Crown Center for Middle East Studies

09/04/2026

How did 9/11 shape today’s Middle East? And what changes when we look beyond an American perspective?

Moderator Naghmeh Sohrabi previews the Crown Center’s Fall Kickoff, “Did 9/11 Make Today’s Middle East?” and the perspectives that will shape the conversation.

Bringing together experts on Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and U.S. foreign policy, the event looks at the past 25 years not only through the lens of U.S. policy, but through the experiences and transformations of the region itself.

Featuring panelists: Shamiran Mako, Sina Azodi, Mejgan Massoumi, and Osamah F. Khalil.

📆 Sept. 8
🕒 3-5 PM EST
📍 In person and online

The event is free and open to the public. Middle Eastern food will also be served. We hope to see you there!

09/04/2026

Syllabus season is a good time to go beyond the newest publications in the Crown Center archive.

Take Middle East Brief 25, published in 2008 by Marc Lynch: “The Brotherhood’s Dilemma.”

At the time, the question was urgent: Could the Muslim Brotherhood genuinely commit to democratic politics? What did its participation in elections tell us? How did it respond to repression? And what tensions existed within the movement itself?

Nearly two decades later, those questions offer students something more valuable than a snapshot of one political moment: a framework for thinking about political Islam, democracy, opposition movements, and the complicated relationship between ideology and political participation.

Some of the best syllabus readings aren't the newest ones. They're the ones that help students see how today's questions have been asked—and debated—for years.

Click here to read Middle East Brief 25:https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/middle-east-briefs/pdfs/1-100/meb25.pdf

Explore Middle East Brief 25 and more on the Crown Center’s publications page.

09/03/2026

Syllabus season is here—and two Crown Center Briefs offer timely context for understanding women’s rights and political change in North Africa.
As protests continue in Tunisia, it’s worth looking beyond the immediate headlines to a longer question: What happens to social and political gains when a country’s political order changes?

Middle East Brief 131, “Why Did Women’s Rights Expand in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia?” by Hind Ahmed Zaki examines how women’s rights activists helped protect and expand legal rights after Tunisia’s 2011 revolution—even as the country underwent a turbulent transition to democracy.

Middle East Brief 159, “The Opposition Effect: Islamism and Women’s Rights in the Midst of Morocco’s Family Code Reform,” by Ian VanderMeulen takes us to neighboring Morocco, where debates over family law, women’s rights, Islamism, and political power reveal a different path of reform.

Together, the two Briefs offer students a comparative lens on women’s rights, political transitions, reform, and the complicated relationship between social change and political power in North Africa.

And with Tunisia back in the headlines, they’re a reminder of why historical and political context matters.

Click here to read MEB 131:https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/middle-east-briefs/pdfs/101-200/meb131.pdf
Click here to read MEB159: https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/middle-east-briefs/meb159.html
Explore these and other accessible Crown Center publications for your syllabus.

09/02/2026

Syllabus season is here. Here’s one of our most-read pieces to add to your reading list.

Why have so many democratic uprisings in the Middle East failed to produce lasting political change?

Middle East Brief 164, “The New Rentierism in the Middle East,” offers a provocative answer: oil wealth has done more than shield some authoritarian governments from demands for reform. It has also given them the resources to actively counter democratic movements beyond their borders.

The Brief examines how Gulf states have used financial aid, weapons, and military intervention to support authoritarian incumbents and help preserve the regional political status quo.

For students studying the Middle East today, it offers an important framework for thinking about oil, authoritarianism, counterrevolution, and the uneven fate of democratic movements since 2011.

It’s exactly the kind of accessible, contextual scholarship to turn to when the headlines move faster than the syllabus.

Click here to read Middle East Brief 164: https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/middle-east-briefs/meb164.html

Explore Middle East Brief 164 and more on the Crown Center’s publications page.

Then Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, right, meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Abu Dhabi on November 27, 2019. (Hamad Al Kaabi/Ministry of Presidential Affairs via AP)

09/01/2026

ONE WEEK AWAY: CROWN FALL KICK OFF: DID 9/11 MAKE TODAY'S MIDDLE EAST?

