This Issue Is the Fi Rst, This Issue – Is the Matter of Water

Volume 11 - Number 2 February – March 2015 £4

TTHISHIS ISSUEISSUE: EENVIRONMENTNVIRONMENT ● WWaterater rresourcesesources inin thethe MiddleMiddle EastEast ● WWars,ars, ddepletedepleted uraniumuranium andand soilsoil pollutionpollution ● IIran’sran’s loominglooming waterwater crisiscrisis ● CCulturalultural heritageheritage aandnd thethe environmentenvironment ● CCanan desalinationdesalination provideprovide a sustainablesustainable sourcesource ofof water?water? ● TThehe NNileile BBasinasin andand hydrosolidarityhydrosolidarity ● NNanotechnologyanotechnology ● PPLUSLUS RReviewseviews andand eventsevents inin LondonLondon Volume 11 - Number 2 February – March 2015 £4

TTHISHIS ISSUEISSUE: EENVIRONMENTNVIRONMENT ● WWaterater rresourcesesources iinn thethe MMiddleiddle EastEast ● WWars,ars, ddepletedepleted uraniumuranium andand soilsoil pollutionpollution ● IIran’sran’s loominglooming waterwater crisiscrisis ● CCulturalultural heritageheritage aandnd thethe environmentenvironment ● CCanan desalinationdesalination provideprovide a sustainablesustainable sourcesource ofof water?water? ● TheThe NNileile BasinBasin andand hydrosolidarityhydrosolidarity ● NNanotechnologyanotechnology ● PPLUSLUS RReviewseviews andand eventsevents inin LondonLondon

Atefeh Khas, Urmia Lake, Iran. From Reﬂ ection series (Reﬂ ection of Lake), 2009. About the London Middle East Institute (LMEI) Photo by Shahrnaz Zarkesh. Courtesy of Janet Rady Fine Art Th e London Middle East Institute (LMEI) draws upon the resources of London and SOAS to provide teaching, training, research, publication, consultancy, outreach and other services related to the Middle Volume 11 - Number 2 East. It serves as a neutral forum for Middle East studies broadly defi ned and helps to create links between February – March 2015 individuals and institutions with academic, commercial, diplomatic, media or other specialisations. With its own professional staff of Middle East experts, the LMEI is further strengthened by its academic Editorial Board membership – the largest concentration of Middle East expertise in any institution in Europe. Th e LMEI also Professor Nadje Al-Ali SOAS has access to the SOAS Library, which houses over 150,000 volumes dealing with all aspects of the Middle East. LMEI’s Advisory Council is the driving force behind the Institute’s fundraising programme, for which Dr Hadi Enayat AKU it takes primary responsibility. It seeks support for the LMEI generally and for specifi c components of its Ms Narguess Farzad programme of activities. SOAS Mrs Nevsal Hughes Association of European Journalists Dr George Joff é Mission Statement: Cambridge University Mr Barnaby Rogerson Th e aim of the LMEI, through education and research, is to promote knowledge of all aspects of the Middle Ms Sarah Searight East including its complexities, problems, achievements and assets, both among the general public and with British Foundation for the Study of Arabia those who have a special interest in the region. In this task it builds on two essential assets. First, it is based in Dr Kathryn Spellman-Poots London, a city which has unrivalled contemporary and historical connections and communications with the AKU and LMEI Middle East including political, social, cultural, commercial and educational aspects. Secondly, the LMEI is Dr Sarah Stewart at SOAS, the only tertiary educational institution in the world whose explicit purpose is to provide education SOAS and scholarship on the whole Middle East from prehistory until today. Mrs Ionis Th ompson Saudi-British Society and BFSA Dr Shelagh Weir Independent Researcher LMEI Staff: Professor Sami Zubaida Birkbeck College Director Dr Hassan Hakimian Coordinating Editor Executive Offi cer Louise Hosking Megan Wang Events and Magazine Coordinator Vincenzo Paci Listings Administrative Assistant Valentina Zanardi Vincenzo Paci Designer Shahla Geramipour Disclaimer: Letters to the Editor:

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LMEI Board of Trustees 4 17 Professor Paul Webley (Chair) Director, SOAS EDITORIAL Nanotechnology is a big risk if Professor Richard Black, SOAS decision-makers think small Dr John Curtis Iran Heritage Foundation 5 Hamid Pouran Sir Vincent Fean INSIGHT Professor Ben Fortna, SOAS Water resources in the Middle 19 Mr Alan Jenkins East: scarce, emotional, REVIEWS Dr Karima Laachir, SOAS politicised and misunderstood BOOKS Dr Dina Matar, SOAS Tony Allan Understanding the Political Dr Barbara Zollner Birkbeck College Economy of the Arab Uprisings 7 Hassan Hakimian ENVIRONMENT LMEI Advisory Council Wars, depleted uranium and 20 Lady Barbara Judge (Chair) Professor Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem soil pollution Th e Hizbullah Phenomenon: Near and Middle East Department, SOAS Hamid Pouran Politics and Communication Mr Stephen Ball KPMG Seyed Ali Alavi H E Khalid Al-Duwaisan GVCO 9 Ambassador, Embassy of the State of Kuwait Mrs Haifa Al Kaylani Iran’s looming water crisis 21 Arab International Women’s Forum Kaveh Madani Gaza: A History Dr Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa President, University College of Bahrain Atef Alshaer Professor Tony Allan 11 King’s College and SOAS Dr Alanoud Alsharekh Cultural heritage and the 22 Senior Fellow for Regional Politics, IISS environment BOOKS IN BRIEF Mr Farad Azima NetScientifi c Plc John Curtis Dr Noel Brehony 24 MENAS Associates Ltd. Professor Magdy Ishak Hanna 13 EVENTS IN LONDON British Egyptian Society Can desalination provide a HE Mr Mazen Kemal Homoud Ambassador, Embassy of the Hashemite sustainable source of water? Kingdom of Jordan Hassan Arafat

Founding Patron and 15 Donor of the LMEI Th e Nile Basin and Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber MBI Al Jaber Foundation hydrosolidarity Karin Aggestam, Dan-Erik Andersson, Ronny Berndtsson and Kaveh Madani

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 3 EEDITORIALDITORIAL © Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

DDearear RReadereader

A thick dust plume over Kuwait and the north-western tip of the Persian Gulf. The plume, some 100 kilometres in width, extends from Saudi Arabia across eastern Kuwait and into Iran, where the dust appears to mingle with clouds. NASA image created by the MODIS Rapid Response Team

Hamid Pouran, IHF Visiting Fellow in Iran's Environmental Sustainability

he countries of the Middle East suff er may impact the food import policies of River Basin and competition to access its from major environmental problems. Middle Eastern countries. invaluable water supply in North Africa TAlthough mismanagement and a In my piece, I describe how military is the subject of Karin Aggestam, Dan- disappointing track record of implementing confl icts in the Middle East have caused Erik Andersson, Ronny Berndtsson and the correct policies contribute to their irreparable damages to environmental Kaveh Madani’s article. Th ey talk about environmental issues, other factors too quality. Soil pollution by depleted uranium how securing a large share of the Nile has worsen the region’s environmental status: (DU) and oil and their long-term impacts caused tension among the 11 countries that namely their arid and semi-arid climates on the ecosystem are highlighted. Iran’s use its water and explain why cooperation and military confl ict. emerging water crisis is the focus of Kaveh between them is a necessity. In another Th is is the fi rst issue produced by Th e Madani’s article. He examines major drivers article I consider the GCC countries’ thirst Middle East in London dedicated solely to that are pushing Iran’s water resources to import nanomaterial incorporated high- the environmental concerns of the region. towards the edge and suggests some tech products. While nanotechnology has Th e articles here provide a tangible image strategies that may help mitigate the issues. started to become commercialised and a of the major environmental problems that John Curtis discusses an interesting – and number of relevant products are available, these countries are facing: from the scarcity oft en neglected – aspect of environmental their environmental impacts and health of water in the region to pollution to the concerns. He writes about how air pollution and safety aspects are not yet clear. I suggest impact the environment has on cultural and dam construction (without a thorough how to avoid introducing new contaminant heritage to the negative environmental survey) damage unique, non-replaceable agents into the environment that might eff ects of emerging technologies. artefacts of a country’s cultural heritage. have severe unknown consequences. Particularly salient – and dominant within Hassan Arafat’s piece sheds light on For the magazine this issue is the fi rst, this issue – is the matter of water. concerns about the sustainability of small step towards a long journey which Tony Allan, who has coined the concept water supplies in the rapidly urbanising considers a subject that not only aff ects the of ‘virtual water’, explains in Insight the GCC countries, with particular focus on environmental quality and the health and current status and expected future of the the UAE. He informs us that purifying well-being of the region’s people, but also availability of water resources in the region. seawater to feed the population, apart potentially aff ects the security of the region He diff erentiates between food-water and from its economic costs, can have a large and its long-term stability. non-food water needs and tells us how this negative impact on the ecosystem. Th e Nile

4 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 IINSIGHTNSIGHT

Tony Allan sheds light on water (in)security in the Middle East WWaterater rresourcesesources iinn tthehe MMiddleiddle EEast:ast: scarce,scarce, eemotional,motional, ppoliticisedoliticised aandnd mmisunderstoodisunderstood

e need water ecosystems; water of water not because of climate change We need about 5.0 cubic metres per day ecosystems do not need us. We or reductions in levels of rainfall. Water if we eat a lot of beef. We only need 2.5 Whave become too many. scarcity was the result of the doubling of cubic metres if we are vegetarian. Food population every 25 years across the region. consumers and their politicians are not yet Scarce water – food-water is very scarce Some economies are having to provide aware enough of these metrics. Perversely, but non-food water need not be scarce water and food for populations that have urbanised consumers in the Middle East – even in 2050 increased almost tenfold between 1950 and like those in rich OECD economies – also Water is certainly scarce in the Middle 2010. throw away and waste about 30 per cent of East. It doesn’t rain much: very rarely it rains Th e Middle East has lost the battle to the food they purchase. in the summer, and the winter rains are be food-water secure. Food-water is the Th e region’s current food-water defi cits useful but not reliable. Its water ecosystems water needed to raise crops and livestock. It have been silently and very eff ectively are not water rich. Between 1950 and 1970 accounts for about 90 per cent of the water mitigated by international trade. Th e trade all the economies of the region ran out needed by an individual or an economy. is not in water but in food. Each tonne of imported wheat needs about 1,000 tonnes (cubic metres) of water from the Th e Middle East has lost the battle to be food-water secure environment of another economy. Each

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 5 tonne of beef requires 16,000 tonnes. Th is To be self-suffi cient in food and water the economies ‘trade’ in virtual water since the 1950s and increasingly since the 1970s has proved of the Middle East currently need water ecosystems to be very rational. Th e economies of the that could provide about 30 per cent more water region have been able to protect their own water ecosystems. Th ey have used the water Secondly, recently developed water recycling emotional temperature of any discourse environments of the US, Australia, Brazil, technologies are beginning to enable the on the topic. Food is even more emotional Argentina and Europe and recently those of aff ordable re-use of urban and industrial than water and volatile food prices are a Russia and the Ukraine. Virtual water ‘trade’ water. 50 per cent recovery rates will be nightmare for any politician who has to was environmentally rational. It was also feasible and higher levels seem possible. ensure that cheap food is available for poor an economic no-brainer. Th e US and the Th irdly, most of the population of the region urban communities. Food price spikes make European Union have been driving down live near the sea or a major river. Since 2000 for very frightening politics. the price of traded food staples since the the costs of desalinated water have been 1950s. Traded staple food commodity prices driven down to about $US 60 cents per Misunderstood have been running at half production costs. cubic metre. If desalination could be based Th e main water resource delusion relates Th is half cost food has mitigated two major on clean energy – that is energy generated to the nature of the region’s water scarcity. strategic regional insecurities – water and by solar or wind power – non-food water Th e region is not non-food water insecure. food. would be doubly secure. Researching and It is very food-water insecure. To be self- Other numbers are important. Non-food developing these technologies is a high suffi cient in food and water the economies water – that is the water we drink, use at priority in the region and very signifi cant of the Middle East currently need water home and for our jobs – only accounts for environmentally. ecosystems that could provide about 30 per about 10 per cent of the water we consume. cent more water. Th ey will need about three 150 litres per day is a widely used estimate. Emotional and easily politicised times the region’s water endowment when Th e region’s water ecosystems will always Water scarcity is not well understood the population doubles by about 2050. If the have enough water to meet non-food water by those who use water to raise crops and water environments of the region are to be needs. Th ere are three reasons. First, by livestock, by those who drink water and protected the region’s political economies 2050 when the region’s population will be especially by those who have to make water will have to continue with three policies about 600 million it will need about 600 related environmental policies. Water itself that have served them well for the past cubic kilometres of food-water annually. is also very emotional. It has an iconic place half-century. First, they will have to ‘import’ It will only have about 200. Th e rest will in all the religions of the region. It is, as a virtual water and the water ecosystems have to come from outside the region. Th e consequence, very easily politicised. Th is from other countries. Secondly they will food-water battle has been lost. But the is especially the case if people believe that have to accelerate the adoption of recycling non-food water needed will only be about their water and food security depend on non-food water and desalination, preferably 60 cubic kilometres annually. Th e region’s having sovereignty over suffi cient water for with clean energy. Th irdly and most economies can provide this volume from its both their food and their non-food needs. importantly, they will have to accelerate the water endowments. Some economies will, Th at water insecurity and food insecurity diversifi cation of their economies so that however, fi nd it more diffi cult than others. are so very tightly linked increases the they can aff ord the importation of virtual food-water. Th ey will also have to address the impacts of climate change which will reduce the availability of water. Th e region will remain non-food water secure. Finally, it will also have to address food- water insecurity with the policies that have successfully addressed the problem for 50 years – virtual water ‘imports’ and economic diversifi cation.

