Conference Schedule

Saturday, November 7

4:00 P.M. – 5:30 P.M.

Revisiting the Arab Predicament 45 years Later
Mr. Hussain Abdul-Hussain
Ms. Michelle Ajami
Prof. Bernard Haykel
COL Joel Rayburn
Mr. Peter Theroux

5:30 P.M. – 6:30 P.M.

Student Poster Competition

6:30 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.

Welcome & Networking Cocktail Reception
Opening Remarks by H.E. Shaikh Abdulla Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Sunday, November 8

7:30 A.M. – 8:15 A.M.
Breakfast

8:30 A.M. - 10:00 A.M.

Special Session: H.E. Bashir Goth, Somaliland Representative to the United States, and Amb. Peter Pham, Atlantic Council, will discuss "Somaliland: The Overlooked Critical Component in The Red Sea Geopolitical Jigsaw." 

Religion and Politics in the Middle East and Africa: New Perspectives on the Postwar World
This session was sponsored by the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.

Islamism, Salafism, and the Challenge of Arab Nationalism
Dr. Cole Bunzel, University of Texas at Austin, Hoover Institution
Marplots of Decolonization: Sectarian and Religious Leaders in Britain’s End of Empire
Prof. Barnaby Crowcroft, University of Florida
“The Maccabees Warred on Sabbath:” David Ben-Gurion on Prudence and the Hebrew Bible
Prof. Neil Rogachevsky, University of Florida

Conflict, Crisis, and Intervention in Nigeria: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Counter-Extremism Interventions in Nigeria: Muslim Scholars against Jihadist Violence
Dr. Sabina Brakoniecka, University of Warsaw
Expanding the Battlefield: Cross-Boundary Military Operations in the Nigerian Civil War
Mr. Nicholas Gadimoh, University of Southern Mississippi
Reframing Malaria Intervention in Nigeria: Privileging Local Perspectives
Ms. Chinasa Imo, University of Chicago

Antisemitism, Academic Discourse, and the Politics of Israel in Higher Education

“Jew” and “Antisemitism” in Academic Discourse: The American Anthropological Association’s Resources on Israel/Palestine
Dr. Elise Berman, University of North Carolina at Charlotte *
And Then They Stormed My Class: On the Link between anti-Israel Sentiment and anti-Semitism, and on the Future of “Israel Studies” as a Remedy
Dr. Avi Shilon, The University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee and Columbia University *
A Pedagogy for Peacemaking: Teaching the Abraham Accords as the Only Method of Deradicalization in Academia
Ms. Chama Mechtaly, Emma Lazarus Institute

International Law and Geopolitical Rivalries: Israel, Iran, and the United Nations

The UN Epicenter of Global Antizionism and Antisemitism: Double-Standards, Methods, and Motives of the Red-Green Coalition
Prof. Shale Horowitz, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The United Nations Employment of an Illusory Interpretant to Invoke Extremist Reaction against Israel
Dr. August Immel, Old Dominion University
International Law as Political Advocacy - NGOs and the 2026 Iran Conflict as a Case Study
Prof. Gerald Steinberg, Bar Ilan University
Geopolitical Analysis of the US and Israel War Against Iran
Dr. Ahmed Zohny, Coppin State University 

10:00 am
Coffee Break

10:30 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.

Roundtable Discussion: American Academia 25 Years after 9/11: What Does Reform in Higher Education Look Like?
(Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman; Dr. E. Gordon Gee; Prof. David Ruth)

Shaping the Maghreb: Migration, Diplomacy, and Political Change

Aid from Across the Mediterranean: The Management of Prisoners and Refugees by Pontifical Organizations in the Maghreb (1943–1945)
Dr. Juan de Lara Vázquez, Italian Institute for the History of the Modern and Contemporary Age
Eni’s Energy Diplomacy and the Consolidation of Algerian Sovereignty (1962–1978)
Prof. Flavia De Lucia Lumen, Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano
Yasser Jredi: Respectful Resistance and Hybrid Language of Criticism through Music in Pre-Revolutionary Tunisia
Mr. Benjamin Lawlor, The Pennsylvania State University
From Military Service to Settlement in the French Maghreb
Dr. Maria Swanson, United States Naval Academy

Science and Society in Colonial West Africa

Reconstructing Railway History and Heritage: Archiving and Digitizing the History and Memory of Ghana's Trains and Tracks, 1898-1966
Mr. Emmanuel Ankomahene, Michigan State University
He is Your Pater, but Not Your Genitor: Biomedical Techniques and the Disruption of Yoruba Marriage Customs, 1884–1960
Mr. Olusegun Olatunji, Howard University
From Experimentation to Development: The Rise of Fisheries Science in Colonial Nigeria, 1940-1945
Mr. Sikiru Yusuff, Florida International University

