America and the Middle East: A Search For Solutions

A Tuition-Free Six-Part Lecture Series: Wednesday Evenings at 7pm beginning March 4, 2015

Islam in the World Today, March 4th, 7pm

Jamal J. Elias, Walter H. Annenberg Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies and of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, will discuss how Islam is one of the world’s largest religions and one of the most influential global forces of our time. Yet religions – as sets of beliefs or as social practices – are not monolithic and static, nor does a religion exist independent of its expression in human life. This lecture will introduce Islam as it is lived and practiced today, paying special attention to the ways in which Muslims attempt to negotiate their lives as a combination of constant change and the desire to remain faithful to notions of piety and virtue located in an idealized past.

US Policy and Diplomacy in the Middle East, March 25th, 7pm

Ambassador William Luers, Director of The Iran Project and Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, has worked on backchannel diplomacy with Iran for nearly a decade. He has engaged with the US and Iranian negotiation teams at the highest levels, and written numerous articles, op-eds and reports on the diplomatic strategy with Iran and US policy implications. In this new and uncertain time in US-Iran relations, Ambassador Luers provides unique insight into regional and US national security implications of a nuclear agreement.

The Evolving Terrorist Threat, April 1st, 7pm

Paul Cruickshank, CNN’s Terrorism Analyst, documentary film producer, and investigative reporter specializing in Al Qaeda, ISIS and Jihadist terrorists will explain how the resurgence of these groups poses a threat to the American homeland. Cruickshank is the co-author of the 2014 spy thriller Agent Storm: My Life Inside al Qaeda, a five volume collection of key scholarly research on the terrorist network.

Changing Lanes: Turkey and the Crisis in the Middle East, April 15th, 7pm

Mehmet Darakcioglu, Associate Director of the University of Penn’s Middle East Center, will discuss how the Republic of Turkey, founded after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, adopted a cautious approach in its foreign policy to steer clear of regional or global conflicts. Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, summarized this policy in his famous quote as: “peace at home, peace in the world.” Though one can debate how successful Turkey was in living up to this ideal, it has adopted a non-interventionist foreign policy with some exceptions and aligned with the Western world as a NATO member since the beginning of the Cold War. Turkey began to follow a more proactive foreign policy under the ruling Justice and Development Party (JDP) in the past decade and took a keen interest in the affairs of the Arab Middle East. Though Turkey’s projection of soft power initially yielded successful results the country finds itself embroiled in serious regional problems related to Syria and to the rise of ISIS. This talk will analyze how Turkish foreign policy continues to evolve in the face of the continuing crisis in the Middle East.

U.S. Policy and Strategy Toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, April 22nd, 7pm

Larry Goodson, Professor of Middle East Studies, Department of National Security and Strategy, will discuss how as the Afghan War enters its 13th year with no end in sight, Afghanistan’s neighbors continue to display divergent interests and a willingness to meddle in Afghanistan. In particular, Pakistan still sees its interests served by supporting the Taliban that stand in opposition to the Afghanistan government, despite the connection between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan’s domestic terrorist groups that threaten its internal stability. Meanwhile, the United States and its NATO partners want to conclude the Afghanistan mission, but cannot quite do so with the region still so unsettled. What should U.S. policy and strategy be going forward?

The Iraq Wars: American Policy from Saddam Hussein to ISIS, April 29th, 7pm

Michael Boyle, PH.D, Assistant Professor Political Science, LaSalle University, will discuss, why is President Obama the fourth consecutive American president to use military force in Iraq? Why does the U.S. never seem to be able to extricate itself from a conflict that began twenty years ago? This lecture will examine the factors – geopolitical, economic and moral - that have drawn successive Presidents into the Iraq’s conflicts over the last twenty years. It argues that American policy in Iraq has been beset by a recurring series of misconceptions – about the nature of the Iraqi state, about the political, sectarian and class-based divisions that animate the society, and ultimately about their ability to produce social change in that country – and by a mismatch between goals and resources, both of which have deepened Iraq’s crisis rather than alleviate it. As a result, the U.S. is now a protagonist in another war against ISIS in Iraq which may lead to the disintegration of the state and the emergence of a new order in the Middle East.

Apart from the ongoing academic lectures and programs at the Middle East Center, this six-part lecture series at the Camden County College is part of Center’s community college outreach initiatives. Our past programs with the Camden County College included topics such as arts, history, culture, and religion in the Middle East.

It is free and open to public. NJ Professional Development Credits (CEU) are available for educators.

Please click on the flyer for the full listings of events and details for how to register for them.

Center for Civic Leadership and Responsibility (Camden County College) and the Middle East Center (University of Pennsylvania)