Tony Allan is Emeritus Professor at KCL and SOAS

Water trucks, like the one pictured here in Jordan, are an important source of drinking

6 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 EENVIRONMENTNVIRONMENT

Hamid Pouran examines the environmental impact of military conﬂ icts, focusing particularly on sources of soil pollution WWars,ars, ddepletedepleted uuraniumranium aandnd

ooilil ppollutionollution © Boksi, Wikimedia Commons

Examples of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition ﬁ red in former Yugoslavia, 1999. Photo taken in Military Museum Belgrade

ir, water and soil are the key an environment in which humans can contaminated sites exist in the US and will components of any ecosystem. thrive. Soil – a porous medium that is require remediation (clean up) by about AIntroducing contaminants into any made of extremely complex mineralogical 2035. Th e estimated costs are as high as one of these environmental compartments compositions, organic matter, water and $250 billion. adversely aff ects the whole system, a oxygen – is the bedrock of terrestrial In the Middle East, soil pollution phenomenon known as environmental life. Plants growing in contaminated soil mainly stems from the region’s drive to pollution. However, while all these three accumulate toxic chemicals. Subsequently, establish new industries, in particular key components are important and all of their consumers, including humans, those that are related to the petroleum interconnected, the long-term sustainability are aff ected. Polluted soil might also infect industry (such as petrochemicals and of any ecosystem relies on soil. In the available water resources as its contaminants chemicals). Accidental oil spills, intensive Middle East too, soil pollution is a major leach into the ground water or air through farming, landfi ll and illegal dumping, problem which jeopardises the region’s dust storms or particle suspension. pesticides and buried wastes are among environmental health and sustainability. Soil pollution is a global challenge. A the major causes. However, the region’s Soil regulates the availability of life- report by the US Environmental Protection geopolitical importance is also a signifi cant sustaining resources, from vegetation Agency (EPA) suggests that, based on contributor and exacerbates this problem. to groundwater tables, and provides current regulations, an estimated 350,000 Th e consequences of military confl icts – in particular depleted uranium and oil pollution – are important examples and In Fallujah (Iraq), which saw heavy US military should be not be discounted. operations, babies born with multiple birth Depleted uranium (DU), a by-product of uranium enrichments, is 1.7 times defects are a common phenomenon denser than lead and can penetrate heavily

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 7 Damages caused by mismanagement, though signifi cant, Th e most dramatic deliberate act of oil pollution – indeed it was one of the largest are considerably less harmful than large-scale oil pollution incidents in history – occurred environmental pollution caused by military confl icts during the Iraq–Kuwait War in 1991 when more than 600 oil wells were set alight by Iraqi military forces. Oil lakes were formed armoured vehicles. Allied forces used DU move these toxic substances, sometimes and burned before they withdrew from weapons for the fi rst time in the 1991 Gulf thousands of miles away from their origins. Kuwait as part of Iraq’s scorched earth War. In total it is estimated that 1,200 tonnes Remediation of contaminated soils policy. of DU weapons were deployed during the is possible; however, it requires at least Compared to air and water wars of 1991 and 2003 in Iraq. DU has multimillion-dollar investments and may contamination, the severity of soil pollution the same inherent chemical properties of take decades. Raising public awareness is usually underestimated. Nevertheless, uranium with similar chemical toxicity to prevent people from handling these entire ecosystems and the correct behaviours. If internalised, which mainly materials is the only immediately available functioning of their diff erent compartments happens through inhalation and ingestion, option to minimise the damage. More depend on soil. Although the focus here has DU will cause adverse health eff ects importantly, countries that use DU in their been on soil pollution as a result of military similar to lead and cadmium. Ingestion of munitions should consider the long-term confl icts, unfortunately, the region also has a contaminated soil by children is a major environmental health impacts of these disappointing track record in soil pollution pathway of exposure to this chemical. materials. through waste mismanagement. Most of the deployed DU weapons are Petroleum pollution is another common Countries that have caused irreparable expected to remain buried in the soil, and and widespread problem in the Middle damages to the region’s environment must over time their corrosion will contaminate East. It occurs oft en mainly due to be held accountable, and international it. DU in contaminated soil could then mismanagement, leakages from storage fi nancial and scientifi c support should leach into water supplies and/or end up tanks and accidents. Chemicals in crude oil be garnered to deal with the fallout. in the food chain via the local vegetation. can have disastrous eff ects on soil making If the pollution stems from local and Th is is apart from the chemically toxic dust it unusable for years or even decades and regional mismanagement or inadequate that was created at the time of the weapon’s rendering it toxic to plants and animals. environmental policies, then these deployment. DU also decays over time Th e latest example of an accidental oil countries need to take responsibility and and its disintegration products emit alpha, spillage was near Eliat in Israel in December pay the high price of implementing tougher beta and gamma radiations that result in 2014. Th ousands of gallons of crude oil environmental regulations to stop the internal and external exposure of those who spilled when a pipeline ruptured during institutions that do not comply. encounter DU-contaminated soil. Th ese maintenance work. But damages caused by radiations, if absorbed (received) at any level mismanagement, though signifi cant, are Hamid M. Pouran has a PhD in above zero, are thought to increase risk of considerably less harmful than large-scale Environmental Engineering. He was a cancer. environmental pollution caused by military member of the Transatlantic Initiative for Lack of public knowledge about confl icts. In 2006 during Israel’s war with Nanotechnology and the Environment and the irreparable damage that these war Hizbullah, the Israeli air force attacked is currently an Iran Heritage Foundation remnants might cause means that locals the oil storage tanks of a power station in Visiting Fellow in Iran's Environmental oft en recycle these metals and use them as Lebanon. Approximately 15,000 tonnes of Sustainability at the London Middle East building materials, resulting in continuous oil were released into the environment. Institute exposure to their contaminants. Th e number of reported cancer cases in Iraq © US Air Force, Public Domain has risen from 40 per 100,000 prior to the 1991 war, to more than 1,600 per 100,000 in 2005. Th e trend is increasing, and, due to lack of documentation, the actual number of cancer cases could be considerably higher. In Fallujah (Iraq), which saw heavy US military operations, babies born with multiple birth defects are a common phenomenon rooted in the region’s environmental pollution. Iraq’s toxic chemical dusts – which include carcinogenic elements like uranium, lead and mercury – do not remain in one place. A sand storm or even simple airfl ows can

USAF aircraft of the 4th Fighter Wing ﬂ y over Kuwaiti oil ﬁ res set by the retreating Iraqi army during Operation Desert Storm, 1991

8 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 EENVIRONMENTNVIRONMENT

Kaveh Madani examines the main factors propelling Iran towards a serious water shortage IIran’sran’s lloomingooming wwaterater ccrisisrisis © Hadi Karimi, Wikimedia Commons

Lut Desert is one of the world's largest deserts located in south-eastern Kerman, Iran

ran, once the pioneer of sustainable the 1979 Revolution, which promoted defi nitely lacks the required water resources water management in the arid region diff erent socio-economic, cultural and and infrastructure to satisfy increased Iof the world, is now experiencing a ideological changes in Iran. In addition water demand. Without strong spatial serious water crisis, refl ected by its drying to a sudden population growth, rapid population distribution adjustments and lakes and rivers, declining groundwater urbanisation and inappropriate spatial water consumption reduction measures, resources and deteriorating water quality. population distribution are challenging population growth can have catastrophic Water supply rationing and disruptions are Iranian water managers. Th e urban eff ects. becoming more frequent, agricultural losses population is currently about 70 per cent, are increasing and ecosystem damages are compared to 44 per cent in the 1970s. Eight Crisis driver 2: ineffi cient agriculture expanding. While decision-makers prefer Iranian cities have a population of greater With an oil-based economy, Iran to blame the current crisis on droughts, than one million while the population has always suff ered from a seriously climate change and international sanctions, in metropolitan Tehran has surpassed ineffi cient agriculture, which heavily relies the dramatic water issues of Iran are rooted 14 million (18 per cent of the country’s on irrigation and consumes most of the in decades of shortsighted and disintegrated population). country’s limited water resources. While planning. Despite the consequences of population only 15 per cent of the country’s area is Th e public, experts and media growth policies, the government of Iran is cultivated, this sector is responsible for 92 continuously warn about the major now showing a strong interest in boosting per cent of the water consumption in Iran. water crisis symptoms without seriously the current population growth rate of 1.3 Since the 1979 Revolution, the government discussing the causes. But, what are the per cent. Th is interest is rooted in concerns has tried to be supportive of this sector to main drivers of Iran’s water crisis? about the projections of age distribution in achieve food security and increase non- the future. What is clear though is that Iran oil revenues. Nevertheless, the economic Crisis driver 1: population growth and spatial distribution Iran has experienced a signifi cant Iran has always suff ered from a seriously ineffi cient population growth in the last century. Its population almost doubled within the last agriculture, which heavily relies on irrigation and two decades of the 20th century, right aft er consumes most of the country’s limited water resources

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 9 effi ciency of this sector has decreased Rapid development and the construction of major infrastructure signifi cantly. Currently, this sector provides 23 per cent of the jobs and its contribution with minimal concern for their long-term non-economic impacts to GDP is only about 13 per cent. have created signifi cant water and environmental problems Without a comprehensive plan for the empowerment of farmers and rural communities, the populist actions of Iranian relying on national expertise under major administration recognises water security decision-makers – such as substantial sanctions by the West. However, rapid as a national priority and is trying to subsidisation of water and energy to support development and the construction of major address some of the more evident water the farmers – have failed to increase welfare infrastructure with minimal concern for problems on an urgent basis. Nevertheless, in this sector. Th e signifi cantly cheap their long-term non-economic impacts have fundamental changes in the current prices have not provided any motivation created signifi cant water and environmental Iranian water management paradigm are for increasing production effi ciency. problems that call this success into question. essential to prevent the development of Th e average irrigation effi ciency is less It is true that serious international similar problems in the future and to secure than 35 per cent and rain-fed agriculture sanctions have slowed down development sustainable water resources for Iran. has remained unproductive. Th e crop in Iran by limiting access to new Taking advantage of the West’s experience pattern does not match the regional water technologies. But, Iran’s water crisis is not during and aft er its development peak availability conditions and has remained due to a lack of access to technology or in the 20th century, Iran must consider more responsive to the traditional crop technical expertise. Indeed, Iran is suff ering adopting the following ten major strategies choices and farming practices as well as from disintegrated decision-making to end the current crisis: (1) revisiting the government-guaranteed crop purchase and problem-solving by knowledgeable the new population growth policy, prices. experts who act independently. One major paying careful attention to the spatial cause of such disintegration is the water distribution of population and limiting Crisis driver 3: mismanagement and thirst governance structure. It involves too many urbanisation growth; (2) modernising for development stakeholders and creates an undesirable agriculture and empowering farmers and Bad management is the most important hierarchy in water resources management. rural communities; (3) revising the crop driver of Iran’s water crisis. Given that the Water management in Iran relies on a pattern across the country with respect to other two drivers can be also attributed crisis management paradigm: actions are national food security priorities as well as to bad management within and outside taken only aft er the problems have become regional resource availability and economic the water sector, bad management can so serious that they can hamper further effi ciency conditions; (4) increasing the be recognised as the ‘cause of the causes’ development. water and energy prices together with of the water crisis. Iran has gone through technological improvements to prevent signifi cant socio-economic and political What to do? socio-economic pressure on rural and changes in the last century. Th e Revolution Th e water problems in Iran are far too farmer communities; (5) promoting and and the international pressure on Iran many and signifi cant to leave any doubt developing regional farming cooperatives strengthened the thirst for development about the fact that Iran is experiencing a and water management institutions; (6) and the desire to prove independence to the looming water crisis. Immediate mitigation implementing water markets and setting up world. Iranians have been more successful is required to address the existing water environmental water accounts; (7) shift ing than most nations in the developing world problems throughout the country. Th ere from reactive to proactive management in maintaining their independence and are encouraging signs that the current of the water sector; (8) optimising the distribution of water management eff orts to solve the existing water problems and to prevent emerging ones; (9) reorganising the current water governance structure and empowering the Department of Environment; and fi nally, (10) raising environmental awareness and educating the public.

