Institute for Middle East Studies at GWU

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Institute for Middle East Studies at GWU Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of GW University.

The Institute for Middle East Studies (IMES) aims to foster research, dialogue and the creation of an intellectual community focused on the modern Middle East, geographically defined as the Arab world, Turkey, Israel, and Iran. To this end, IMES encourages intellectual collaboration among members of the GW community interested in the Middle East, between GW research institutes, and with other organizations in the Washington area. In promoting and publicizing new work on the Middle East, IMES aims to deepen understanding of this critical region among scholars, students, and the broader public.

The Institute for Middle East Studies is proud to announce a screening of the award winning documentary "Inside Gaza," f...
10/16/2026

The Institute for Middle East Studies is proud to announce a screening of the award winning documentary "Inside Gaza," followed by remarks from film director Hélène Lam Trong and featured journalist Mai Yaghi.

Since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 and the Israeli reprisals that followed, international journalists and media have no access to the Gaza Strip. Agence France-Presse journalists, who were permanently stationed in Gaza, were among the last independent witnesses to the abuses committed in the hellscape that Gaza has become. Featuring previously unseen footage and testimony from reporters Mai Yaghi and Adel Zaanoun, as well as photojournalists Mahmud Hams and Mohammed Abed, Inside Gaza delivers a powerful account of conditions on the ground, underscoring the vital importance of a free and independent press.

All are invited to join the Institute for Middle East Studies for this film screening and discussion with film director Hélène Lam Trong and featured journalist Mai Yaghi.

For more information about this event, please visit our website.

Join the Institute for Middle East Studies tomorrow to hear from Professor Alex Boodrookas, author of "Comrades Estrange...
10/14/2026

Join the Institute for Middle East Studies tomorrow to hear from Professor Alex Boodrookas, author of "Comrades Estranged: Labor and Citizenship in the Twentieth-Century Persian Gulf."

https://imes.elliott.gwu.edu/comrades-estranged

NEXT WEEK! The Institute for Middle East Studies is proud to host Professor Alex Boodrookas, author of "Comrades Estrang...
10/07/2026

NEXT WEEK! The Institute for Middle East Studies is proud to host Professor Alex Boodrookas, author of "Comrades Estranged: Labor and Citizenship in the Twentieth-Century Persian Gulf."

"Comrades Estranged" reframes the history of labor activism, citizenship, and decolonization in Persian Gulf by centering the history of social movements—especially organized labor. Alex Boodrookas traces how workers and their allies shaped the world-historic transformations witnessed across the region: the consolidation of British sovereignty, formation of autocratic states, inrush of hydrocarbon wealth, onset of decolonization, and rise of both mass migration and mass politics. But unions failed to incorporate noncitizens into their movement, and as Boodrookas argues, this fatally undermined the movements' strength. The contradictions of nationalist and internationalist visions proved insurmountable. "Comrades Estranged" thus sheds light on both the power, and the limits, of citizenship and the nation-state as the framework for political action.

We hope you will join the Institute for Middle East Studies, Professor Alex Boodrookas, and discussant Professor Attiya Ahmad, for this conversation about labor relations and citizenship in the twentieth century Persian Gulf region. All are welcome to attend this event in-person or online.

https://imes.elliott.gwu.edu/comrades-estranged

Please join the Middle East Policy Forum, in partnership with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, on November 3 to welco...
10/06/2026

Please join the Middle East Policy Forum, in partnership with the Sigur Center for Asian Studies, on November 3 to welcome Mohammed Soliman, author of "West Asia: A New American Grand Strategy in the Middle East." Dr. Alyssa Ayres, Dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs, will deliver opening remarks.

Mohammed Soliman argues in his book that it is time for the United States to move decisively away from nation-building and get back to the business of order-building. To do so will require zooming out, in both geographical and historical terms, to build a new regional order across ‘West Asia’ – from the Middle East to South Asia, connecting Europe to the Indo-Pacific via the Mediterranean and Red Seas. Working with India, Italy, Greece, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Japan, the UK, and the United Arab Emirates, among others, he shows how the United States could lock in a new balance of power in the Eurasian supercontinent to offset Chinese and Russian efforts to disrupt the status quo and create a rival system. This new strategy rests on three layered coalitions — geostrategic, hard-power, and geo-technological — that together can anchor a stable order stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. But this will require a fundamental shift in U.S. grand strategy, with ‘West Asia’ at its core.