Redefining Regional Relations: Israel, the United States, and the Abraham Accords

Israel – United States Relations Under The 48th United States President – Five Seas Strategy of Israel
Prof. Alexander Bligh, Institute for Maritime Policy and Strategy (MPS)
The Abraham Accords: An Assessment of Hard Power and Soft Power in UAE-Israeli Normalization
Prof. Banu Eligür, Başkent University
Moroccan and Israeli Normalization: The Role of Soft Power in Morocco’s Elite-Driven Foreign Policy
Prof. Banu Eligür, Başkent University
Rewinding from Catastrophe: Morocco and Israel on the Eve of October 7 and Today
Prof. William Miles, Northeastern University

Strategic Alliances and Diplomatic Turning Points in Middle Eastern History

Camp David 1978 and Camp David 2000: Comparative Analysis
Prof. Raphael Cohen-Almagor, University College London
The South Lebanon Army (SLA): British Sentiment Toward Israel’s Local Allies
Mr. Karim Salaheddine, Georgetown University
Reassessing the Carter Doctrine: From Formation to Dissolution—1980 to the Present
Dr. Jesse Weinberg, Institute for National Security Studies (INSS)
An Interested Mediator: Egypt and the Making of the 1969 Cairo Agreement
Dr. Bosmat Yefet, Ariel University

12:30 P.M. – 2:00 P.M.

Banquet & Awards Luncheon
Keynote Presentation: H.E. Dr. Barham Salih, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

2:30 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.

Ideology, Ambiguity, and Power in Contemporary Iran
This session is sponsored by the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University in honor of Founding Director Prof. Emeritus David Menashri.

“New Horizons” of Narrative Convergence: Aleksandr Dugin, Iranian Cultural Diplomacy, and Trends in American Political Discourse
Dr. Rachel Feder, Tel Aviv University
Protective Ambiguity vs. Interpretive Instability: Digital Contact across the Iran–Israel Divide
Dr. Liora Hendelman-Baavur‏, Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University
Messianism Under Control: Mahdism in the Islamic Republic
Prof. Meir Litvak, Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University
Saudi–Iranian Relations: Patterns of Confrontation and Accommodation since 1979
Dr. Chelsi Mueller, University of Florida

The 2023 American Anthropological Association Boycott Resolution: Exclusion and the Remaking of Anthropology

Beyond the American Anthropological Association: The Antizionism Virus Spreading Across Anthropology and Inverting Archaeology
Prof. Uzi Baram, New College of Florida
Othering Jews: The American Anthropological Association and Antisemitism
Prof. Geoffrey Braswell, University of California, San Diego
Disciplinary Tribalism, Antisemitism and Antizionism in Anthropology
Prof. Jeffrey Cohen, The Ohio State University
The Moralizing Turn: Anthropological Antizionism
Dr. Cynthia Saltzman, Rutgers University, Camden

Power, Resources, and Development: Rethinking Africa's Economic Transformation

Contested Grounds: Establishment, Access, and Control of Wildlife Resources in Malawi, 1891 to the Present
Mr. Beni Kasiyamphanje, West Virginia University
Brewing Development: Industrial Modernization, Smallholder Transformation, and the Political Economy of Kenya’s Tea Industry
Dr. Michael Kithinji, University of Central Arkansas
Pan-African Geopolitical Narratives on Africa’s Mineral Wealth: A GIS-Based Reassessment
Prof. Alvaro Nobrega, Universidade de Lisboa
Thinking Outside the Box: How Rwanda and Tanzania are Using Industrial Policy to Foster Structural Transformation
Prof. Steve Onyeiwu, Allegheny College

Competing Visions: Zionism, Political Discourse, and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The Erosion of Moral Discourse in Israel: An Emotional-Discursive Analysis of Security, Morality, and Political Language, 1948–2024
Dr. Yael Ben David, New York University
Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: A Critical Study of Peace Negotiations, Mediation and Facilitation between Israel and the PLO
Prof. Raphael Cohen-Almagor, University College London
A Brief History of 100 Years of the Zionist Right
Dr. Avi Shilon, The University of Kiryat Shmona in the Galilee, Columbia University
Constructing the Jewish Image: Narratives During the Establishment of Israel
Dr. Tuba Unlu Bilgic, University of St. Thomas