Kaveh Madani is an Environmental Management Lecturer in the Centre for Environmental Policy at the Imperial College London and an expert in water resources planning management in arid areas including the Middle East and California

Shushtar is an island city from the Sasanid era

10 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 EENVIRONMENTNVIRONMENT

John Curtis explains how Iran’s worsening environmental crisis is damaging the country’s cultural heritage CCulturalultural heritageheritage aandnd tthehe eenvironmentnvironment © J. E. Curtis

The rock relief of Darius at Bisitun which is showing clear signs of deterioration

he connections between visible, and it is chilling to think that there archaeological monuments. Some of the environmental degradation and are other places in Iran that are even worse. best-known sites in Iran have been aff ected, Tdamage to cultural heritage, According to Tahbaz, this is a direct result including even the jewel in Iran’s crown specifi cally monuments and archaeological of the ‘lack of refi ning capacity, modern and arguably the most impressive site in the sites, may not be immediately clear, but in fuel additives, catalytic converters and the ancient world, Persepolis. fact they are very real. prevalent use of antiquated fl eets of buses, Th e problem here is that there is a As highlighted by Morad Tahbaz in a trucks and cars continually belching out petrochemical refi nery at Marvdasht, a little recent issue of this magazine (vol 10, no terrifying amounts of toxic fumes’. In recent more than ten kilometres to the south-west 1), air pollution in Iran is at a dangerously years the problem has been exacerbated by of Persepolis, putting the ancient site right high level, with four of the ten most sanctions which prevent the importation in the path of the prevailing winds from polluted cities in the world being in Iran. of modern equipment and technologies the refi nery. Th e wind and rain coming Visitors to Tehran will be familiar with that could help improve the situation. Th is from the direction of the refi nery carry acid the pall of smog hanging over the city, so high level of pollution undoubtedly has an particles that cause damage to the limestone that nowadays Mount Damavand is rarely adverse impact on historical buildings and monuments at the site. As long ago as 2002 Dr Mohammad Hassan Talebian, now Th e adverse eff ects of acid rain, sandstorms and in charge of cultural heritage within the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicraft s and atmospheric pollution can be clearly seen on some Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), warned of the best-known rock-cut monuments in Iran that increasing pollution in the Marvdasht

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 11 Each time a dam is constructed it causes incalculable of respect for cultural heritage. A good example of this is the site of Nush-i Jan damage to the archaeological heritage, with many near Malayer, which is arguably the most archaeological sites being submerged or washed away important Median site in Iran, dating from the 7th century BC. Here, an industrial complex has recently been built a few Plain, due to the growing number of new archaeological sites being submerged or hundred metres to the north-west of the industrial projects, was having a damaging washed away. Th is is a particular problem site. Th e extent of any possible pollution eff ect on Persepolis. Little or nothing has in a country such as Iran with a very rich is unknown, but it is clearly highly been done, however, to protect the site. archaeological heritage stretching back irresponsible to have built such a complex Apart from chemical pollution, almost 10,000 years, and it is no accident so close to an important archaeological sandstorms have also become a major that many of the more important sites site. If nothing else, the presence of this hazard in Iran, notably in the south-west are close to water courses and therefore complex will surely prevent Nush-i Jan from of the country. Th e city of Ahvaz has been especially vulnerable. A very high profi le becoming a world heritage site if the Iranian particularly aff ected. Oft en these storms case has been the construction of the authorities decided to nominate it for that are whipped up in areas outside Iran, Sivand Dam in the Bolaghi Gorge between status. particularly in southern Iraq, where the Persepolis and Pasargadae. Th e dam is right draining of the marshes has contributed in the centre of the Achaemenid heartland John Curtis was a Keeper at the British to the problem, and on the east side of the and many important Achaemenid period Museum 1989-2013, and since January Persian Gulf, but the eff ect in Iran is very sites (but not actually Pasargadae) are at risk 2014 has been CEO of the Iran Heritage serious. Th e airborne particles of sand are or have already been destroyed. Th is is a Foundation (IHF). Recently, in association very abrasive and can cause considerable very high price to pay – many people would with the Soudavar Memorial Foundation, damage to monuments and reliefs carved in say an unacceptably high price – to increase he organised a conference dedicated to the soft stone. the agricultural potential of a previously protection of Iranian cultural heritage which Th e adverse eff ects of acid rain, arid region. was held in Asia House on 16-18 January sandstorms and atmospheric pollution can Apart from air pollution and water 2015 be clearly seen on some of the best-known mismanagement, archaeological sites rock-cut monuments in Iran, which have can also be badly aff ected by soil erosion visibly deteriorated in the last 40 years or so. and land degradation. Th ese come about Th is is certainly the case with the wonderful because much of the land in Iran is being Sasanian reliefs carved on the side of a river overgrazed, and, lacking the opportunity gorge close to the ancient city of Bishapur. to regenerate, it gradually turns into desert. Th e most remarkable of these shows the In these cases the topsoil is washed away by Sasanian emperor Shapur I (240-272 AD) rain or blown away by the wind to create triumphing over three Roman emperors. dust storms. In this way, many traces of Th e famous rock relief at Bisitun, carved ancient occupation disappear and some by Darius in 520-519 BC high up on a cliff archaeological sites are lost forever. The Bridge of 33 Arches over the Zyandeh Rud overlooking the Great Khorasan Road, is To sum up, very oft en problems are in Isfahan. The drying up of the river is causing also now in a perilous state, and it is to be caused by lack of understanding or lack damage to the foundations of the bridge hoped its recent nomination as a World Heritage Site will help to arrest any further © Anton_Ivanov,Shutterstock.com decline. Some of the Sasanian reliefs at Taq-i Bustan near Kermanshah are on the sides of a grotto carved out of the rock and therefore to some extent protected, but a nearby relief showing Shapur II (309-79 AD) and Ardashir II (379-83 AD) with the god Mithra is in the open air and fully exposed to the elements. Th ere are signs here of deterioration, but even worse is the fact that the pavement in front of the relief has been removed, allowing the waters of the artifi cial lake to lap up almost against the base of the relief. Management of water resources is an area of great concern for archaeological sites. Th ere are already more than 200 dams in operation in Iran and a further 85 are in the planning stage. Each time a dam is constructed it causes incalculable damage to the archaeological heritage, with many

12 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 EENVIRONMENTNVIRONMENT

Hassan Arafat explains the primary environmental issues associated with desalination in the GCC and how they can be tackled CCanan ddesalinationesalination pproviderovide a ssustainableustainable ssourceource ooff wwater?ater? © Octal, Flickr.com

Desalination plant in Ras al-Khaimah, UAE

ubai, when oft en spoken of, Population growth coupled with increased the seawater to produce freshwater. Th e is mentioned for its glittering urbanisation, industrialisation and process is achieved through membrane- Dskyscrapers, fi ne dining and agricultural output has placed tremendous based technologies such as reverse osmosis luxury hotels among other extravagances. pressure on the region’s scarce groundwater (purifying water by using high pressure to However, like many other cities in the resources. GCC countries are all using drive it in the opposite direction of osmotic region, its economic prosperity has been hundreds to thousands times more water pressure), or thermal-based methods largely attributed to the exploitation of than sustainable natural aquifer recharge such as multi-stage fl ash and multiple- fossil fuel resources in the past, with more would allow. Th eir water footprints, among eff ect distillation. Th ere are numerous recent contributions from other sectors the highest in the world, are sustained by environmental concerns associated with such as tourism and fi nance. Such oil wealth unconventional sources of water such as desalination, especially in the Gulf region, transformed the once impoverished small fossil aquifers, desalination, wastewater which can be broken down into input and desert principalities into the modern and re-use and the import of ‘virtual’ water output concerns. In terms of inputs, they wealthy states of today. embedded in agricultural goods. include seawater intake and energy intensity Th e countries of the Gulf Cooperation Given the water stress the region faces, and type; while output concerns include Council (GCC), which include Bahrain, it is not surprising that up to 99 per cent greenhouse gasses and brine discharge. Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and of potable freshwater in the GCC comes Seawater intake is a concern because the United Arab Emirates, boast some from desalinated seawater. Th is expensive organisms living within the vicinity of a of the highest per capita incomes and process involves the separation of total desalination plant’s intake pipe can collide the fastest growing economies in the dissolved solids (TDS), including salts, from with the intake screens (impingement) or world. However, such drastic growth and development could not occur without the availability of a secure freshwater resource, GCC countries are all using hundreds to thousands times more a scarce commodity in the MENA region. water than sustainable natural aquifer recharge would allow

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 13 be trapped within the feed-water into the Ultimately, the environmental impacts associated plant (entrainment). Th e threat from intake pipes on the marine environment is highly with desalination are determined by technology variable but can be minimised signifi cantly choices and government policies, which also by the technology employed for seawater intake and how far the intake pipe is from correlate with the fi nal cost of the desalinated water the shore. Another input concern is energy spewed into the atmosphere annually in the eff ects of brine discharge in the Gulf, the consumption. Th e current use of fossil Gulf. cumulative impact of discharge remains fuels as an energy supply is problematic Lastly, one of the most signifi cant areas widely unknown. Given that 50 per cent for both its carbon output, as well as the of environmental concern when it comes of the world’s desalination occurs in the longevity of the energy source. Given the to desalination plants is brine discharge. small, semi-enclosed Gulf, the eff ects of heavy reliance on desalination for supplying Th e discharged brine is oft en a mixture of brine discharge on the environment must be the freshwater needs of GCC countries, a saline concentrate, along with thermal and looked at collectively and cumulatively, as sustainable source of energy for desalination chemical pollutants. All the aforementioned opposed to singular environmental impact would ensure greater water security. It by-products can negatively impact the studies. is estimated that when desalination is Gulf’s native biota – be they mangroves, Ultimately, the environmental impacts coupled with renewable energy sources, the corals or other aquatic species – particularly associated with desalination are determined environmental load can be reduced by 80- given the brine’s density which makes it sink by technology choices and government 85 per cent thanks to the elimination of the to the bottom of the seabed where most policies, which also correlate with the harmful eff ects associated with fossil fuels. ecological activity takes place. fi nal cost of the desalinated water. While It is worth noting that the desalination Coral and mangroves species in the Gulf the environmental costs of desalination technology employed, regardless of the are unique as they are among the most can be mitigated to a large extent, it oft en energy source, plays a crucial role in the versatile corals and mangroves, being able comes at a considerable fi nancial cost. overall environmental load, as desalination to tolerate both high temperatures and Consequently, it is important to highlight technologies diff er in energy intensity, salinity. Nevertheless, these habitats are still that when it comes to environmental and land requirements and chemical usage, vulnerable to brine discharge. Mangroves fi nancial sustainability of water in the among many other variables. In general, rely on a delicate balance of inland region, the most cost-eff ective unit of water reverse osmosis as a technology has the freshwater and seawater: if the seawater produced, is the one avoided. Although it lowest environmental impact followed becomes too saline from brine discharge, is not possible to completely eliminate the by multiple-eff ect distillation and then then their growth can become stunted or need to generate desalinated water, water lastly multi-stage fl ash distillation. Among they may die all together. Similarly, corals conservation and re-use and recycling the most important factors aff ecting the exposed to high temperatures will undergo measures can help off set the defi cit in any environmental load is energy intensity. Th e coral bleaching, eff ectively destroying the country’s water balance and should be use of natural gas or oil as a fuel source for coral. seriously considered. desalination plants results in millions of Furthermore, while considerable metric tonnes of greenhouse gases being research has been done on the negative Hassan Arafat holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Abu Dhabi

