Six Conversations on the Modern Middle East

Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy
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Six Conversations on the Modern Middle East

The University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy on behalf of the Faculty of Arts and Science and in collaboration with IE University’s School of Politics, Economics & Global Affairs, and Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs, curated a series of six live webinars on the history, politics and current conflict in the Middle East in spring 2024. These webinars have been adapted into a podcast format for on-demand listening. The webinars provide viewers with intellectually challenging information on Middle East politics, the war between Israel and Hamas, and the broader history of the region. Moderated by a diverse roster of experienced journalists, each lecture panel features highly informed academic experts and reflects multiple positions with sensitivity and understanding.

Episodes

  1. 06/18/2024

    Episode 6: The Israel - Hamas war: paradigms for lasting peace

    In this final session, we ask: are any proposals for permanent peace more realistic today than they have been for the last 50 years? What leverage do outsiders have and what steps can the two parties take to achieve peace and stability? Moderator Steve Paikin is a Canadian journalist and Host of TV Ontario’s flagship current affairs program The Agenda with Steve Paikin. This session’s panelists are Itamar Rabinovich and Shibley Telhami. Itamar Rabinovich is Professor Emeritus of Middle Eastern History at Tel Aviv University and Israel’s former ambassador to the United States. Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, where he is a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and Director of the Critical Issues Poll.

    1h 6m

  2. 06/18/2024

    Episode 5: The Israel - Hamas war: architecture of diplomacy

    An exploration of diplomatic initiatives that might resolve the immediate crisis and reduce the cost of the conflict. Moderator Steve Paikin is a Canadian journalist and Host of TV Ontario’s flagship current affairs show, The Agenda with Steve Paikin. Joining the conversation are panelists Daniel Byman, Thomas Fletcher and Julie Trottier. Daniel Byman is a professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and director of the Security Studies Program; Thomas Fletcher is the Principal of Hertford College at Oxford University and former United Kingdom Ambassador to Lebanon. Julie Trottier is Director of research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in France and adjunct lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, in the Master’s program on Environmental Policy.

    1h 9m

  3. 06/18/2024

    Episode 4: Regional and global interests and influences

    A discussion of how American and Middle East states’ interests and behaviour affect the Israeli-Palestinian conflict historically and today. Cristina Gallach, former UN Under-Secretary-General and Former Spanish State-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, is the session’s moderator. The panelists are Elham Fakhro, Hussein Ibish, Daniel Kurtzer and Nimrod Novik. Elham Fakhro is a Research Associate at the Chatham House Middle East and North Africa program and Research Fellow at Exeter University's Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies. Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Daniel Kurtzer is the S. Daniel Abraham Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and is the former United States Ambassador to Israel and Egypt. Dr. Nimrod Novik is the former Senior Policy Advisor to the late Prime Minister Shimon Peres, and served as Special Ambassador of the State of Israel and as an Advisor to the Israeli National Security Council.

    1h 14m

  4. 06/18/2024

    Episode 3: History and Politics of Israel and Palestine from 1967 to today

    Continuing from the previous episode, panelists discuss the conflicts, peace-making efforts, and lasting consequences of these events to the present day. Emily Bazelon, staff writer at New York Times Magazine and the Truman Capote Fellow for Creative Writing and Law, Yale Law School, is the session’s moderator. Joining the conversation are panelists Bernard Avishai and Ezzedine Fishere. Avishai is a Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College who has contributed regularly to The New Yorker about Israeli affairs and global business. Fishere is a Senior Lecturer of Middle East Politics at Dartmouth College, a novelist, and a diplomat. For the last two years, Avishai and Fishere have co-taught a course which has been described as an ‘academic peace process’, exploring Israeli and Palestinian histories in parallel, and inviting students to question, doubt and discuss along the way.

    1h 14m

  5. 06/18/2024

    Episode 2: History and Politics of Israel and Palestine from 1881 - 1967

    A discussion of the conflicts, politics and narratives of the formative decades of Palestinian and Israeli history. Emily Bazelon, staff writer at New York Times Magazine and the Truman Capote Fellow for Creative Writing and Law, Yale Law School, is the session's moderator. Joining the conversation are panelists Bernard Avishai and Ezzedine Fishere. Avishai is a Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College who has contributed regularly to The New Yorker about Israeli affairs and global business. Fishere is a Senior Lecturer of Middle East Politics at Dartmouth College, a novelist, and a diplomat. For the last two years, Avishai and Fishere have co-taught a course which has been described as an ‘academic peace process’, exploring Israeli and Palestinian histories in parallel, and inviting students to question, doubt and discuss along the way.

    1h 18m

  6. 06/13/2024

    Episode 1: Gaza, the key to war and peace in the Middle East

    An overview of the history of Gaza, a region distinct from the West Bank and Egypt, and how it evolved to the present day. Cristina Gallach, former UN Under-Secretary-General and Former Spanish State-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, is the session’s moderator. Speaker Jean-Pierre Filiu is a professor of Middle East Studies at Sciences Po, Paris, has written numerous publications on the history of the region.

    1h 17m
  • 6 Episodes

About

The University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy on behalf of the Faculty of Arts and Science and in collaboration with IE University’s School of Politics, Economics & Global Affairs, and Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs, curated a series of six live webinars on the history, politics and current conflict in the Middle East in spring 2024. These webinars have been adapted into a podcast format for on-demand listening. The webinars provide viewers with intellectually challenging information on Middle East politics, the war between Israel and Hamas, and the broader history of the region. Moderated by a diverse roster of experienced journalists, each lecture panel features highly informed academic experts and reflects multiple positions with sensitivity and understanding.

Information

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