Eleventh Annual ASMEA Conference Schedule

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Welcome Reception

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2

7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.
Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 1: Hamas and the PLO: New/Old Tactics
Discussant: Dr. Or Honig

The Concept of “Bargaining Chips” in Israeli POW Policy
(Alexander Bligh, Ariel University)

Israeli and Palestinian Presents: A Temporary Arrangement in the West Bank
(Gadi Hitman, Ariel University)

Socializing the PLO: Testing a Bargaining Framework Based on a New Non-State Actor Typology
(Jeremiah Rozman, University of Virginia)

When Theology Meets Reality: Hamas between Political Islam and Palestinian Nationalism
(Ido Zelkovitz, Yezreel Valley College)

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 2: Post-Colonial Africa: Process and Results
Discussant: Dr. Opolot Okia

Contextual Analysis of Bakongo People’s Identity Based on 2017 Political Changes of DRC: Based on Muanda Nsemi, BDK and BDM
(Kwang-Su Kim, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies)

Engineered “Zuluness”: Language, Education, and Ethnic Identity Formation in South Africa, 1835-1990
(Jochen S Arndt, Virginia Military Institute)

Equatorial Guinean Exiles During the Macías Dictatorship, 1968-1979
(Geoffrey Jensen, Virginia Military Institute)

Decolonizing the BSAC in Nyasaland: Economic and Developmental Implications, 1944-1967
(Paul Chiudza Banda, West Virginia University)

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Alevi Workshop: Histories of Alevism in Turkey
This session aims to explore the development of the Alevi community over time and investigates some of the unique elements that are central to Alevi worship practices.

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 3: Islam and Democracy in Tunisia
Discussant: Dr. Sabina Henneberg

Transitional Justice in Tunisia: When Religion Meets State
(Elham Kazemi, University of California, Irvine)

Secularizing the Law of God? Family Law and Voting Behavior in Tunisia
(Salih Yasun, Indiana University)

Democratization under Islamic Parties: Explaining Success and Failure
(Semi Patan, University of Illinois at Chicago)

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 4: The Great Game in the Levant
Discussant: Dr. Michael Sharnoff
This panel was organized by the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University.

An Intifada or a Suicide Epidemic? The Wave of Lone Wolf Attacks in Israel, Oct. 2015 – Sep. 2016
(Harel Chorev Halewa, Tel Aviv University)

Syria between Lebanon and the Balkans: The (Weak) Case for Multilateralism
(Joel Parker, Tel Aviv University)

Syria – Beyond the Civil War – Where to?
(Eyal Zisser, Tel Aviv University)

8:45 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Roundtable A: Word Crimes
This roundtable was organized by Scholars for Peace in the Middle East.
(Donna Divine, Miriam F. Elman, Asaf Romirowsky)
Once thought a trope for self-sacrifice and solidarity, a testament to the redemption of a bruised and battered people, Israel’s singularity is now presented as an example of horrific bigotry if not savagery. How the change took hold in the academy is best understood by focusing on the vocabulary that purports to show why the establishment of a Jewish State was an international crime that can only be undone by taking command of the language deployed to study Israel and its conflict with the Palestinians.

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 5: Making Space for Women and Women’s Rights
Discussant: Dr. Liora Lukitz

Why Quotas Matter: Gender Quotas and Popular Perceptions of Women Leaders in the Muslim World
(Lindsay Benstead, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars & Portland State University)

Muslim Women and the Rise of the New Expository Misogyny
(Ibtissam Bouachrine, Smith College)

Spaces Unveiled: Everyday Life and Gendered Spaces in the Contemporary Women’s Cinema of the Middle East
(Esra Cimencioglu, Northwestern University)

Early Modern Ottoman Writers and the Female Rage against Patriarchal Oppression
(Zeynep Elbasan Bozdogan, Indiana University)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 6: Contemporary Iran: Ideology and Outcomes
Discussant: Dr. Banu Eligur