Pale green when viewed through the water of the Persian Gulf, coral reefs fringe the shoreline and islands of the UAE. NASA image created by

14 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 EENVIRONMENTNVIRONMENT Karin Aggestam, Dan-Erik Andersson, Ronny Berndtsson and Kaveh Madani discuss the need for water cooperation between the countries of the Nile Basin TThehe NNileile BBasinasin aandnd hhydrosolidarityydrosolidarity © Orlova-tpe, Wikimedia Commons

The power plant of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt

he Nile is a source of life that plays a increasing population (especially in Egypt allocated 75 per cent to Egypt and 25 per crucial role in the economics, politics and Ethiopia), which has resulted in a cent of the river water to Sudan. In 1999 Tand cultural life of 11 countries and sharp decline of per capita water availability the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) was initiated their more than 370 million inhabitants. Th e during the last decades. Th e socio-economic with a broad agreement. Th e NBI is a population of these countries is expected problems are severe in many of these regional inter-governmental partnership led to double within the next 30 years. Th is countries and rely heavily on the availability by the ten Nile riparian countries, namely means that an astounding three-quarters of of water from the Nile for irrigation. Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, a billion people will depend on a single river Th us, the Nile River is one of the most Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, with dwindling fl ow for their livelihood. important river basins with regard to the Tanzania and Uganda. Eritrea participates Moreover, the Nile has had a long and socio-economic conditions and climate as an observer. complex history. It extends through Egypt change for a major part of the global poor. Several occasions since 2011 have added and further south, fl owing through some Th e historical use of the river water still very to the complexity of the situation. Th e Arab of the poorest countries in the world such much determines present day water use and Spring brought hope for improvement on as Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. Th e area is hydropolitical problems. Historically, Egypt aspects of democracy and human rights. confronted by severe problems due to both and Sudan have decided water allocations But it also opened up new negotiations on climatic conditions and socio-economic within the basin. Th e 1929 Agreement established agreements, and the expected factors. From an ecoclimatic point of between Egypt and Britain gave Egypt the improvement in living standards will view, most of the region extends across right to use 48 cubic kilometres and Sudan increase the demand for water resources. In semi-arid and arid zones. Th e semi-arid 4 cubic kilometres of water per year. Th e 2011 Sudan was divided into two countries. belts have been particularly aff ected by annual fl ow of the river is about 84 cubic Potentially this could have led to a more cycles of drought and desertifi cation in kilometres (14 per cent from the White Nile peaceful situation in the two countries and the past decades. Socio-economically, the and 86 per cent from the Blue Nile). Th e in the region as a whole, but it has already Nile region is characterised by a rapidly 1959 agreement between Egypt and Sudan created tensions that have to be met with cautious confl ict handling. In 2011 Ethiopia started the debated construction of the In 30 years, an astounding three-quarters of a billion people will Grand Millennium Dam (now known as the depend on a single river with dwindling fl ow for their livelihood Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam). Earlier,

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 15 Water cooperation is a key to security, poverty management of shared water resources, whether at the national or the international eradication, social equity and gender equality level. Consequently, hydrosolidarity is based on ethics between water consuming Egypt had threatened war if Ethiopia tried harvesting could be used to decrease the sectors (agriculture, industry and domestic to block the Nile fl ow. Ethiopia responded risks for failure in crop production and use use), between humans and ecosystems, that no country could prevent it from marginal lands more eff ectively. Industrial between present and future generations and using Nile water (about 85 per cent of the and domestic water should be treated and means cooperating over administrative, Nile river fl ow originates in the Ethiopian re-used a number of times before being political, religious and cultural borders. highlands). Egypt countered that it would discharged into the Mediterranean Sea. Th e fundamental concept is that water is not give up its share of Nile water. Virtual water through food imports could not only an economic resource that can Egypt’s only sustainable water source be applied to save water for drinking be developed by technology, but, more is Nile fl ow. At the same time Ethiopia’s purposes. Th ese measures are quite obvious importantly, water also has important economic development requires better use and could easily save many tens of cubic political, ethical, religious, legal, health of the hydropower and irrigation potential kilometres every year. Th ere are also signs and democratic dimensions. A better of the Nile water. Historically, Egypt used to and plans for solving and handling the understanding of water’s transdisciplinary be the most populous country of the Nile scarce water resources in the region. One function can thus improve the effi ciency of Basin. At present, Ethiopia has surpassed example is the above-mentioned Nile Basin water use via an improved upstream and Egypt in terms of population. Th e upstream Initiative. Even so they are not implemented downstream collaboration. countries represent 240 million and the on a larger scale. Why is that? What are downstream 130 million people. Clearly, the the obstacles that prevent politicians and Karin Aggestam is an Associate Professor in upstream majority has some moral right to administrators from implementing even Political Sciences and the Director of Peace use water for improved living conditions. very simple and inexpensive measures to and Confl ict Studies at Lund University. Hydrologically, just 3.5 per cent of the reduce water waste and improve the water Dan-Erik Andersson is a Senior Lecturer in incoming sustainable water remains at the situation in the Nile Basin? Human Rights with a background in ethics level of the Aswan Dam. At the outfl ow Th e concept of hydrosolidarity has and Co-director of the Centre for Middle point in to the Mediterranean only about been brought forward as a way to improve Eastern Studies, Lund University. Ronny 1 per cent remains. Th is is an exceptional water management and to share scarce Berndtsson is a Professor at Department condition and shows the degree of severity water resources in an equitable way. Water of Water Resources Engineering, Lund of water use within the basin. What are cooperation is a key to security, poverty University. Kaveh Madani is a Lecturer in the possibilities, then, to resolve the water eradication, social equity and gender Environmental Management at the Centre problem and prevent extended confl ict? equality. Water cooperation instead of for Environmental Policy, Imperial College, Judging from the above, the potential water dispute could generate economic London for confl ict over water appears to be benefi ts, preserve water resources, protect overwhelming. Th e escalating water the environment and build peace. Th e problems and the risk of an ecoclimatic hydrosolidarity principle thus means broad collapse with resulting famine and possible cooperation or solidarity around water confl ict appear valid. Even so, however, resource use and management. Th e goal of a future agreement could encompass hydrosolidarity is the cooperative, unifi ed peaceful co-use of the Nile water resources. Evaporation at Lake Nasser in Egypt is © David Haberlah from oldwikisource, Wikimedia Commons about 10 cubic kilometres per year while only about 2 cubic kilometres per year in the Ethiopian highlands. Consequently, water for Sudan and Egypt could be more eff ectively stored in Ethiopia. Countries with signifi cant hydroelectric power potential could sell power to Sudan and Egypt. Upstream dams could trap sediments thus reducing storage losses due to silt sedimentation. Th ese measures could reduce the potential for confl ict and increase the eff ective sustainable water volume. Th ere are also opportunities to increase irrigation effi ciency, especially in Egypt, that traditionally uses water-wasting border and fl ooding irrigation. Rainwater

A Sudanese farmer operating an irrigation pump on Atram Island in Dar al-Manasir, North Sudan

16 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 EENVIRONMENTNVIRONMENT

Hamid Pouran considers the potentially hazardous environmental impacts of nanotechnology NNanotechnologyanotechnology iiss a bbigig rriskisk iiff ddecision-makersecision-makers tthinkhink ssmallmall

Groups opposing the installation of nanotechnology laboratories in Grenoble, France, have spray-painted their opposition on a former

‘ here is plenty of room at the bottom’ country in the region is Saudi Arabia 5 patents respectively. Th e number is the – this was title of Richard Feynman’s ranked 19th with 1,423 articles followed by highest for the US with 10,376, followed famous talk to the American Turkey 21st (1,301 articles), Egypt 26th (907 by Japan with 2,545 and South Korea with T th Physical Society more than half a century articles) and Iraq 54 (126 articles). 832 patents. Th e total (world) number of ago. Th e Nobel Laureate, in his historic While fundamental research to explore granted patents for this period is 18,057, lecture, discussed the possibility of the direct new frontiers in nanoscience is important with approximately 60 per cent US, 27 per manipulation of materials on the atomic and and critical, it is not the major force cent other developed countries and 0.26 per molecular level to unleash novel functions. behind these investments. Rather the cent the Middle East contributions. Now, aft er decades of research, nanoscience aim is to capitalise and commercialise Despite all perceived nanotechnology faces a historic moment: moving from the practical applications of nanoscience, advantages – e.g. the role they could play fundamental research towards a publically known as nanotechnology. Th is technology in the desalination of seawater – if their available technology, a turning point is envisaged as one of the major factors environmental impacts are not assessed towards commercialisation. that shape a country’s economy and in detail this technology could adversely Since the Millennium, developed sustainability in the 21st century. Th e aff ect the environmental sustainability and even some developing countries number of patents granted in 2014 (up to of both manufacturers and users. Th e have heavily invested in fundamental September) by the United States Patent environmental impact of nanotechnology is nanoscience and technology research. Th e and Trademark Offi ce (USPTO), as an the focus of this short piece. US government has directly invested over indication of a country’s position in respect Nanomaterials are those materials $US 20 billion in nanoscience research over to commercialisation of nanotechnology that have dimensions within nanoscale the past 13 years, while China, Japan, Russia products, depicts an interesting picture. range. A nanometre is equal to 10-9 metre. and European countries are not far behind. Only four countries in the Middle East have Nanomaterials are usually expected to Amongst the Middle East countries Iran been granted patents this year: Saudi Arabia, have dimensions between 10 and 100 is the most successful and is ranked number Iran, Turkey and the UAE with 28, 8, 6 and nanometres, approximately 1,000 times seven in the world based on the annual number of published nano-related articles, Only in the past few years has the potentially hazardous with 4,555 articles as of November 2014 according to statnano.com. Th e second nature of manufactured nanomaterials been highlighted