All are invited to this Middle East Policy Forum event, cosponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and moderated by Ambassador (ret.) Gordon Gray. This event is open to the general public and media. (Dr. Ayres will deliver her opening remarks in person, but the author's travel obligations require him to participate virtually.) Discounted copies of "West Asia" will be available for purchase.

For more information about this event, please visit our website.

Applications for Spring 2027 admissions to the Middle East Studies Program are due October 1st.
09/30/2026

Applications for Spring 2027 admissions to the Middle East Studies Program are due October 1st.

This October, the Institute for Middle East Studies is proud to host Professor Alex Boodrookas, author of "Comrades Estr...
09/30/2026

This October, the Institute for Middle East Studies is proud to host Professor Alex Boodrookas, author of "Comrades Estranged: Labor and Citizenship in the Twentieth-Century Persian Gulf."

For more information about this event and how to attend, please visit our website.

The Middle East Policy Forum will host award-winning foreign affairs journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed, author of "Crossing ...
09/29/2026

The Middle East Policy Forum will host award-winning foreign affairs journalist Akbar Shahid Ahmed, author of "Crossing the Red Line: Biden, His Advisors, and Israel's War in Gaza," on Wednesday, October 28. In a discussion moderated by Professor Marc Lynch, Ahmed will offer his powerful and authoritative account of how the Biden administration fueled atrocities in Gaza.

In vivid prose and with unparalleled access to insiders, Ahmed depicts a White House that resisted a course correction as its failures became undeniable. He probes Biden’s inner circle, whose choices fueled tens of thousands of avoidable deaths among Palestinians, Lebanese, and Israelis, torpedoed long-time standards for warfare, and created a more dangerous world for us all. The Biden administration’s decisions drove voter backlash that helped Donald Trump regain power, and established patterns of impunity that have spurred wider bloodshed under Trump.

"Crossing the Red Line" is an urgent reckoning with Biden’s record on Gaza that is vital to understanding historic damage to America’s standing in the world, and a period whose dark consequences will resonate globally for decades to come.

We hope you will join the Middle East Policy Forum to hear from Akbar Shahid Ahmed about his new book. This event is open to the general public and media. Copies of "Crossing the Red Line" will be available for purchase at the event.

For more information about how to attend this event, please visit our website:
https://imes.elliott.gwu.edu/crossing-red-line

TOMORROW @ 2pm EST: Join the Institute for Middle East Studies and the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies at Simon Fr...
09/23/2026

TOMORROW @ 2pm EST: Join the Institute for Middle East Studies and the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies at Simon Fraser University for a discussion about Egypt's security, media, and justice systems since the fall of the second republic. Speakers include Egyptian journalist and scholar-activist Dr. Hossam El-Hamalawy, political and economic development lecturer and researcher Maher Hamoud, and Egyptian writer and scholar Dr. Waleed Salem, with Dr. Shana Marshall of the George Washington University serving as discussant.

For more information about this event and how to register, please visit our website.
https://imes.elliott.gwu.edu/afterlife-egypts-2nd-republic

09/23/2026

This evening, our program Director Sina Azodi سینا عضدی met with prospective students.
Elliott School Grad Admissions
Elliott School of International Affairs

Next Week! The Middle East Policy Forum, in partnership with Foreign Affairs, is pleased to host F. Gregory Gause III, M...
09/18/2026

Next Week!

The Middle East Policy Forum, in partnership with Foreign Affairs, is pleased to host F. Gregory Gause III, Marc Lynch and Suzanne Maloney, for a discussion about the future of the Middle East. Moderated by Foreign Affairs Deputy Editor Chloe Fox, the panel goes beyond the headlines to ask: has the region really changed?

In recent essays for Foreign Affairs, Dr. Gause and Dr. Lynch offer competing visions of the future of the Middle East. Dr. Gause, Associate Fellow at the Middle East Institute, argues that despite realignment, regime change, and regional war, the Middle East remains fundamentally unchanged. Dr. Lynch, Professor of Political Science at the George Washington University, forecasts a dramatic end to the American-led regional order. Joining them is Dr. Maloney, the Brookings Institution’s leading voice on U.S. policy toward Iran and the broader Middle East. Dr. Maloney will share her own assessment of the prospects for long-term change.

All are welcome to attend this event hosted by the Middle East Policy Forum and co-sponsored by Foreign Affairs. This event is open to the general public and media.

https://imes.elliott.gwu.edu/has-middle-east-really-changed

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