<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><div>The MIT Emile Bustani Middle East Seminar presents:</div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>"The Islamic State and the Future of Iraq: Terrorism, Sectarianism, and Democracy" </b></span></div><div>Professor Eric Davis</div><div>Department of Political Science, Rutgers University</div><div><br></div><div>Tuesday, September 23, 2014</div><div>4:30-6pm | MIT Building E51-376 </div><div><br></div><div><b>Abstract: </b></div><div><br></div><div>How should we think about the future of Iraq? Does the recent
seizure of large swaths of northern Iraq by the Islamic State condemn
Iraq to constant strife, political instability and possible
fragmentation? Or is there still a possibility that Iraq can find a
path to national reconciliation and implement a transition to democracy?</div><div><p><b>About the Speaker: </b></p><p>Dr. Davis is a Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University and past director of the University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies. His research has included the study of the relationship between state power and historical memory in modern Iraq, the political economy of Egyptian industrialization, the ideology and social bases of religious radical movements in Egypt and Israel, and the impact of oil wealth on the state and culture in Arab oil-producing countries. Dr. Davis has been appointed a fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University; the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin; the Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University; the Center for the Critical Analysis of Contemporary Culture, Rutgers University; and the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis.</p><div><b>About the Seminar:</b></div><p>The Bustani Middle East Seminar is organized under the
auspices of the MIT Center for International Studies, which conducts
research on contemporary international issues and provides an
opportunity for faculty and students to share perspectives and exchange
views. Each year the Bustani Seminar invites scholars, journalists,
consultants, and other experts from the Middle East, Europe, and the
United States to MIT to present recent research findings on contemporary
politics, society and culture, and economic and technological
development in the Middle East.</p></div><div>More information at: <a href="http://events.mit.edu/event.html?id=15832982&date=2014/9/23">http://events.mit.edu/event.html?id=15832982&date=2014/9/23</a></div><div><br></div><div>______________</div><div><br></div><div>NEXT UP:</div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 14px;">"Gaza: Inventions and Illuminations"</span></div><div><div style="margin: 0px;"><div style="margin: 0px;">Sara Roy</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Senior Research Scholar</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Center for Middle Eastern Studies</div><div style="margin: 0px;">Harvard University</div></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Tuesday, November 4, 2014</div><div style="margin: 0px;">4:30-6pm | MIT Building E51, Room 151 (70 Memorial Drive, Cambridge)</div><div style="margin: 0px;"><br></div><div style="margin: 0px;">Abstract: </div><div><div style="margin: 0px;">The lecture will be divided into three parts. Part one will attempt to separate rhetoric from reality by examining key political, economic and social conditions and dynamics in Gaza before and after the summer 2014 conflict, identifying Gaza’s major challenges and constraints. Part two will address (and critique) the role of the international community, past and present, particularly with regard to planned reconstruction efforts. Part three will argue for a new revisionist framework for Gaza specifically and Palestine more generally if meaningful and sustainable economic and political change is to be realized.</div></div></div><div><br></div><div><div style="margin: 0px; min-height: 14px;">About the Speaker: </div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 12px;">Sara Roy (Ed.D. Harvard University) is a senior research scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies specializing in the Palestinian economy, Palestinian Islamism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dr. Roy is also co-chair of the Middle East Seminar, jointly sponsored by the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and co-chair of the Middle East Forum at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.</p></div><div><br></div><div>More information: <a href="http://events.mit.edu/event.html?id=15832983&date=2014/11/4">http://events.mit.edu/event.html?id=15832983&date=2014/11/4</a></div><div><br></div><div>_____________</div><div><br></div><div>For questions, please contact <a href="mailto:hae@mit.edu">hae@mit.edu</a><br>
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