Iran’s Proxy Wars: Limits to a Successful Strategy?
(Ofira Seliktar, Gratz College)

What is Khomeinism?
(Mark Silinsky, US Army War College and Haifa University)

Iran in the GCC crisis: its role, risks and opportunities in the volatile political context
(Luciano Zaccara, Qatar University)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 7: Here to Stay?: Christians of the Middle East
Discussant: Dr. Myriam Wissa

Coptology and its Role in Preserving Coptic Heritage Starting from the Late 19th Century
(Sherin El Gendi, Ain Shams University)

The Emigration of the Christians from the Arab Middle East – A New Reading
(Yusri Hazran, Open University of Israel)

Causes of Copts’ Persecution in Egypt
(Rosemary Soliman, Waseda University Graduate School of International Culture and Communication Studies)

Christians in Syria and Iraq: Militarization and the Search for Political Autonomy
(Sotirios Roussos, University of the Peloponnese)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 8: War and Conquest in Africa (Part I)
Discussant: Dr. Christopher Bailey

Understanding the ADF’s Practice of Violence in the Congo – an Islamist Revolt, or Borderland-Based Grievances?
(Lindsay Scorgie-Porter, Huron University College)

The Role of Technology in the French Conquest of Africa 1871-1914
(William Dean, Air Command and Staff College)

The Domestication of al-Shabaab
(Tricia Bacon, American University)

A Reinterpretation of Ugandan General Idi Amin’s Coup d’etat According to Declassified British Archival Sources
(Curthberth Onek, Millersville University)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 9: The Ways of Jihad in the West
Discussant: Dr. Dmitry Strovsky

Jihadist-Inspired Attacks Against Jewish Targets in the United States: 1989-2018
(Yehudit Barsky, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy)

The Role of the Western Mainstream Media in Encouraging Global Jihad
(Richard Landes, Bar-Ilan University)

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Roundtable B: The Enduring Legacy of Prof. Bernard Lewis
(Martin Kramer, Jacob Lassner, Norman Stillman)
For more than 60 years, Bernard Lewis interpreted the world of Islam to the West. After service during World War II, he taught at the University of London and Princeton University, where he was Princeton’s Cleveland E. Dodge Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern Studies. This roundtable will discuss Prof. Lewis’ enduring legacy of scholarly achievement and dedication to academic freedom and objective truth.

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Banquet Luncheon and Keynote Address
KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Hon. Mithal Al-Alusi, MP, Republic of Iraq
The Iraqi Political Landscape: Prospects for Democracy and Prosperity

2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Panel 10: Politics and Populism in Turkey and Greece
Discussant:

Political Trust in Non-Consolidated Democracies: The Turkish Case in Comparative Perspective
(Kursat Cinar, Middle East Technical University)

Deliberating in Difficult Times: Lessons from Public Forums in Turkey in the Aftermath of the Gezi Protests
(Meral Ugur Cinar, Bilkent University)

The 6-7 September Anti-Greek Riots through the Lens of Nationalism and Collective Violence
(Banu Eligur, Baskent University)

Fear and Anger as Political Assets: Left vs. Right-Wing Populism in Greece and Turkey
(Ioannis N. Grigoriadis, Bilkent University)

2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Panel 11: Russian Military Involvement in the Middle East
Discussant: Prof. Michael Bishku

Hybrid Warfare in the Middle East: Assessments of Russian and Iranian Force Employment
(Steven Childs, California State University, San Bernardino)

The Roundabout Outcomes of the Soviet-Afghan War
(Ofer Israeli, Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya)

Changing security architecture in the Middle East: assessing causes and challenges and Russia’s rising role
(Alexey Khlebnikov, Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod, Russian International Affairs Council)

The Russian Media as a Promoter of the State Interests: The Case of the Military Conflict in Syria
(Ron Schleifer, Ariel University and Dmitry Strovsky, Ariel University)

