Lebanon and Syria Research Group

Visiting Professor IMES, Former UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon. Sir Derek will discuss 'Lebanon and the Impact of the Syrian Conflict'.

‘Kerr and Larkin’s collection looks set to become an essential source of rigorous academic research and analysis on the complex history and contemporary role of Alawis in Syria. The Alawis of Syria is intensely rich in detail and provides an exceptional level of analysis from a range of angles on a subject all too often limited to 'on the surface' accounts.’ Charles Lister, author of The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency.

Hassan Hassan is co-author of the newly published ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror (Regan Arts, 2015) (with Michael Weiss) which draws on dozens of interviews with ISIS fighters. As well as being a Middle East analyst and columnist for The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi, his writing has appeared in The Guardian, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, among others. Hassan comes from a tribal area in eastern Syria.

Eliot Higgins (a.k.a. Brown Moses) will deliver a public lecture on 'Social Media and Open Source Information in Conflict Zones,' which will be followed by a question and answer session. This event is being co-hosted with the Centre for Science and Security Studies (CSSS).

A roundtable discussion with Michael Kerr, John Bew, Stacey Gutkowski, Craig Larkin, Anne Hagood and Carool Kersten

Seminar with Nader Hashemi (Director of the Center for Middle East Studies and Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver).

Award winning journalist Martin Chulov has reported from the Middle East for The Guardian and The Australian since 2005. In this timely and topical seminar, he will discuss his experiences reporting on the conflict in Syria and address the current state of affairs and consider future possibilities and scenarios.