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 17 smaller than a strand of a human hair. A If Middle Eastern countries recklessly deploy the material’s surface plays a crucial role in its interactions with the ambient environment: latest nanotechnology products they will pay for new the surface is where the fi rst contacts environmental risks with unknown consequences occur. Th e extremely high surface area of nanomaterials is the main reason for their novel properties. For instance, Graphene – a Currently a number of manufactured Control Act (TSCA). Currently, developed pure, one-atom thick sheet of carbon – is nanomaterials are publically available and countries are in the process of establishing 100 times stronger than steel and has surface widely used. However, when they enter the a comprehensive regulatory approach area of more than 1,000 square metres per environment they can potentially disrupt to minimise health and environmental gram. Generally speaking, considering the the life cycles of many living organisms and risks associated with the applications of surface area to volume ratio, the smaller ecosystems. Here we mention three prime nanotechnology. Some of these countries the size the higher this ratio and the greater examples. (1) Zinc oxide nanoparticles used are already among the major producers of the likelihood of interactions with the for manufacturing electrical equipment manufactured nanomaterials. However, surrounding environment. While the new and suntan lotions are among the most because of existing environmental risks, properties of nanomaterials have excited toxic nanoparticles. Th ey can inhibit the only specifi c and limited applications scientists and the industry, these same root growth of plants and embryonic of these materials are allowed in their features make our existing knowledge of development of fi sh species. (2) Titanium territories. toxicity, environmental risks and health dioxide nanoparticles have extensive Countries in the Middle East, especially eff ects unreliable. applications in a range of industries, those rich GCC economies, are keen to be A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) including surface coatings and paints, considered developed by embracing new provides important information about cosmetics and printing inks. It is known technologies. However, as mentioned earlier, associated potential hazards and instructions that they pose hazardous ecotoxicological existing data suggests they will likely remain for the safe handling of a product including eff ects, especially among bacteria, algae nanotechnology users not contributors. disposal, storage, health and environmental and invertebrates. Th ey can suppress Th e environmental sustainability statuses of concerns. Available MSDS information for photosynthetic activity of microorganisms, these nations are currently not promising, nanomaterials is very limited. Only in the inhibit their growth and, in mammals, but the problems that they face are well- past few years has the potentially hazardous damage cells. (3) Silver nanoparticles recognised and have known solutions. nature of manufactured nanomaterials have antibacterial properties and are With respect to nanotechnology, however, been highlighted, with attempts being incorporated in textiles, refrigerators and there is no reliable understanding of what made to study their toxicity and possible washing machines to eliminate bacteria and happens to nanomaterials when they negative impacts. Th ese investigations odour. Th ese nanoparticles can be washed enter the environment. If Middle Eastern are mainly focused on human health and down over time and discharged into the countries recklessly deploy the latest direct exposure, and much less progress environment. Th ey can be biocidal and nanotechnology products they will pay for has been made in examining the fate disrupt ecosystem cycles. It is known that new environmental risks with unknown and behaviour of nanomaterials in the silver nanoparticles can kill or mutate some consequences. When it comes to using environment; a concern that, if neglected, species of fi sh embryos. commercialised nanosciene products, these could adversely aff ect the environment and Th e US Environmental Protection countries should strictly follow regulations, create unforeseen barriers towards achieving Agency (EPA) lists many nanoscale and, if no regulations exist, they should environmental sustainability. materials under the Toxic Substances avoid potential risks by banning or at least minimising the application of these products. If the relevant nanotechnology environmental health and safety research infrastructures are lacking, investing in collaboration with prominent countries to develop application guidelines is preferable to investing money to be a major advanced- technology user.

Hamid M. Pouran has a PhD in Environmental Engineering. He was a member of the Transatlantic Initiative for Nanotechnology and the Environment and is currently an Iran Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow in Iran's Environmental Sustainability at the London Middle East Institute

Scientists in a cleanroom at the London Centre for Nanotechnology. The room is lit with orange lighting to avoid damage to the photoresist (light sensitive materials) which could occur if

18 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 RREVIEWS:EVIEWS: BOOKSBOOKS UUnderstandingnderstanding tthehe PPoliticalolitical EEconomyconomy ooff tthehe AArabrab UUprisingsprisings

Edited by Ishac Diwan

World Scientiﬁ c, July 2014, £37.00 (hardcover)

Reviewed by Hassan Hakimian

nalysing the root causes and subsumed under the above themes given parliamentary democracy – factors that consequences of the recent their links to either the roots of the crisis arguably only bode well for Tunisia in her AArab uprisings is the subject of or challenges ahead and lessons from quest for transition to democracy. a burgeoning literature. In this recent elsewhere. Other chapters too add depth to and addition to a challenging subject, Ishac Th e book’s main theoretical strength is extend this comparative perspective: Ersel Diwan’s edited volume – Understanding arguably its political economy approach, on the transformative role of Political the Political Economy of the Arab Uprisings which anchors its methodology on the Islam in Turkey, Esfahani and Gürakar – brings together a rich collection of interaction between the economic and on a comparative study of social orders diverse contributions. Most of the ten political dimensions of the uprisings. in Turkey and Iran and a last chapter by chapters in the book had previously Th us the roots of the revolts are fi rmly Shidiq and Vermonte on the early years appeared under diff erent publications of located in the economic liberalisation of democracy in Indonesia. Th e result the Economic Research Forum for the experience which Arab countries is sobering indeed for anybody who Arab countries, Iran and Turkey (ERF) experienced since the 1980s without a expected the ‘Arab Spring’ to be short or in Cairo. However, their re-assembly parallel process of liberalisation taking have a happy ending. here, with a preface by Roger Owen and hold in the political sphere. In his chapter, Overall, the book is a strong contender enriched by a refl ective introduction Diwan demonstrates painstakingly how for inclusion on a highly select reading by the editor, adds much to our the emergent Arab ‘crony capitalism’ list on the subject. Its scope and coverage understanding of the rapidly changing fuelled the alienation of middle classes, is excellent and quality of analysis hard to political economy of the region. who – led by their youth – came to resent improve. Th is is notwithstanding the fact As Diwan observes, recent the rise of a class of well-connected that the book leaves unresolved a number developments dispel ‘any remaining elites with privileged access to economic of pertinent issues: why, for instance, has notion of exceptionalism’ for the region, opportunities. the combination of revolts with crony but they also open up the space to new Owen goes further by elaborating how capitalism been limited to the Arab uncertainties or ‘less deterministic in the political sphere cronyism became region so far? A second ‘mystery’ – as theoretical considerations.’ Such an open- intertwined with family dictatorships in Diwan puts it – is why did the uprisings minded and candid approach is indeed a republican setting where ‘elected’ Arab aff ect countries that were doing relatively a strong virtue of the book, highlighting rulers and their sons became de facto better economically? at times an agenda for future research as monarchs with powers and privileges Th e answers to both these are likely to well. preserved for what he describes as lie as much in the recent Arab uprisings Th e book is organised along three ‘Presidents for life.’ as in the wider context of understanding principal themes: the root causes of the Putting the ‘Arab Spring’ in a wider revolutions at large. But the latter uprisings, hurdles in their transitions context, Caroline Freund and Melise would require a more general theory to democracy and drawing lessons Jaud’s quantitative study fi nds that of the of social upheavals, for which the book from other countries. A fourth, minor 90 countries experiencing regime change undoubtedly off ers initial steps and theme – Arab capitalism in crisis – is in the past 50 years, 39 per cent led to invaluable insights. cross-cutting and the two chapters here failure. Th eir study highlights success (Nugent on corruption and Atiyas on factors as being low natural resources, Hassan Hakimian is the Director of the competitive markets) could have been high female literacy and a tradition of London Middle East Institute

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 19 RREVIEWS:EVIEWS: BOOKSBOOKS TThehe HHizbullahizbullah PPhenomenon:henomenon: PPoliticsolitics aandnd CCommunicationommunication

By Lina Khatib, Dina Matar and Atef Alshaer

Hurst, August 2014, £19.99

Reviewed by Seyed Ali Alavi

he development of Hizbullah’s it is an interesting take on the debate. Th e Hizbullah, suggesting that this is another communication strategy is a author’s analysis of Hizbullah’s enablers method with signifi cant mobilisational Tcompelling subject, particularly and challenges casts much-needed light on reach for constituents across Lebanon and given its monumental infl uence on the local and regional developments within and the Arab world. Th e chapter concludes politics of the Levant. Th is book off ers a beyond Lebanon. that Hizbullah’s poetry sheds light on the discerning account of Hizbullah’s socio- In the second chapter, the authors trace language and sentiments that underpin its political strategies and promises to be a staple the rhetorical framework used in Hizbullah’s ideology and its close ideological relationship academic reference. Early on, the authors communication strategy from its emergence with ordinary people. clarify their task of narrating Hizbullah’s in 1982 to 2000, arguing that the movement In chapter fi ve, entitled ‘Hassan Nasrallah, successful strategies since its emergence in successfully transformed itself from an the Central Actor in Hizbullah’s Political the early 1980s. Specifi cally, they detail the exclusivist Islamic movement into a more Communication Strategy’, the author transformation of its image from a local inclusive political party contributing directly examines the signifi cance of Hassan Shi’a movement into a major contributor to the Lebanese political system. Having Nasrallah’s leadership and role in the to Lebanese politics and an infl uential provided a comprehensive chronological movement’s implementation of political actor in the Levant. Th e authors deliberate account, this chapter proceeds to introduce strategies. Th is chapter eff ectively chronicles over the trajectory of Hizbullah’s political four interlinked pillars that buttress the institutionalisation of Nasrallah’s evolution. However, the success of this Hizbullah’s image: the organisation’s alliance persona and suggests that his charismatic organisation cannot be assessed without an with Iran, its image as a resistance group to authority and engaging image were an appreciation of its methods, resources and Israel, its commitment to Palestine and its intended outcome of the movement’s practices since its founding. Unlike other portrayal as the legitimate Shi’i leader. Th e political communication strategy. Th e literature on political Islam, the authors argument is that these pillars have remained book concludes with a short summary of argue that Hizbullah’s mobilisation resulted constant throughout its history and are the present challenges that the movement from the agency of its elites and ideologues pivotal in the construction of Hizbullah’s is facing as a result of the Arab Spring and and their implementation of a political identity. Chapter three leads on to discuss the Syrian uprising. communication strategy engineered to period between 2000 and 2012, highlighting Th e merit of this volume lies in its rigorous broaden its support base and to increase its a new era of challenges for Hizbullah. Th e and engaging probing of Hizbullah’s political infl uence. Th us, the organisation’s exploits chapter posits that the death of Lebanese PM communication strategies. It pays attention should not be seen as knee-jerk reactions to Rafi c Hariri, the Arab Spring and Hizbullah’s to the substance and style of this movement accumulated grievances. stance towards the Syrian uprising put the rather than merely its infrastructure. Having set the scene in a robust group at a crossroad, testing its credibility Succinct and lucid, this is a book for both introduction, in the fi rst chapter Lina Khatib in the Arab world. While the analysis in this the expert and the general audience, for the analyses Hizbullah’s political communication section is intriguing, the author’s elaboration scholar and the policy analyst. strategy within its short and long-term of Hizbullah’s rationale for supporting political targets. She draws a picture that the Syrian regime is limited. Th is section Seyed Ali Alavi is a PhD student at SOAS. elaborates a number of external enablers runs the risk of overlooking any long- His research focuses on Iran’s relations with and barriers that have a profound impact term benefi ts Hizbullah may acquire for Palestine. He has been interviewed by the BBC on the group’s political strategy, and she expanding its infl uence in Syrian politics. Radio Four and RT on recent developments in argues that some elements have a dual role. In the fourth chapter, Atef Alshaer takes Syria and Iraq and his article about Iran and Although this is not a mathematical formula, us on a journey through the poetry of Syria was published by Open-Democracy

20 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 RREVIEWS:EVIEWS: BOOKSBOOKS GGaza:aza: A HistoryHistory