Constructing the Enemy: Antisemitism, Ideology, and Political Narratives

Confronting the “Octopus of Evil”: Ḥūthī Propaganda and Middle Eastern Antisemitism
Dr. Benjamin Berman-Gladstone, University of Pennsylvania
Between Islamized Antisemitism and State Pragmatism: Al-Azhar, Egypt, and Israel after October 7
Dr. Yehuda Diskin, Bar Ilan University 
Shifting Threats: Israel and Iran in Arab Media, 2011–2026
Dr. Tom Sharon, Tel Aviv University

Perspectives on Law and State in Late Ottoman and Early Post-Ottoman Discourse

Anti-Colonial Precedents in the Salafī Condemnation of Man-Made Law
Dr. Daniel Lav, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
"The Laws of Existence are His Laws" – Law, Authority, and Freedom in Shibli Shumayyil (1850-1917)
Ms. Shoham Shenhav, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Muḥammad Zāhid al-Kawtharī as a Post-Ottoman Thinker
Mr. Daniel Sonnenfeld, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Freie Universität Berlin

4:00 pm
Coffee Break

4:30 P.M. - 6:00 P.M.

Roundtable Discussion – MDC Panel in Memory of Prof. Bernard Lewis: The Changing Geopolitics of the Middle East
This session is sponsored by The Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University.
Discussant: Michael Lewis
(Prof. Amos Nadan; Dr. Arik Rudnitzky; Dr. Jonathan Franco; Dr. Ido Zelkovitz; Dr. Tom Sharon)

Roundtable Discussion - Initiatives to Combat Antisemitism at the Academic Root
(Prof. Brad Blitz; Prof. Deidre Butler; Dr. Rina Kreitman; Ms. Alisa Pincus)

War and Conceptions: Iran, Israel, the United States, and Lebanon
Prof. Ronen Cohen, Ariel University
Dr. Luis Fleischman, Palm Beach Center for Democracy and Policy Research, Palm Beach State College
Prof. Gadi Hitman, Ariel University
Dr. Dan Naor, Ariel University

Africa and the Politics of Global Power: Military Strategy, Foreign Influence and Local Agency

Soldiers of the Nile: Sudanese Agency, Imperial Strategy, and the Dongola Expedition
Dr. Joseph Snyder, Southeast Missouri State University
Red Fingerprints: Ideology, Logistics, and Lived Experiences of Soviet-Trained Ethiopian Military Cadres (1977–1991)
Dr. Whitney Grespin, Irregular Warfare Initiative
Not Russian Strength, but American Inconsistency: Disinformation and the Crisis of U.S. Influence in Africa
Mr. John Danboyi, Old Dominion University

State, Society, and Identity in Contemporary Turkey

Türkiye and the New World: Ambiguities and Aspirations in An Emerging Multipolar International System
Mr. Dler Awsman, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Enemies Within: The Role of Hate Speech in Government Legitimacy
Mr. Orhan Dogan, University of Tennessee
Sacralization of Nature in the Age of Ecological Crisis: Environmental Sustainability and Alevi-Bektaşi Traditions in Turkey
Dr. Hakki Gürkaş, Kennesaw State University
Governance Through Uncertainty: Informal Control and State Power in Turkey’s Kurdish Borderlands
Dr. Dilan Okcuoglu, University of Sussex

Faith, Identity, and Belonging: Religion and Nationhood in Israel

The Triumph of Genos over Ethnos: The Reshaping of Supranational Druze Identity and the Israeli-Druze Covenant
Dr. Omri Eilat, University of Haifa
Redrawing Boundaries: The 1967 War and Israel’s Recognition of the Bahāʾī Faith
Dr. D Gershon Lewental, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Natural-Born Israelis and the Ingathering of the Exiles
Dr. Hannah Ridge, Chapman University

5:00 P.M. - 6:00 P.M.
JMEA Editorial Board Meeting (Invitation-only)

6:30 P.M. – 7:45 P.M.
Bernard Lewis and Fouad Ajami Prize Ceremony and Reception

8:00 P.M.
Film Screening 

Monday, November 9

7:30 A.M. – 8:15 A.M.
Breakfast

8:30 A.M. - 10:00 A.M.