2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Panel 12: Identity and State Making in Israel
Discussant: Prof. Ilan Troen

Israel’s Immigration Policies and the Promotion of Genetic Testing: Empiricizing Definitional Criteria, Bolstering State Demographic Security, or Hastening the Messianic Era?
(Nathan P. Devir, University of Utah)

Public Purposes at Cross-Purposes: When Integration Produces Segregation and What We Can Learn from Israel
(Jan Feldman, University of Vermont)

Becoming Orthodox in Israel – Druze-Style
(William F.S. Miles, Northeastern University)

From Mandate to State: Planning the Institutions and Policies of Israeli Statehood, 1947-1948
(Itamar Radai, New York University)

2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Panel 13: Fueling the Fires of Boko Haram
Discussant: Dr. William Dean

Negotiating ‘Annoba’ Life in the Wake of Boko Haram’s Terror
(Gbemisola Abiola, Harvard University)

Beyond Kalashnikovs, Motorcycles, and Cellphones in the Sahara-Sahel: Boko Haram and its Affiliates are not Easily Defeated
(Robin Hardy, Montana State University)

Heresy, Apostasy and Unbelief: The Discursive Traditions of Takfīr in Hausaland and Bornu (1700-2017)
(Abdulbasit Kassim, Rice University)

2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Roundtable C: Traditional Muslim Response to Unwanted Authority: The Concept and Practice of Islamic Revolution
(Donna Divine, Martin Kramer, Jacob Lassner)
Unlike the French and Russian revolutions traditional Muslims seeking regime change view their early history as a model for governance in the present and future. The revolutionary call of Islamists is to recreate the idealized community (ummah) of the Prophet Muhammad, that is, a universal Islamic polity subject to Shari’ah. The ummah reconstituted will be transnational and embrace all Muslims regardless of ethnicity, and geographical and linguistic affinity. The question for Islamists is the best path to realize this objective based on past responses to unwanted authority.

4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Panel 14: Israel: Navigating a Challenging Neighborhood
Discussant: Dr. Itamar Radai

Menachem Begin’s Lebanese Policy: between Holocaust and Heroism
(Dan Naor, Ariel University)

The Risky Business of Water Allocation: Domestic and International Pressures for Water Management in Israel
(Darci Pauser, Syracuse University)

Strange Bedfellows: Israel and Saudi Arabia, from the Cold War to the Present
(Michael Sharnoff, Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security)

Israel in the Middle East: Between Arab Spring, Islamic Winter and Iranian Summer – Challenges and Opportunities
(Eyal Zisser, Tel Aviv University)

4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Panel 15: Measures of Control in East Africa
Discussant: Dr. Robert Lloyd

Context-Specific Policies and Communitarianism: What We Can Learn From Neo-Traditional Policies in Rwanda
(Eric Champagne, University of Ottawa)

Chasing the “East Asian Miracle” in Africa?: A Case Study Analysis of the Rwandan Governance Reforms since 2000
(Francis Gaudreault, University of Ottawa)

A Pericentric View of the 1925 Cession of Jubaland
(George Simpson, High Point University)

4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Panel 16: Erdogan and the New Turkey?
Discussant: Prof. Paul Kubicek

New Normativism – Islamist Foreign Policy and the Case of Turkey
(Tamas Dudlak, Corvinus University of Budapest)

The Erdoğanization of Turkish Politics and the Role of Opposition
(Dilara Hekimci, Florida International University)

Contemporary Water Conflicts and Resistance in Turkey’s Black Sea Region
(Ayse Nal, University of Washington)

Organizational Cultural and Structural Sources of the Turkish Military’s Enduring Interventionism
(Ozgur Ozkan, University of Washington, Seattle)

4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Panel 17: The Impact of ISIS
Discussant: Dr. Steven Childs

The Caliphate’s Last Act: The Rise and Fall of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(Miaad Hassan, University of Florida)