By Jean-Pierre Filiu

Hurst, September 2014, £25.00

Reviewed by Atef Alshaer

aza: A History is an excellent new be inferred from Filiu’s narrative, one by the likes of Ariel Sharon, and book by the French academic stark pattern in Gaza’s history prevails: a periods of relative calm underpinned GJean-Pierre Filiu. Th ough longstanding record of being subject to by economic dependency. Meanwhile, published originally in French in 2012, outside powers intent on exclusive control the nationalist resistance continued to the book reads fl uently in its English of it, culminating in several rounds develop towards the First Palestinian translation by John King. With Gaza at of destruction. Moreover, it was the Intifada of 1987. Th e Intifada, as led by the heart of violent and longstanding resistance of its people that oft en resulted the Palestine Liberation Organisation Palestinian struggles for freedom in Gaza being laid to waste. When Gaza whose core members hailed from Gaza, from Israeli occupation and military fi nally fell to the Ottoman Empire in the depicted the Palestinians as victims and onslaughts, it is refreshing to read such 16th century, the Ottoman conqueror people of resistance to the occupation an insightful and detailed account of Sultan Selim I carried out massacres that violated their dignity. Several factions its history now. Amidst the modern reducing the population to less than 1,000 grew in Gaza, including Fatah, the cycles of carnage, many forget that families. PFLP, Islamic Jihad and Hamas. Th ese Gaza has a long history under several Relying on comprehensive archival, factions, particularly Fatah and Hamas, empires and administrations and as primary and secondary materials, the projected diff erent societal and political part of a Mediterranean world later torn author takes a factual and interpretive orientations that continue to play out into disjointed pieces by colonialism approach to narrate the socio-political in Gaza within the context of Israel’s and nation-statist separatists. As Filiu facets of Gaza as demonstrated devastating siege. shows, Gaza was an indispensable link throughout its history, presenting a vivid Gaza’s complexity yet indispensability between Africa and Asia and important picture of its continuous isolation and to Palestine makes it unique to the for powerful empires, including those of destruction. Palestinian struggle for freedom. As Filiu the Ancient Egyptians, the Persians, the Following the British Mandate, when writes, ‘the Gaza Strip, the womb of the Greeks, the Romans, the Ottomans and Israel was fi nally founded on 14 May fedayin and the cradle of the Intifada, the British before Israel violently occupied 1948, Gaza was fl ooded with more lies at the heart of the nation-building of it in 1967. than 200,000 Palestinian refugees contemporary Palestine.’ As the book explains, Gaza’s rootedness who were added to the 80,000 natives. It remains to be said that the book is in history is enshrined further in the Egypt took over Gaza aft er 1948, and detailed, perhaps overbearingly at times; passing of the great grandfather of in the period that followed Gaza led but it is starkly true that there is no Prophet Mohammad Hashem Ibn al- Palestinian resistance activities against account of Gaza – in French and English Manaf who died there while his trading the nascent colony of Israel to reclaim at least – that is as complete, rigorous and caravan was en route from the Arabian historic Palestine. Israel repeatedly laid compelling as Filiu’s Gaza: A History. Peninsula. From the 7th century, with waste to Gaza while under the Egyptian the population of Gaza embracing Sunni administration, culminating in Israel’s Atef Alshaer is a Lecturer in Arabic Islam and later the Shafi ’i school of law, formal occupation in 1967 and the Language and Culture at the University of ‘Hashem’s Gaza oscillated between the subjugation of Gazans to measures of Westminster, and a member of the Middle authority of various Muslim governments merciless control. East Institute. He has several publications, in the Middle East and Egypt during the Filiu depicts the following years as including his forthcoming book, Poetry 13 centuries that followed.’ Yet as can punctuated with massacres, perpetrated and Politics in the Modern Arab World.

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 21 BBOOKSOOKS ININ BRIEFBRIEF HHalfalf PastPast TTenen iinn tthehe AAfternoon:fternoon: AAnn Englishman’sEnglishman’s JJourneyourney ffromrom AAneizaneiza ttoo MMakkahakkah

By James Budd

Much of this book is a record of the time the author spent between 1965 and 1970 as an English teacher in Aneiza – a provincial town in central Saudi Arabia. In an entertaining series of anecdotes, he describes the daily life and customs of its people, his relations with colleagues and students at the local secondary school, and the events leading up to his ‘removal’ from the town he had come to regard as home, his transfer to Riyadh and fi nal departure from the country. Budd also writes about his transition from agnosticism to Islam, giving readers an account of his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1996 in the company of one of his old students from Aneiza, and describes Aneiza’s 21st-century incarnation.

May 2014, Arabian Publishing Ltd, £20.00 HHeirseirs ttoo FForgottenorgotten KKingdoms:ingdoms: JJourneysourneys iintonto tthehe DDisappearingisappearing RReligionseligions ooff tthehe MMiddleiddle EEastast By Gerard Russell Th e Middle East has long sheltered many distinctive and strange faiths: one regards the Greek prophets as incarnations of God, another reveres Lucifer in the form of a peacock and yet another believes that their followers are reincarnated beings who have existed in various forms for thousands of years. Th ese religions represent the last vestiges of the magnifi cent civilisations in ancient history: Persia, Babylon, Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. Th eir followers have learned how to survive foreign attacks and the perils of assimilation. In Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms, former diplomat Gerard Russell ventures to the regions where these religions still cling to survival. Drawing on his extensive travels and archival research, he provides a record of the their past, present and perilous future.

November 2014, Simon & Schuster UK, £20.00 GGenderingendering CCultureulture iinn GGreaterreater SSyria:yria: IIntellectualsntellectuals andand IIdeologydeology iinn tthehe LLateate OOttomanttoman PPerioderiod

By Fruma Zachs and Sharon Halevi

Th e Nahda was one of the most signifi cant cultural movements in modern Arab history. By focusing on the neglected role of women in the intellectual Islamic renaissance of the late Ottoman Period, Fruma Zachs and Sharon Halevi provide an interdisciplinary exploration of gender and culture in the Arab World. Focusing mainly on ‘Greater Syria’, this book re- examines the cultural by-products of the Nahda – scientifi c debates, journal articles, essays, short stories and novels – and provides a framework for rethinking the dynamics of cultural and social change in today’s Syria and Lebanon. Th e interpretation of the lasting impact of the Nahda is unique, providing necessary perspective to studying the nuanced roles of the construction and development of gender ideologies in the 19th-century Middle East.

November 2014, IB Tauris, £58.00

22 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 BBOOKSOOKS ININ BRIEFBRIEF QQataratar aandnd tthehe AArabrab SSpringpring By Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

Qatar and the Arab Spring off ers a frank examination of Qatar’s startling rise to regional and international prominence, describing how its distinctive policy stance toward the Arab Spring emerged. In only a decade, Qatari policymakers catapulted Qatar from a sleepy backwater to a regional power with truly international reach. In addition to pursuing an aggressive state-branding strategy with its successful bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar forged a reputation for diplomatic mediation that combined intensely personalised engagement with fi nancial backing and favourable media coverage through Al-Jazeera. Th ese factors converged in early 2011 with the outbreak of the Arab Spring revolts in North Africa, Syria and Yemen, which Qatari leaders saw as an opportunity to seal their regional and international infl uence, and this guided their support of the rebellions against the Qaddafi and Assad regimes in Libya and Syria.

November 2014, Hurst, £35.00 SSocialocial MMediaedia aandnd tthehe PPoliticsolitics ooff RReportage:eportage: TThehe ‘‘ArabArab SSpring’pring’ Edited by Saba Bebawi and Diana Bossio Social Media and the Politics of Reportage explores the role of social media, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs, within the fi eld of global journalism with a focus on the recent protests during the ‘Arab Spring’. Th e book deals with the transforming media landscape during crisis reporting as a result of the rise of social media news coverage and usage. Specifi cally, it focuses on the journalistic challenges, issues and opportunities that have arisen as a result of social media increasingly being used as a form of crisis reporting. Th e ‘Arab Spring’ has been represented in the mainstream media as a ‘social media revolution’; the hyperbole of headlines claims a seismic shift away from the traditional news correspondence and towards an era of citizen journalism and social media reporting.

September 2014, Palgrave Macmillan, £60.00 AAccessccess ttoo JJusticeustice iinn IIran:ran: WWomen,omen, PPerceptions,erceptions, aandnd RRealityeality

By Sahar Maranlou

Access to justice incorporates various conceptions of justice and of its users. Th is book evaluates the historical development of the justice sector in Iran and discusses issues including the performance of the justice sector, judicial independence, effi ciency and accessibility, and normative protection, together with an analysis of barriers. It explores the legal empowerment of users, with a specifi c focus on women, and presents the fi ndings of a survey study on the perceptions of Iranian women. Th is study is designed to focus on women’s basic legal knowledge, their familiarity with legal procedure, perceptions of cultural barriers, issues that infl uence their preference for mechanisms of formal or alternative dispute solutions and their level of satisfaction with their chosen courses of action.

November 2014, Cambridge University Press, £65.00

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 23 LISTINGS EEventsvents iinn LLondonondon

HE EVENTS and latest book Hezbollah, Islamist the Persian poet Nizâmî (see event 2014 was appointed the British organisations listed below Politics and International Society listing on Monday 2 February) government’s Special Envoy to Tare not necessarily endorsed in which he uses the example of Yemen, discusses Britain’s role or supported by The Middle East in Lebanon's Hezbollah to refl ect on Wednesday 4 February in supporting Yemen through its London. The accompanying texts the role of international norms current transition process. Lecture and images are based primarily in infl uencing Islamist politics in 1:00 pm | Making and Unmaking followed by a reception in the on information provided by the the Middle East. Admission free. – Double Bill (Film) Ethnographic Brunei Suite at 7:00pm. Admission organisers and do not necessarily Wolfson Th eatre, New Academic Film Series. Final Fitting, OT Prov free. Brunei Gallery Lecture reflect the views of the compilers Building, LSE. T 020 7955 6198 Akhar, Reza Haeri, Niloofar Haeri Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 4330 or publishers. While every possible E [email protected] W www.lse. (2008), 30 mins. Mr Arabpour is E [email protected] W www.soas. effort is made to ascertain the ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ the master tailor and craft sman, ac.uk/lmei/events/ / www.al-bab. accuracy of these listings, readers and the proprietor of the most com/bys/ are advised to seek confirmation 6:00 pm | Archaeology in the famous tailor shop in Qom, Iran. of all events using the contact West Bank: a view on Israeli In his eighties, for the last several 6:00 pm | Why do we need a details provided for each event. and Palestinian documentation decades he has been the offi cial Fourth Expedition to Lachish? Submitting entries and updates: (Lecture) Adi Keinan- tailor to the most important (Lecture) Yossi Garfi nkel, Hebrew please send all updates and Schoonbaert, UCL. Organised religious leaders of the country + University Jerusalem. Organised submissions for entries related by: Anglo Israel Archaeological Unravel, Meghna Gupta (2012), by: Palestine Exploration Fund to future events via e-mail to Society and the Institute of 14 mins. Unravel follows the and the King's College London [email protected] Archaeology, UCL. Admission Western world’s least wanted Department of Th eology and free. Lecture Th eatre G6, Ground clothes as they are recycled them Religious Studies. Admission BM – British Museum, Great Floor, Institute of Archaeology, back into yarn. Admission free. free. Safra Lecture Th eatre, King's Russell Street, London WC1B University College, London Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. E Building, Strand, King's College 3DG WC1H OPY. T 020 8349 5754 W [email protected] W www.soas. London, London WC2R 2LS. T SOAS –SOAS, University of www.aias.org.uk ac.uk/anthropology/events/ 020 7935 5379 E [email protected]. London, Th ornhaugh Street, uk W www.pef.org.uk Russell Square, London WC1H 7:00 pm | Nizâmî: Mirror of the 3:00 pm | Negotiating Home, 0XG Unseen World (Lecture) Michael Redefi ning Belonging (Panel 6:30 pm | Th e Iranian Jewish LSE – London School of Barry, Princeton University. Discussion) Rasha Chatta and community: A short survey Economics and Political Science, Organised by: Centre for Iranian Hanna Ali, SOAS. Organised of their history from the Houghton Street, London WC2 Studies, SOAS. Kamran Djam by: Centre for Cultural, Literary Achaemenid to the Qajar 2AE Annual Lecture at SOAS. Th e fi rst and Postcolonial Studies, (Lecture) Mehri Niknam, MBE, of two lectures (second lecture on SOAS (CCLPS). Ali unpacks Joseph Interfaith Foundation. Tuesday 3 February) by Barry on the construction of ‘home’ and Organised by: Iran Heritage FEBRUARY EVENTS the Persian poet Nizâmî, whose ‘belonging’ to East(ern) African Foundation (IHF). Iran is the "Brides of the Seven Climes" migrants in Britain while, only country in the Middle East composed in AD 1197, may be drawing on contemporary Arab where there has been a continuous Monday 2 February regarded without any doubt as one migrant writing, Chatta’s paper Jewish community since 500 of the crowning glories of world explores the possibilities for re- BCE. Niknam will explore the 5:15 pm | Th e Citadel between literature. Lecture to be preceded considering notions of home and history of the Iranian Jews with Seljuks and Ayyubids (Seminar) by a reception in the Brunei Suite (un)belonging within the unique reference to their culture and Scott Redford, SOAS. Organised at 6:00pm. Admission free. Khalili literary phenomenon of migrant religion. Tickets: £10. Asia House, by: Department of History, SOAS. Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 literature. Admission free. Room 63 New Cavendish Street, London Near & Middle East History 7898 4330 E [email protected] W L67, SOAS. E [email protected] W1G 7LP. T 020 3651 2121 E Seminar. Admission free. Room www.soas.ac.uk/lmei-cis/events/ www.soas.ac.uk/cclps/events/ [email protected] W www. B104, Brunei Gallery, SOAS. E iranheritage.org [email protected] W www.soas. Tuesday 3 February 6:00 pm | Yemen: Th e Fight for ac.uk/history/events/ Stability and Hope (Lecture) 7:00 pm | A Reconstruction of the 7:00 pm | Nizâmî’s Brides of the Th e Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan Great Mosque of Damascus in 6:30 pm | Hezbollah, Islamist Seven Climes (Lecture) Michael MP. Organised by: Th e British- Umayyad Times (Lecture) Alain Politics and International Society Barry, Princeton University. Yemeni Society and the London George, Edinburgh. Organised (Lecture) Filippo Dionigi, LSE Organised by: Centre for Iranian Middle East Institute. Sponsored by: Islamic Art Circle at SOAS. Middle East Centre. Organised by: Studies, SOAS. Kamran Djam by the MBI Al Jaber Foundation. Part of the Islamic Art Circle LSE Middle East Centre. Event to Annual Lecture at SOAS. Th e Th e British-Yemeni Society (BYS) at SOAS Lecture Programme. mark the publication of Dionigi's second of two lectures by Barry on Annual Lecture. Sir Alan, who in Admission free. Khalili Lecture