Roundtable Discussion: Modern Lebanon’s Contested Foundations

The Kingmaker of Lebanon: Rashid Karami and the Politics of Power and Betrayal
Dr. Zach Battat, Independent Scholar
Reevaluating Israel–Lebanon Relations within the Context of Christian–Israeli Relations, 1920–1985
Prof. Robert Rabil, Florida Atlantic University
French Mandate, Emile Éddé, and the Origins of Modern Lebanon’s Dismantlement
Prof. Franck Salameh, Boston College

Book Discussion: Mosul Eye: A Scholar’s Clandestine War Against ISIS
by Dr. Omar Mohammed, George Washington University

Gender, Power, and Social Change in Africa

Women's Education as a Security Asset: Examining the Role of Female Schooling in Countering Violent Extremism in North-Western Nigeria
Mr. Abubakar Bala, Miami University
We Need New Homes: Femigritude Writers Reimagining Return
Mrs. Diweng Mercy Dafong, University of Alabama
Beyond Survival: Women’s Demands for Structural Change in Northern Uganda
Dr. Zermarie Deacon, University of Oklahoma
Policing Femininity in Nigerian Digital Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Gendered Narratives on X (Formerly Twitter)
Ms. Ruth Emmanuel, University of Florida

From Iran to Syria: Re-examining Authoritarian Statehood, Imperialism, Anti-Modern Modernity, and Pedagogies of Resistance

Anti-Modern Modernity: Iranian Islamism and the Re-Signification of Modern Concepts, Institutions, and Discourses of Emancipation
Mr. Ali Baroutian, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
A Pedagogy of Staying: Everyday Gendered Resistance after Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom Movement
Dr. Neda Hajivosough, Rowan University
Street-Level Bureaucracy and Islamic Republic Autonomy in Iran: The Politics of Atash be Ekhtiar (Fire at will); case study of morality police (Gasht-e Ershad)
Ms. Nina Maziar, University of Arkansas

The Politics and Consequences of War: Israel, Hamas, and Hezbollah

The Assassin’s Veto: Hezbollah’s Strategic Use of Political Violence to Safeguard Military Autonomy (2005 – 2026)
Dr. Iftah Burman, Bar-Ilan University
Victory Without a Finish Line - Israel and Hamas after the October 7th War
Mrs. Alona Izkovich, Ariel University
Debunking the Genocide Allegations: A Reexamination of the Israel-Hamas War from October 7, 2023 to June 1, 2025
Prof. Danny Orbach, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem *
Beyond the Battlefield: Civilian Infrastructures and Hamas’s Organizational Survival
Dr. Ido Zelkovitz, Yezreel Valley College

10:00 am
Coffee Break

10:30 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.

Ideological Crossroads: Political Islam, Leftist Movements, and Revolutionary Thought

When Marx Meets Islam at the Ballot Box: Piker, El-Sayed, Mamdani, and the Soft War's Electoral Turn
Dr. Craig Considine, Rice University
Qutb's Jihad, Zawahiri's God
Dr. Max Prowant, Alexander Hamilton Society
The Rise of Third Worldism
Mrs. Zineb Riboua, Hudson Institute
After the Fall: The Fragmentation, Exile, and Rebirth of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood
Dr. Christine Rinehart, University of South Carolina

Contested Histories: Arab Nationalism, Zionism, and Middle Eastern Identity

The Arab States and the Palestine Question: The Case of Early Arab League Non-Military Programs of Support for the Arabs of Palestine 1945-1948
Prof. Avraham Sela, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Between Anti-Colonialism and Arab Nationalism: Academic and Public Cultural Perception of the ‘Crusades’ and ‘Frankish-West’ in Twentieth-Century Egypt
Dr. Ahmed Sheir, University of Khorfakkan and Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
The Shantis and Zionism: The Tragic Story of a Muslim-Jewish Family
Prof. Eliezer Tauber, Bar-Ilan University

Shaping Africa's Future: Political Leadership, Development Assistance, and Global Partnerships

The Aid Impact Framework: A Framework for Maximizing the Impact and Sustainability of Education Aid in Ghana
Mr. Jonas Bensah, Old Dominion University
Causes of Executive Leadership Instability in Guinea-Bissau
Dr. Nathaniel Cogley, Tarleton State University
From Aid to Co-Creation: The Evolution of TICAD and the Changing Character of Japan–Africa Development Cooperation
Dr. Emmanuel Obuah, Tuskegee University

Society and Politics in Iran and Beyond

Negotiated Modernity: Soviet Cultural Diplomacy and the Iran-Soviet Cultural Society in 1940s Iran
Mr. Houman Riazi Jorshari, Pennsylvania State University
Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Among Immigrant Iranian Women: An Intersectional Inquiry
Ms. Mahbubeh Kuhestani, Arizona State University
The Scarf and the Ribbon: A Material and Political History of Green in Iran (1979–2009)
Ms. Roxane Razavi, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
The Evolution of Revolution: The Political and Religious Challenges Facing Women’s Soccer in Iran and Saudi Arabia 2000–2024
Dr. Yuval Shoval, Ariel University

Old Neighbors, New Trajectories: The Syrian National Project and the Future of Syria-Israel Relations

Old Israel, New Syria: Israel as the Consequential Variable
Dr. Nir Boms, Tel Aviv University and Mr. Khaled Homsi, US Syria Chamber of Commerce
The View from Damascus: What the Middle-Power Debate Misses About the Global South
Dr. Gamal Mansour, University of Toronto

12:30 P.M.
Grab ‘n Go Boxed Lunch

1:00 - 2:30 P.M.

