Outreach

Iranian archives at Durham; A personal reflection on people, places and the public record
Professor Sue Wright (Danish School of Education, Aarhus University)

The collection combines the work of the late Anne Lambton, the late David Brooks and Sue Wright. In future years the collection will mark Durham out as an important destination for researchers interested to know more about Iran in the 20th century.

Chinese-Iranian Mutual Strategic Perceptions
Professor Anoushiravan Ehteshami, Professor Niv Horesh and Ruike Xu

This article analyzes Sino-Iranian relations and mutual strategic perceptions, highlighting several types of tension in Sino-Iranian ties alongside areas of deeper cooperation. We examine in particular the policy debates about China between conservatives and reformists within Iran, and we compare their views of China to the views of Iran held by Chinese commentators. To that end, we extensively survey both the official media and scholarly literature in Farsi and in Chinese, since each strand reveals different sentiments and is accorded a different degree of openness.

Why are the Israelis and the Saudis Cosying Up?
Professor Clive Jones and Dr Yoel Guzansky, Stanford University

Arab Gulf states have reportedly offered to take concrete steps to establish better relations with Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a significant overture aimed at restarting the Middle East peace process.

Ethiopia’s Political Ripple a Big Test for Infrastructure-Led Chinese Approach
Professor Niv Horesh

For the past few years, Ethiopia has been able to partly shed its association with abject poverty and famine. Arguably inspired by China, the country became a developmental success story and one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. At much the same time, Addis Ababa was able to capitalise on being the gateway to the politics of the African continent and foreign aid.

Grand Vision - China's OBOR in Context
Professor Anoush Ehteshami

China celebrated the progress of its ambitious One Belt, One Road initiative in Beijing in May 2017. The OBOR is vast in scale, dwarfing the last major multilateral development initiative of our times, the US-led post-War Marshall Plan for the reconstruction of western Europe. It is also geographically vast, encompassing virtually all of Asia, much of Europe and Africa’s eastern regions. This Initiative has the potential to transform Eurasia and also major parts of Africa, so what it is about and what does it tell us about its architect?

China’s New Silk Road is All Part of its Grand Strategy for Global Influence
Professor Anoush Ehteshami

After adopting the mantle of the “workshop of the world”, China shifted from rejecting US-led capitalism to fully embracing it. Its new Silk Road trade routes now serve to export many of its goods, but are also used to bring meats from Germany, wine from France and wood from Russia back in return.

China Grapples with the Mixed Blessing of a Trump Victory
Professor Niv Horesh

Following Donald Trump's victory in the US Presidential Elections, Professor Niv Horesh explores what the future may hold for the relationship between the US and China.

Inside the Muslim Brotherhood (Podcast)
Dr Kahlil al-Anani

Dr Khalil al-Anani previously taught at Johns Hopkins University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. His research focuses on Comparative Politics, Democratization, Religion and Politics, Islamist Movements, Social Movements, Egyptian Politics, Identity Politics, and Arab Politics.

Anti-Intellectualism and Israeli Politics (Podcast)
Dr Asaf Siniver

Dr Siniver is a Reader in International Security. His work is broadly concerned with conflict resolution and international mediation, the Arab-Israeli conflict, foreign policy analysis, and contemporary US foreign policy.

Mena Workshops Alumni Newsletter 2017
Alumni e-Newsletter

This second issue includes a symposium on the opportunities for Middle East political science research. Though the recent regional developments have posed substantive and methodological challenges, there are many prospective growth areas in regional political science research.