24 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 LONDON MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE SOAS, University of London

Tuesday Evening Lecture Programme on the Contemporary Middle East Spring 2015

3 February 7:00pm start* Nizâmî: Mirror of the Unseen World Annual Kamran Djam Lecture Michael Barry, Princeton University Organised by the Centre for Iranian Studies

10 February Reading Week

17 February ŽŶƚĞŵƉŽƌĂƌǇƌƚĨƌŽŵƚŚĞDŝĚĚůĞĂƐƚ͗ƌĞŐŝŽŶĂůŝŶƚĞƌĂĐƟŽŶƐǁŝƚŚŐůŽďĂůĂƌƚĚŝƐĐŽƵƌƐĞƐ Hamid Keshmirshekan, LMEI

24 February DĂŶŝĐŚĞĂŶĞƐƚŚĞƟĐƐ͗KďƐĞƌǀĂƟŽŶƐŽŶƚŚĞWŽĞƚƌǇŽĨƚŚĞ/ƌĂŶŝĂŶZĞǀŽůƵƟŽŶ 3rd Leverhulme Lecture Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, University of Maryland and SOAS Lecture organised jointly with the Centre for Cultural, Literary and Postcolonial Studies (CCLPS), SOAS and the Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS

3 March 6:30pm start* dŚĞĂůŝƉŚĂƚĞ͗ďĂĐŬƚŽƚŚĞĨƵƚƵƌĞ Madawi Al-Rasheed, King’s College London Reza Pankhurst, academic and author S Sayyid, University of Leeds

10 March10 5:00pmMarch start* dŚĞŵĞƌŐĞŶĐĞŽĨ/ƐůĂŵŝŶ>ĂƚĞŶƟƋƵŝƚǇůůĂŚĂŶĚ,ŝƐWĞŽƉůĞ Aziz Al-Azmeh, Central European University

17 March Traditional building practices inﬂ uencing the shaping ofTitle Iranian TBC Architectural Language from the 10th century onwards ^ƚĞĨĂŶŝĂWĞƚƌĂůůĂ͕ĨŽƌŵĞƌ/ƌĂŶ,ĞƌŝƚĂŐĞ&ŽƵŶĚĂƟŽŶ;/,&ͿsŝƐŝƟŶŐ&ĞůůŽǁ͕ĞŶƚƌĞĨŽƌ/ƌĂŶŝĂŶ^ƚƵĚŝĞƐ͕^K^ Lecture organised jointly with the Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS

TUESDAY 5:45 PM (unless otherwise stated) KHALILI LECTURE THEATRE, MAIN BUILDING, SOAS

The Lectures are free and open to all. Tea and biscuits are available from 5:15 pm.

&ŽƌĨƵƌƚŚĞƌŝŶĨŽƌŵĂƟŽŶĐŽŶƚĂĐƚ͗ >ŽŶĚŽŶDŝĚĚůĞĂƐƚ/ŶƐƟƚƵƚĞ͕^K^͕hŶŝǀĞƌƐŝƚǇŽĨ>ŽŶĚŽŶ͕D/ů:ĂďĞƌƵŝůĚŝŶŐ͕ϮϭZƵƐƐĞůů^ƋƵĂƌĞ͕>ŽŶĚŽŶtϭϱ d͗ϬϮϬϳϴϵϴϰϯϯϬ͗ůŵĞŝΛƐŽĂƐ͘ĂĐ͘ƵŬt͗ǁǁǁ͘ƐŽĂƐ͘ĂĐ͘ƵŬͬůŵĞŝͬ

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 25 Th eatre, SOAS. T 0771 408 7480 Rights. Conference seeking to of Rawabi Holding Awards Heydemann analyses what E [email protected] W explore the multiple, complex Organised by: Saudi-British regime responses to the rise of www.soas.ac.uk/art/islac/ and inter-related ways that anti- Society. Th e Rawabi Holding mass political movements tell Jewish and anti-Muslim racisms Awards will be presented to us about the capacity of Arab Th ursday 5 February are being constructed in relation the winners by the donor, Mr regimes to adapt in the face of to the question of Palestine/Israel. Abdulaziz al Turki. Th e ceremony new challenges. Admission free - 12:30 pm | Economic Tickets: £20/£15 conc. Khalili will be preceded by a drinks Pre-booking required. Room 9.04, Diversifi cation in the GCC: Past, Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 reception and followed by a Tower 2, LSE. T 020 7955 6198 Present, and Future (Seminar) 7898 4330 E [email protected] W buff et dinner. Tickets: £30 Society E [email protected] W www.lse. Timothy Callen, International www.soas.ac.uk/lmei-cps/events/ members and guests. Institute of ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ Monetary Fund (IMF). Organised Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London by: London Middle East Institute, 6:30 pm | Th e Other Middle SW1. E ionisthompson@yahoo. 6:30 pm | Th e Middle East in SOAS (LMEI). Callen looks at East (Lecture & Photographic co.uk W www.saudibritishsociety. Crisis: how Turkey is aff ected how increased diversifi cation in Presentation) Richard Wilding, org.uk and what role can it play? (Panel the GCC economies will require Gulan. Organised by: Kensington Discussion) Yaşar Yakış, former realigning incentives for fi rms Society, Gulan and the Mansoojat 7:00 pm | Khayamiya - the Foreign Minister of Turkey; and workers and that fi xing these Foundation. Th rough his Tentmakers of Cairo (Lecture) Rosemary Hollis, City University; incentives is the “missing link” in photographs of Saudi Arabia and Joan Fisher, Art Gallery Manager John Peet, Th e Economist. Chaired the GCC countries’ diversifi cation Iraqi Kurdistan, Richard Wilding and textile collector. Organised by Sir David Logan. Organised by: strategies. Admission free. MBI Al shows that the architecture, by: Th e Oriental Rug and Textile British Institute at Ankara (BIAA. Jaber Conference Room, London archaeology and costumes of these Society (ORTS). Doors open at A panel of experts will examine the Middle East Institute, SOAS, ancient cultures reveal more colour 6:00pm. Fisher's talk on Egyptian emergence of the Islamic State, the MBI Al Jaber Building, 21 Russell and diversity than the stereotypical Tent Making, an ancient art form violence in Syria and Iraq, and the Square, London WC1B 5EA. T media stories of sand, sheikhs done since Pharonic time, will look risks to the stability of Kurdistan. 020 7898 4330 E [email protected] and sectarianism. Followed by at the evolution of the art, drawing How can Turkey manage these W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/events/ a reception in the Arab Hall of on antique and contemporary security threats and how can Leighton House. Tickets: £15 pieces from the her collection it play a role in re-establishing Friday 6 February W www.kensingtonsociety.org/ and from museum examples. peace and stability in the Middle events. Leighton House Museum, With images by Sam Bowker. East. Tickets: £10 non-members/ 12:00 pm | Wars and the Fate of 12 Holland Park Road, London Tickets: £7 non-members (£20 free for BIAA members. British Empires: Th e Ottomans and their W14 8LZ. E [email protected] for membership with one year of Academy, Wolfson Auditorium, Rivals before 1800 (Seminar) www.richardwilding.com / www. 11 events). St James Piccadilly 10 Carlton House Terrace, London Gabor Agoston, Georgetown gulan.org.uk Conference Room, 197 Piccadilly, SW1Y 5AH. E [email protected] University. Organised by: London W1J 9LL. T 020 7639 7593 T 020 7969 5204 W www.biaa. SOAS Modern Turkish Studies Tuesday 10 February E [email protected] W ac.uk/events Programme, LMEI. Sponsored by www.orientalrugandtextilesociety. Nurol Bank. Part of the Seminars 8:00 pm | Arabic Music Sessions org.uk / www.orts.org.uk Friday 13 February on Turkey series. Convened @ SOAS (Performance) Organised by Benjamin Fortna, SOAS. by: Ed Emery, SOAS. Monthly Th ursday 12 February 6:00 pm | Th e Arab Uprisings Admission free. Room 116, SOAS. music sessions. Pre-session Four Years On – Revolution, T 020 7898 4431 E [email protected] practice and discussion at 6:30pm Until 14 March | Fireworks Repression and Resistance W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/events/ in L67. Admission free. DLT, (Performance) the fi rst play (Two-Day Conference: Friday SOAS. E [email protected] W by a Palestinian writer to be 13 – Saturday 14 February) Sunday 8 February www.youtube.com/maqamproject performed at the Royal Court Organised by: MENA Solidarity, Th eatre. Palestinian playwright Egypt Solidarity Initiative and 7:00 pm | Th e Narcicyst & Omar Wednesday 11 February Dalia Taha tells the simultaneous BahrainWatch. Four years aft er Off endum (Performance) Th e story of what it is like to grow uprisings swept the Middle East hip-hop duo returns to London. 6:30 pm | Syria and the Future up and to raise children in the millions of people still struggle Joining them will be special guest of the State Order in the Levant middle of the war in Palestine. In for freedom and social justice. Negash Ali. Tickets: £9-£11. (Lecture) Steven Heydemann, a Palestinian town eleven year-old Th is conference addresses the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen, United States Institute of Peace. Lubna and twelve year-old Khalil achievements of the revolutions 2-4 Hoxton Square, London N1 Organised by: LSE Middle East are playing on the empty stairwell and the challenges that now 6NU. T 020 7613 0709 W http:// Centre. Heydemann discusses in their apartment block. As the confront them. Tickets: £10/£5 hoxtonsquarebar.com the future of the state order in siege intensifi es outside, fear for students and the unwaged. SOAS. the Levant in light of Syria’s their safety becomes as crippling W http://egyptsolidarityinitiative. Monday 9 February ongoing confl ict and argues that as the confl ict itself. Tickets: £20 org/conference2015/ the widespread violence now (Mondays £10). Jerwood Th eatre 9:00 am | Anti-Jewish and gripping the region has a logic Upstairs, Royal Court Th eatre, Saturday 14 February Anti-Muslim Racisms and and structure that can shed light Sloane Square, London SW1W the Question of Palestine/ on its underlying dynamics and its 8AS. T 020 7565 5000 W www. 10:00 am | Th e Arab Uprisings Israel (Conference)Organised possible eff ects. Admission free. royalcourttheatre.com Four Years On – Revolution, by: University of East London’s Wolfson Th eatre, New Academic Repression and Resistance (Two- Centre for research on Migration, Building, LSE. T 020 7955 6198 1:00 pm | Recalibrating Day Conference: Friday 13 – Refugees and Belonging, SOAS’s E [email protected] W www.lse. Authoritarianism aft er the Saturday 14 February) See event Centre for Palestine Studies ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ Arab Spring (Lecture) Steven listing for Friday 13 February. (London Middle East Institute), Heydemann, United States the Runnymede Trust and the LSE 6:30 pm | Saudi-British Society's Institute of Peace. Organised 8:00 pm | Th e Voice of the Arab Centre for the Study of Human Annual Dinner and Presentation by: LSE Middle East Centre. Spring (Concert) Tunisian singer,

