Political-Economic Debate on Egypt Prior to the Upcoming Parliamentary & Presidential Elections
Thursday 20 October 2011, 17.00-20.30; Room G.79, Franklin-Wilkins Building, Waterloo Campus
In January this year, the people of Egypt courageously overturned the 30-year rule of the previous regime. Now, 9 months later, has the interim Government of Egypt managed to sufficiently pave the way for fair and transparent parliamentary and presidential elections, and is Egypt on a course towards genuine democracy?
Panelists included
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Dr Ahmed El Sayyad
Counsellor to the Chairman, General Authority for Investment & Free Zones
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Dr Bahieldin Elibrachy
Senior Partner, Ibrachy & Dermarka
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Dr Tarek Osman
Political Analyst & Author of “Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to Mubarak”
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Dr Ashraf Mishrif
Senior Lecturer Political-Economy MENA Region, King’s College
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Professor Rory Miller
Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, King's College
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Taher El Sherif
Secretary-General, the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce.
Chaired by: Sir David Blatherwick
Chairman of the Egyptian-British Chamber of Commerce
> Download the programme (pdf, 264KB)
For further information please visit the EBCC website, or contact Karin van Wesep: karin@theebcc.com
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King's Honorary Degree for Senator George Mitchell
Monday 17 October, 18.00 – 19.00; Great Hall and Edward J Safra Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus
US Senator George Mitchell, formerly President Bill Clinton’s Special Envoy for Northern Ireland and President Barack Obama’s Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, gave a lecture on the Middle East on the occasion of the presentation of an honorary Doctorate of Laws, for which he was nominated jointly by the Middle East & Mediterranean Studies Programme and the Centre for the Study of Divided Societies
Read the full news story covering the event.
Watch the full interview with Senator Mitchell, by Dr Michael Kerr.
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Workshop on The Challenge of Building a Private Sector in MENA - 20 June 2011
On 20 June 2011, the Middle East & Mediterranean Studies programme at King's College London hosted a half-day workshop, addressing some of the major challenges facing the private sector in MENA, with particular reference to micro, small and medium sized enterprises. The workshop waschaired by our own Ashraf Mishrif, with invited speakers including Jane Kinninmont (Chatham House, London), Annie Cordet-Dupouy (Sabodia Consulting, Paris), and Taher El Sherif (Egyptian British Chamber of Commerce, London).
For further details, please visit the dedicated conference page.
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Book Launch: The Destructors: The Story of Northern Ireland's Lost Peace Process
by Dr Michael Kerr
Guest speaker: Lord Bew of Donegore
Thursday 07 June 2011
Dr Michael Kerr's new book has recently been launched across the UK, including the above event at King's, and another in Belfast.
In Belfast, Professor Adrian Guelke of Queen's University described the book as:
'A political thriller...Forensic, complex and history from the inside...Path-breaking scholarship.'
At King's, Lord Bew of Donegore, Professor of Irish History at the same university, said The Destructors presented:
'Ground-breaking research...Throws more light on the subject than anything published before...A new contemporary historical approach...Changes and modifies the existing understanding...A Powerful story, beautifully written...A book of enduring significance.'
Dr Kerr himself said:
'The Destructors is about how we recall failure and tragedy in divided societies, how by removing the road signs and altering the historical narrative to suit the newspeak of today, we run the risk of airbrushing the facts from our history; we risk failing to learn the lessons of conflict and war in societies which often witness history repeating itself. This book sets out to provide a historical foundation upon which a narrative of the Northern Ireland’s Troubles may be written, should its attics one day be properly swept.'
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Lebanon – the price of compromise: is there an alternative?
Conversation with Diplomacy series
Frances Guy (HM Ambassador Beirut)
Chair: Dr Michael Kerr (KCL)
Thursday 12 May 2011
The 'Conversation with Diplomacy' innovation, funded by King's Business, is a extended series of engagements with the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The project aims to bring the worlds of diplomacy, business and academia together to address dilemmas facing western governments in the pursuit of foreign policy interests in divided societies across the developing world and, in the first instance, the Middle East
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MI6 in the Middle East
Professor Keith Jeffrey (Queen’s University, Belfast)
Chair: Dr Michael Kerr (MEMS, King’s College London)
Thursday 17 March 2011
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Building ethnic difference into the nation
Dr Michael Kerr & Mr Nadim Shehadi
Ethnic power sharing in Lebanon after the Cedar Revolution
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
London School of Economics