Institute For Middle East Studies

This interdisciplinary conference will bring together a diverse group of Middle East scholars from across the U.S. to discuss empirical and theoretical issues related to the contemporary Middle East political economy. Each panelist will present a unique ‘think-piece’ that outlines how he or she is addressing these issues through their own research agendas — and how the field of regional political economy has changed in the wake of the Arab uprisings.

Panel I – The Politics of Economic Indicators and Official Interpretations: What are we Measuring and What Does it Mean?

Featuring

Pete Moore, Associate Professor of Political Science, Case Western Reserve University
Karen Pfeifer, Professor Emeritus, Smith College
Shana Marshall, Research Instructor and Associate Director, Institute for Middle East Studies, George Washington University
Panel II – The Economic Foundations of the Contemporary Distributive State in the Middle East: Understanding New Modes of State Patronage
Toby Jones, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University
Michael Herb, Associate Professor and Director of the Middle East Institute, Georgia State University
Mary Ann Tetreault, Una Chapman Cox Distinguished Professor of International Affairs and Political Science, Trinity University
Keynote Luncheon – “The Political Economy of the Modern Middle East: Using the Past to Think About the Future”
Featuring Roger Owen, AJ Meyer Professor of Middle East History, Harvard University
*a light lunch will be served*

Panel III – Uprising Economics: The Material Roots of Unrest and the Range of State Responses
Omar Dahi, Assistant Professor of Economics, Hampshire College
Bassam Haddad, Assistant Professor and Director of the Middle East Studies Program, George Mason University
Arang Keshavarzian, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, New York University