Tuesday, Sept. 8 | 3-5pm EST
In Person and Online

Panelists: Sina Azodi, Osamah F. Khalil, Shamiran Mako, and Mejgan Massoumi.
Moderated by Naghmeh Sohrabi

It has been 25 years since the September 11 attacks on the United States set in motion policies and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that profoundly reshaped the Middle East and America’s relationship to the region. Today, as the U.S. remains embroiled in a war with Iran that has entangled much of the Middle East, the events of the past quarter-century seem more consequential than ever.

In the first of three events dedicated to examining the long-term consequences of 9/11 for the U.S. and the region, the Crown Center brings together experts on Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and U.S. foreign policy to ask: Did 9/11 make today’s Middle East? And how?

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One week out from our Fall Kickoff, Alexandra Ladjeva '27, asks Brandeis undergraduate students what questions they have for the panelists.

Free and open to the public.
Middle Eastern food and refreshments will be served.

09/01/2026

Syllabus season is here—and here’s one of our most-read conversations for understanding Syria now.

Syria is navigating an uncertain transition after more than a decade of war. But what does political change actually look like when deep inequalities of power, geography, and identity remain?

Crown Conversation 27, “Syria’s Uncertain Transition,” examines the challenges facing Syria as it seeks to rebuild political institutions, restore trust, and govern a deeply pluralist society.

The conversation goes beyond the question of who leads Syria. It asks what will be required to build a political order that can address enduring divisions—and what role Syria’s civil society might play in that process.

For students studying Syria, political transitions, authoritarianism, or postwar reconstruction, this is an accessible way to put today’s developments into a much longer context.

Add it to your syllabus—or start with it when the headlines get complicated.

Click here to read Crown Conversation 27: https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/crown-conversations/cc-27.html

Explore Crown Conversation 27 on the Crown Center’s publications page.

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08/31/2026

Syllabus season is here—and our past publications have context for the headlines.
As the Iran crisis continues to unfold, two of the Crown Center’s most-read Middle East Briefs offer useful context for understanding the forces shaping Iran from within and the challenges of responding to it from abroad.

Middle East Brief 160, “IRGC and Terrorism-Related Sanctions: Why They Fail, What They Achieve” by Maryam Alemzadeh examines why terrorism-related sanctions have failed to fundamentally alter the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ behavior—and what sanctions can, and cannot, accomplish.

Middle East Brief 162, “The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Chastity and Hijab Law and the Weaponization of Women’s Economic Vulnerabilities” by Hadi Kahalzadeh looks inside Iran at the politics of the “Chastity and Hijab” law, examining how economic vulnerability has become a tool of social control and why questions of women’s economic independence matter to the Iranian state.

Together, they offer two important lenses on the current crisis: how Iran’s state institutions adapt to external pressure, and how the state exercises power at home.

For students looking beyond the latest headlines, the Crown Center archive offers accessible scholarship that puts today’s events in historical and political context.

Click here to read MEB 160: https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/middle-east-briefs/meb160.html

Click here to read MEB 162: https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/middle-east-briefs/meb162.html

IRGC military personnel at a military rally in Tehran, Iran, on November 24, 2023. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via AP)

08/28/2026

FALL CALENDAR: First Event September 8 "Did 9/11 Make Today’s Middle East?"

The Crown Center marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11 with three important events exploring its long-term effects on the Middle East from the perspective of internationally renowned scholars and journalists.

Click here to view all fall events: https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/events/index.html

08/28/2026

Syllabus season is here and our most recent Crown Conversation offers a timely analysis of the U.S.-Israel War on Iran from three different regional perspectives.

Crown Conversation 32, “The Iran War: What Has Changed and What Comes Next for the Middle East?,” looks at how the conflict is reshaping the Iranian state and society, nuclear diplomacy and Israeli politics, the U.S.–Israel relationship, and the evolving regional security order in the Gulf, including the future of the Strait of Hormuz.

This Crown Conversation is an accessible starting point for both students and scholars trying to understand what's at stake for the region.

Read it on the Crown Center website: https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/publications/crown-conversations/index.html

08/26/2026

Thank you to all of the students who came to the Academic Fair this past Monday and thank you to Prof. Shai Feldman and Prof. Nihal Kayali for chatting with students about our fall course offerings!

If you missed us at the fair, stay tuned for our exciting fall line up of Crown events including our Fall Kickoff "Did 9/11 Make Today's Middle East" on Tuesday, Sept. 8 in Rapaporte Treasure Hall or online.