Roundtable Discussion: The Failure of Information Professionals in the Twenty-First Century: Academia and Jihad
(Mr. Danny Burmawi; Prof. Richard Landes; Prof. Andrew Pessin; Ms. Zineb Riboua)

Defining African Jewish Identities, Part 1

African Jewry, Academic and Political Examinations
Dr. Marla Brettschneider, University of New Hampshire
Naming African Judaism: Notes from an Africanist
Dr. Sara Byala, University of Pennsylvania
Defining African Jewry: Ancestry, Identity and Recognition
Prof. Tudor Parfitt, Florida International University

Shaping Political Life: Institutions, Narratives, and Society in Contemporary Africa

The Conditional Effects of Party-Focused Democracy Assistance: Elite Incentives Alignment and Party Organizational Development
Mr. Taiwo Adeagbo, Temple University
Laughing at Lies, Liking the Lie: Behavioral Signals of Deepfake Detection Among Kenyan Youth
Mr. Ali Altiok, University of Notre Dame
Politics of the Nile: Reimagining the River in Twenty-First Century Ethiopian Cultural Expressions
Mr. Tigistu Beyene, Ohio University
Horizontal Community Organizing and Democratic Politics in Africa
Dr. Babajide Tella, Howard University

2:30 pm
Coffee Break

3:00 P.M. - 4:30 P.M.

Power, Conflict, and Cultural Dynamics

Gender Under Attack: Gender Equality and Rebel Sexual Violence
Prof. Changwook Ju, Tulane University
The Poetics of Resistance: Interrogating Patriarchal and Religious Hegemonies in Contemporary North African and South Asian Muslim Women’s Writing
Dr. Amrita Basu Roy Chowdhury, Lady Brabourne College, India
From Petersburg to Tehran: Dostoevsky, Precarious Masculinity, and Transnational Adaptation in Oktay Baraheni’s Pol-e Khab
Ms. Bita Takrimi, Northwestern University
Stories of Self: Education and Identity Narration Among Internally Displaced Adolescents in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Ms. Tiffany Tryon, Teachers College Columbia University

Contested Authority: Religion, Extremism, and Political Power in the Middle East and Africa

Educational Resilience Against Online Violent Extremist Propaganda: Insights from a Systematic Review
Prof. Felipe Pathé Duarte, NOVA School of Law
External Security Intervention and the Illusion of State Power: Syria in the International System
Ms. Aliyah Sarber, Boston University
Sunni–Shia Sectarianism in Africa: The Case of Muhammad al-Tijani
Dr. Alexander Shepard, Independent Scholar
Emotions vs. the Modern State-System: How the emergence of the modern state system influences the historical role of emotions in international relations
Ms. Noor Suwwan, University of Chicago

Defining African Jewish Identities, Part 2

Proposal for an Endowed Chair in Global Jewry
Prof. Michael Alexander, University of California, Riverside
"Diaspora" as Hermeneutic Framework for African Jewry
Prof. William Miles, Northeastern University

Contested Sovereignty: State Formation, Resources, and Political Legitimacy

Regional Economic Integration and Interstate Conflict: Toward an Economically Grounded Security Architecture for the Middle East
Mr. Rakan AlGhaniem, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
A Challenge to Perception: Revisiting Ahmad Shah Durrani’s Empire & the Modern Identity of Afghanistan
Mr. Ethan Copeland, Center of Afghanistan and Regional Studies
A Precious Peril: Implications of Mining Under Taliban 2.0
Mr. Akash Nayak, College of William & Mary
Domestic and International Legitimacy after War: Post-Conflict Governance in Syria and Afghanistan
Dr. Ahmad Partaw, Albany State University

Israel's Strategic Evolution: Security, Alliances, and Regional Leadership

Israeli Counterterrorism – Lessons from Orde Wingate
Dr. Mark Silinsky, Kensington Security Consulting
From Estrangement to Security Alignment: Τhe Greece–Israel Rapprochement through Alliance Theory
Dr. Ilias Tasopoulos, Democritus University of Thrace
Narratives of Destabilization: Israel and the Strategic Contest for Regional Leadership
Ms. Irina Tsukerman, Scarab Rising, Inc.

*This schedule is subject to change*