Extraordinary Amnesia: Alliance, Defection, and the Sunni Insurgent-Al Qaeda-ISIS Nexus in Iraq
(Kevin Petit, George Washington University)

Effects of Terrorism on Labor Market: A Case Study of Iraq
(Asmaa Yaseen, University of Kansas)

4:15 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.
Panel 18: Ways of War and Responses to Crisis
Discussant: Prof. Joe Skelly

Currency Warfare in the Middle East: The Currency Counterfeiting Weapon in three Middle Eastern Conflicts, The 1953 Iranian Coup, the 1990-1991 Gulf War, and the Yemen Civil War (2014-2018)
(Ricardo Crespo, University of California, Riverside)

Why the Arabs Lose Wars…Twenty Years Later
(Norvell DeAtkine, Wikistrat)

The Failure of Local Powers to Build Cohesive Regional Coalitions in the Middle East – Causes and Consequences
(Or Honig, Tokyo International University)

Hijrah and the Syrian Refugee Crisis
(Brannon Wheeler, United States Naval Academy)

4:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Roundtable D: Russia and the Middle East
(Dimitar BechevMurray BessetteTheodore KarasikNaphtali Rivkin)
This roundtable discussion was organized by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
The Middle East remains of strategic interest for the world’s leading powers. This roundtable discussion focuses on the contemporary interests and influence, ends and means of Russia in the region generally, and in Syria, Iran, and Turkey in particular.

8:00 p.m.
Film Screenings

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3

7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m.
Breakfast

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 19: Kenya: Law, Language, and Resources
Discussant: Prof. Larry Simpson

Piracy Prosecutions in Kenyan Courts
(Christopher Bailey, National Intelligence University)

Language Policy as Power Play: Kenyatta’s Imposition of Kiswahili on the Kenyan National Assembly
(Andrew Marshall, Georgetown University)

Globalization and Mineral Exploitation: A Case Study of the Controversial Kwale Titanium Mining Project, Kenya.
(Priscilla Shilaro, Virginia Commonwealth University)

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 20: Memorializing Strife in Spain and the Palestinian Authority
Discussant: Dr. Wyndham Whynot

“The Moriscos” Muslim Survivors in the Iberian Peninsula after 1502
(Touria Boumehdi, Stanford University)

The Forgotten Revolution – Digital Networks and Palestinian Youth Activism During 2011-2013
(Albana Dwonch, PASSIA)

Terrorism Between the Colonial Past and Present: Freedom Fighting, Terrorism and Martyrdom in Algerian and Palestinian Literature
(Ouissal Harize, Durham University)

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 21: Topics on the Middle East
Discussant: Prof. Mark Heller

Revisiting Arab Tribalism
(Francisco Del Rio Sanchez, University of Barcelona)

To Modernize or not to Modernize? Biographical Approaches to Science and Imperialism in late 19th Century Morocco
(Francisco Javier Martínez-Antonio, University of Evora, Portugal)

‘Certainties and Uncertainties’ at a Time of Reconstruction: A First Glimpse into Gertrude Bell’s Unedited Papers
(Liora Lukitz, Braude College of Engineering)

Re-considering the Informal Effects of Colonial Rule in French Mandate Lebanon
(Dominique Oliver, SOAS, University of London)

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 22: The Trials and Travails of African Women
Discussant: Dr. Caren Frost

“Female Voices on Ink”: The Sexual Politics of Petitions in Colonial Igboland, 1892-1960
(Bright Alozie, West Virginia University)

Gender and Social Accountabilities in Rural Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
(Patrick Milabyo Kyamusugulwa, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University and Institut Superieur des Techniques Medicales de Bukavu [DRC])

Women and Emergency Communal Labor During the Mau Mau War, 1953-1960
(Opolot Okia, Wright State University)

Performing Infertility: Kaneleng Women and Infertility in The Gambia
(Bala Saho, The University of Oklahoma)

8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.
Panel 23: Chinese and North Korean Activities in the Middle East
Discussant: Dr. Doug Streusand

North Korean Proliferation Activities in Syria
(Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr., Angelo State University)

Pursuing All Around Advantage: Chinese Arms Sales in the Middle East
(Richard D. Fisher, Jr., International Assessment and Strategy Center)

Who’s Afraid of the Belt and Road Initiative?
(Christopher D. Yung, Marine Corps University)

8:30 a.m. 10:00 a.m.
Alevi Workshop: Critical Debates on Contemporary Alevi Identity
This session will cover the ongoing debate over the components of Alevi identity and the strategies employed by Alevis to preserve their traditions in the face of dynamic events in Turkey and the region.

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 24: Europe, Islam, and the Modern Middle East
Discussant: Dr. Mark Silinsky

Can the European Union be a security provider in the Middle East?
(Mihai Chihaia, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași)

Willy Brandt, the Arab world and West Germany’s “Mediterranean Moment”, 1967-1973.
(Philipp Hirsch, University of Cambridge)

The Beginnings of Political Islam in Switzerland: Said Ramadan’s Muslim Brotherhood Mosque in Geneva and the Swiss Authorities
(Daniel Rickenbacher, Concordia University)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 25: Modes of Instability in Libya and Tunisia
Discussant: Dr. Doug Streusand

Administrative Law, Good Governance and Redefining the Public Good: Emergent Trends in the Middle East
(Nergis Canefe, York University)

Internationalization of the Libyan Conflict: Reinforcing Loops between Spatial Spillovers, External Interventions and Systemic Escalation
(Denis Golubev, Saint Petersburg State University)

Pivotal Moments and Post-Arab Uprising Pathways: The Political Consequences of Vetting Choices in Tunisia and Libya
(Mietek Boduszynski, Pomona College and Sabina Henneberg, Johns Hopkins University, SAIS)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 26: War and Conquest in Africa (Part II)
Discussant: Prof. Beverly Lindsay

Minorities Under Islamists in Power: The Case of Sudan
(Dalal Daoud, Queen’s University)

The Sudanese Experiment: Military Reconstruction in Sudan 1972-1983
(Christina Gregory, University of California, Riverside)

Education in a Time of War: The Experiences of Victims of Gukurahundi in Zimbabwe
(Naseemah Mohamed, Oxford University)

Terrorist Threats, General Budget Support, and State Capacity Building in Sub-Saharan Africa
(Iku Yoshimoto, The Ohio State University)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 27: Contesting Jerusalem in the Middle Ages
Discussant: Prof. Kaveh Farrokh

Fatimids Fighting over Jerusalem: An Inter-religious or Intra-religious Matter?
(Steven Gertz, Georgetown University)

The Capture of Jerusalem by the Muslims: A Military Conquest or a Gift of Allah?
(Ilkka Syvanne, University of Haifa)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 28: Formative Moments and the Cusp of Change in Saudi Arabia
Discussant: Dr. Sherifa Zuhur
This panel is sponsored by the Al-Mesbar Studies and Research Center.

Artawiya and the Wahhabi Revival in Ibn Saud’s Consolidation of Arabia
(Jeffrey R. Macris, Johns Hopkins University)

Saudi Women Driving Change: Re-branding, Resistance and the Kingdom of Fun?
(Deborah Wheeler, United States Naval Academy)

The Usage of Custom in the Contemporary Legal System of Saudi Arabia: Divorce on Trial
(Sumeyra Yakar, University of Exeter)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 29: Trade and Alliance
Discussant: Dr. Christopher Yung

Sri Lanka and the Middle East
(Michael B. Bishku, Augusta University)

Sino-Arab Trade and Technology Relations: Characteristics, Progress and Implications
(Xuming Qian, Shanghai International Studies University)

New East Mediterranean Gas Discoveries and the Future of Alliances in the Middle East
(Mariam Waheed, Cairo University)

The Location Determinants of Arab Foreign Direct Investment in Africa
(Robert Rolfe, University of South Carolina)

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Panel 30: Topics in Islamic Thought
Discussant: Dr. D Gershon Lewental

Qutb’s Hakimiyyah Through the Lens of Arendtian Authority
(Hisseine Faradj, Bronx Community College CUNY)

Hermeneutics in the Genre of Mukhtasar
(Husain Kassim, University of Central Florida)

God’s Mystic Revisited: Dhu’l-Nūn al-Misrī thought and its Late Antique Context
(Myriam Wissa, University of London)

12:15 p.m.
Boxed Lunch

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Panel 31: Faith and Tradition in Modern Turkey
Discussant: Dr. Sotiris Roussos

“It is in Your Fitrat to Die:” Neoliberal Conservatism, Strengthening the Traditional Family and Women’s Right to Life in Turkey
(Sumru Atuk, The Graduate Center, CUNY)

Understanding Influence in the Muslim Intellectual Space in Contemporary Turkey
(Deniz Ilhan, Stony Brook University)

A Critical Comparison between the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet İṣleri Baṣkanlığı) and the Office of Shaykh al-Islām
(Emine Enise Yakar, University of Exeter)

Where Did It Go Wrong: Islamism, Post-Islamism And Muslimism In Islamic Civil Society In Turkey
(Aykut Ozturk, Syracuse University)

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Panel 32: Iran: Identity and Statecraft
Discussant: Prof. Neal Coates

Azerbaijani National Identity in Iran: Roots, Development, and Limits
(Ramin Ahmadoghlu, Georgia Gwinnett College)

Understanding Ethnically-Framed Conflicts: An Analysis of the Portrayals of Arabs in Iranians’ Speech
(Sara Farsiu, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

A Family in Iran: Women Teachers, Minority Integration and Family Networks in the Jewish Schools of the Alliance Israélite Universelle in Iran, 1900-1950
(Isabelle Headrick, The University of Texas at Austin)

Civil War Intervention and Economic Statecraft: The Case of Iran in Syria
(Scott Ratner, City University of New York)

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Panel 33: American Engagement in the Contemporary Middle East
Discussant: Dr. Mietek Boduszyński

The Merit of Personal Diplomacy: A New Grand Strategy for America in the Middle East?
(Gabriel Glickman, Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies)

The Art of Great Power Diplomacy in the Middle East: The American Efforts to Court Worthy Regional Allies
(Or Honig, Tokyo International University)

U.S. Response to the Tunisian Revolution
(Edward Lynch, Hollins University)

Assessment of President Donald Trump One Year Foreign Policy, and Public Digital Diplomacy toward the Middle East
(Ahmed Zohny, Coppin State University)

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Panel 34: Language, Culture and Ritual
Discussant: Prof. Norman Stillman

Negotiating and Performing Moroccan Identities: Second- and Third-Generation of Moroccan Jewish Immigrants to Israel
(Yona [Youness] Abeddour, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)

Linguistic Othering is the Sharpest Tool in the Tool Shed to Build Ibn Khaldun’s ʕasˁabiyya
(Mohammad Mohammad, University of Texas at Austin)

Sacred and Ritual Materiality: Death, Textiles, and Material Culture in Islamicate Societies
(Faegheh Shirazi, The University of Texas at Austin)

Mulid and Mahragan: Invoking Spirituality and Popular Authenticity in Egyptian Music and Dance
(Sherifa Zuhur, IMEISS, University of California, Berkeley)

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Panel 35: Unearthing the Roots of Middle East Combat
Discussant: Prof. Mark T. Clark

Parthian era Amazons? Placing the Weapons finds at Vestemin in Historical Context
(Kaveh Farrokh, Methodologica Universitas)

Between Byzantium and Iran: Caucasian peoples and the Arab-Islamic conquests
(D Gershon Lewental, Shalem College)

The Aim of Warfare in al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi
(Joe Spoerl, Saint Anselm College)

The Historical Roles of Jihad in Sunni-Shiite Relations
(Devin Stewart, Emory University)

12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Panel 36: Topics in African Politics
Discussant: Dr. Jochen Arndt

Elections, Responsible Political Leadership, and Good Governance: An Agenda for a Democratic Nigeria
(Benjamin Arah, Bowie State University)

The ‘CFOP institution’ in Burkina Faso: Palliative Polarization Despite Opposition Fragmentation
(Eloïse Bertrand, University of Warwick)

The Evolution of Parties in Africa: A Problem-Based Approach
(George Keteku, State University of New York – Purchase/Westchester)

Cellular Technology and National Sovereignty in Africa
(William Miles, Northeastern University)

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Panel 37: Thinking Kurdistan
Discussant: Dr. Riza Yildirim

A Sentiment Analysis of People attitude about Kurdistan Independent Referendum
(Khadijeh Salimi, Old Dominion University)

Turkey’s Kurdophobia: Prospects and Challenges for Turkish Policy
(Huseyin Tunc, Columbia University)

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Panel 38: Re-visiting New Geopolitics of Eastern Mediterranean: Old Security Dilemmas but New Energy Resources
Discussant: Prof. Dr. Gawdat Bahgat (NDU)

Ankara’s Nuclear Future and Turkey’s Energy Security
(Eda Guney, Sciences Po Bordeaux)

Hydro-Carbon Matrix and the Mission İmpossibility: Can the Actors Present in East Mediterranean behave along the Requirements of Absolute Gain?
(Nursin Guney, Bahcesehir Cyprus University)

Limits of Hybridization in Syria: Return of State Actors and Possible Outcomes
(Visne Korkmaz, Bahcesehir Cyprus University)

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Panel 39: Achieving National Identity in 20th Century Turkey
Discussant: Dr. Besim Can Zirh

Political Power in Cultural Infrastructure: Heritage Policy and Outcomes in Republican Era Istanbul
(Rebecca Clendenen, University of Illinois at Chicago)

Antoine Köpe’s Ways of Seeing – Memoirs of a Foot Soldier in the Middle East
(Nefin Dinc, James Madison University)

Invented Traditions and Evolution of Turkish National Identity in the Early Twentieth Century
(Hakki Gurkas, Kennesaw State University)

National Democratic Revolution, Agrarian Relations and Violent Extremism in Turkey During the Cold War
(York Norman, State University of New York, Buffalo State)

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Panel 40: Topics on the Middle East
Discussant: Dr. Jeffrey Macris

Investigating regime survival in Arab monarchies
(Yasmina Abouzzohour, University of Oxford)

Do Middle Eastern Leaders Learn from Political Crises? Empirical Evidence from the Post-Arab Uprisings Era
(Sercan Canbolat, University of Connecticut)

From Co-optation to Aggressive Legitimation: The Evolution of Saudi Regime Survival Strategies in the Wake of the Arab Spring
(Caroline Tynan, Temple University)

Role Theory in the Middle East and North Africa/ Measuring the Public Opinion on Turkish Foreign Policy: Global, Regional and Local Preferences
(Özgür Özdamar, Bilkent University)

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Panel 41: Parchment to Pixels: Moments in the transmission history of the Qurʾan text, into the digital age
Discussant: Dr. Daniel Brubaker

Progression of Orthographic Features: MĀʾIL Through D Style Qur’an Manuscripts, Some Observations
(Daniel Brubaker, Qur’an Gateway)

Setting the Record Straight: Early Abbasid Qurʾān Recitation Traditions and Scribal Practices
(Joshua Falconer, Catholic University)

The Omani web Qurʾān: www.MushafMuscat.om
(Thomas Milo, DecoType)