26 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 Exploration Fund in association Contemporary: Iranian Art from with the BM's Department of the Tehran to New York (Lecture) Middle East. Admission free - Pre- Talinn Grigor, Brandeis University, booking required T 020 7323 8181 Greater Boston. Organised by: W www.britishmuseum.org BP Th e Courtauld Institute of Art Lecture Th eatre, BM. T 020 7935 and supported by Friends of Th e 5379 E [email protected] W Courtauld and the Iran Heritage www.pef.org.uk Foundation (IHF). Spring 2015 Friends Lecture Series. Admission 5:45 pm | Does Britain Have free. Kenneth Clark Lecture a Strategy in its Middle East Th eatre, Th e Courtauld Institute Relations? (Lecture) Chris of Art, Somerset House, Strand, Doyle, Director, Council for London WC2R 0RN. T 020 7848 Arab British Understanding 2163 E sussan.babaie@courtauld. (CAABU). Organised by: MBI ac.uk W www.courtauld.ac.uk Al Jaber Foundation. Part of the Dor Guez, The Sick Man of Europe: The Painter, 2015. Detail of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation Lecture 5:45 pm | Manichean Aesthetics: installation. Courtesy the artist (See Exhibitions p. 30) Series. Once again, Britain is Observations on the Poetry of militarily involved in Iraq and the Iranian Revolution (Lecture) songwriter and guitarist Emel Keshmirshekan, LMEI. Organised continues to face a threat from Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, SOAS Mathlouthi live in London. Mixing by: London Middle East Institute, Islamist extremism. But does it and University of Maryland. elements of rock, folk and trip- SOAS (LMEI). Part of the have a clear strategy to handle Organised by: Centre for Cultural, hop, her sound fuses electronic LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture this crisis? Admission free - Pre- Literary and Postcolonial Studies, synthesizers with acoustic guitar Programme on the Contemporary booking required. MBI Al Jaber SOAS (CCLPS) and the London and violins. Concert followed with Middle East. Event to mark the Conference Room, London Middle East Institute, SOAS North African and Arabic music publication of Contemporary Art Middle East Institute, SOAS (LMEI). Professor Karimi- by DJ U-Cef. Tickets: £18/£14 from the Middle East: Regional (LMEI), University of London, Hakkak's 3rd Leverhulme Lecture. advance. Richmix, 35-47 Bethnal Interactions with Global Art MBI Al Jaber Building, 21 Russell Admission free. Khalili Lecture Green Road, London E1 6LA. Discourses (I.B. Tauris, 2015) with Square, London WC1B 5EA. E Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 4330 T 020 7613 7498 E boxoffi ce@ the editor Hamid Keshmirshekan. [email protected] W E [email protected] W www.soas. richmix.org.uk W www.richmix. Drawing on their unique www.mbifoundation.com ac.uk/cclps/events/ org.uk / www.u-cef.com expertise, the book's contributors off er new perspectives on the most Monday 23 February 6:30 pm | Middle East Border Monday 16 February recent cultural, intellectual and Geopolitics: established and socio-political developments of 5:15 pm | Title TBC (Seminar) emerging themes (Lecture) 5:15 pm | Mongol News: Qutb contemporary art from the Middle Elizabeth Shlala, LSE. Organised Richard Schofi eld, King's College al-Din Shirazi's Chronicle of East. Admission free. Khalili by: Department of History, SOAS. London. Organised by: LSE the Early Ilkhanate (Seminar) Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 Near & Middle East History Middle East Centre. In trying to George Lane, SOAS. Organised 7898 4330/4490 E [email protected] Seminar. Admission free. Room make sense of the spontaneous by: Department of History, SOAS. W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/events/ B104, Brunei Gallery, SOAS. E appearance of new borderland Near & Middle East History [email protected] W www.soas. spatialities in Syria and Iraq, as Seminar. Admission free. Room 6:30 pm | Iraq Aft er America: ac.uk/history/events/ well as recent instances of formal B104, Brunei Gallery, SOAS. E strongmen, sectarians, resistance state boundary-making such as [email protected] W www.soas. (Lecture) Colonel Joel Rayburn, 7:00 pm | Language, Landscape the Abyei arbitration, Schofi eld ac.uk/history/events/ National Defense University. and Identity in Palestine asks what constitutes a borderland Organised by: LSE Middle East (Discussion) Organised by: LSE in the Middle East. Admission 7:00 pm | Th e BBC Persian Centre. Rayburn presents his book Middle East Centre. LSE Literary free. New Th eatre, East Building, Service (Lecture) Annabelle Iraq Aft er America: Strongmen, Festival conversation. Raja LSE. T 020 7955 6198 E s.sfeir@ Sreberny, Centre for Media Sectarians, Resistance, in which he Shehadeh, a Palestinian lawyer lse.ac.uk W www.lse.ac.uk/ Studies, SOAS. Organised by: Th e examines the government and the and writer who lives in Ramallah, middleEastCentre/ Iran Society. Professor Sreberny sectarian and secular factions that the West Bank, in conversation discusses the development of the have emerged in Iraq since the US with Craig Calhoun, Director of Wednesday 25 February BBC Persian Service from WW2 invasion of 2003, presenting the LSE, will discuss his new book to 2009. Admission free for Society interrelations among the various Language of War, Language of 7:00 pm | Raja Shehadeh: members and one guest. Pall Mall elements in the Iraqi political Peace: Palestine, Israel and the Language of War, Language of Room, Th e Army & Navy Club, 36- scene. Admission free. Wolfson search for justice which explores Peace (Book Launch) Organised 39 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JN Th eatre, New Academic Building, the politics of language and the by: Th e Mosaic Rooms and Profi le (Dress code calls for gentlemen to LSE. T 020 7955 6198 E s.sfeir@ language of politics in the Israeli- Books. Event to mark the launch of wear jacket and tie). T 020 7235 lse.ac.uk W www.lse.ac.uk/ Palestinian confl ict. Admission Raja Shehadeh’s new publication 5122 E [email protected] W middleEastCentre/ free - Pre-booking required. Language of War, Language of www.iransociety.org Sheikh Zayed Th eatre, New Peace in which the author explores Th ursday 19 February Academic Building, LSE. T 020 the politics of language and the Tuesday 17 February 7955 6043 E [email protected] W language of politics in the Israeli 4:00 pm | From Elephantine to www.lse.ac.uk Palestine confl ict. Admission 5:45 pm | Contemporary Art Idumea: Contract and Commerce free - Pre-booking required. Th e from the Middle East: Regional in the Persian Empire (Lecture) Tuesday 24 February Mosaic Rooms, A.M. Qattan Interactions with Global Art Bezalel Porten, Hebrew University Foundation, 226 Cromwell Road, Discourses (Book Launch) Hamid Jerusalem. Organised by: Palestine 5:30 pm | Globalizing the London SW5 0SW. T 020 7370

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 27 9990 E [email protected] W and Folk music (Concert) Doors Panel Series: Muslim-Jewish cold war and the future of www.mosaicrooms.org open at 7:00pm. An evening of Relations. Chair and introduction authoritarianism in the Middle instrumental and vocal music by Yaron Peleg, University of East (Seminar) Moulay Hicham Th ursday 26 February from the four parts of Kurdistan Cambridge. Admission free. Alaoui, St Anthony’s College, in Sorani, Kurmanj and Kalhor Rooms 8-9, Faculty of Asian and University of Oxford. Part of the 6:00 pm | Jonathan Watkins dialects with santur virtuoso, Middle Eastern Studies (FAMES), seminar series Turbulent World: on Welcome to Iraq (Lecture) Peyman Heydarian on santur, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 Maghrib, Mashriq and Gulf in Jonathan Watkins, Ikon Gallery, vocalists Suna and Avan and 9DA. E [email protected]. the New Era of Uncertainty. Birmingham. Organised by: Th e musicians of the Kurdish band ac.uk W www.woolf.cam.ac.uk/ Organised by: Centre of Islamic British Institute for the Study of at SOAS. Tickets: £12/£10 events Studies, Cambridge. Admission Iraq (BISI). Annual Mallowan conc. St Ethelburga's Centre for free. Outer Parlour, Pembroke Lecture. An illustrated talk by Reconciliation and Peace, 78 Th ursday 12 February College, Cambridge. E cis@cis. Jonathan Watkins about his Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AG London. cam.ac.uk W www.cis.cam.ac.uk experiences as curator of the E [email protected] W 5:15 pm | El-Sisi's Egypt: From Iraqi Pavilion for the 2013 Venice www.thesantur.com counter-revolution to restoration Biennale and his selection of (Seminar) Anne Alexander, MARCH EVENTS artists whose work exemplifi es Centre for Research in the Arts, extraordinary inventiveness in EVENTS OUTSIDE Social Sciences and Humanities the face of the challenges that can LONDON (CRASSH). Part of the seminar Sunday 1 March characterise everyday life in Iraq. series Turbulent World: Maghrib, Admission free - Pre-booking Tuesday 10 February Mashriq and Gulf in the New Until 14 March | Fireworks required. Th e British Academy, 10 Era of Uncertainty. Organised (Performance) See listing for Carlton House Terrace, London, 5:00 pm | Film and Art in Israel- by: Centre of Islamic Studies, Th ursday 12 February. SW1Y 5AH. T 020 7969 5274 E Palestine (Panel Discussion) Cambridge. Admission free. [email protected] W www.bisi. Yael Friedman, University of Th omas Gray Room, Pembroke Monday 2 March ac.uk Southampton; Stefanie Van de College, Cambridge. E cis@cis. Peer, University of Stirling; Akkas cam.ac.uk W www.cis.cam.ac.uk 5:15 pm | Aşıkpaşazade, the Saturday 28 February Ali, University of Exeter. Organised Fift eenth-century Ottoman by: Faculty of Asian and Middle Th ursday 26 February Writer, from a Modern 7:30 pm | Th e Voice of Daf: A Eastern Studies, University of Perspective (Seminar) Lale Concert of Kurdish Classical Cambridge & the Woolf Institute. 5:15 pm | Th e new Arab Özdemir, Marmara University. 200 pages 230 x 150mm 9789774166693 Paperback £9.99 One woman’s journey as a hesitant Bestselling revolutionary through the eighteen days of the Egyptian uprising in 2011 I.B.Tauris books on revolution

‘Prince’s prose is experientially unsettling and yet irrationally jovial, much like the iconic eighteen days she so vividly help us to relive.’ Adele Iskandar, Georgetown University 224 pages 216 x 134mm 9781780765402 Paperback £12.99 Bringing together the best 192 pages 200 x 125mm 9789774166426 Paperback £9.99 writing from the Arab revolutions ‘If you want to understand the The prescient Egyptian extraordinary happenings in the novel that described the Middle East through the eyes of January 2011 Revolution those who have lived through before it happened them you must read this book. These stories of horror and ‘engaging, provocative’ bravery read like testimonies to Lucy Popescu, Huffington Post history as it was made.’ Saira Shah, producer and writer of Death in Gaza www.ibtauris.com

28 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 Organised by: Department of soas.ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/ 1880-1927 (Seminar) Michael Timurid Manuscript of the History, SOAS. Near & Middle islamicstudies/events/ Ferguson, McGill University/ ‘Interim Period’ (Lecture) East History Seminar. Admission SOAS. Organised by: Department Eleanor Sims, Independent free. Room B104, Brunei Gallery, 3:00 pm | Framing Dissent: of History, SOAS. Near & Middle Scholar. Organised by: Islamic Art SOAS. E [email protected] W www. Music, Political Discourse, and East History Seminar. Admission Circle at SOAS. Th e Fourth Bahari soas.ac.uk/history/events/ Narratives of Resistance in the free. Room B104, Brunei Gallery, Foundation Lecture in Iranian Art Contemporary Middle East and SOAS. E [email protected] W www. and Culture. Part of the Islamic 6:30 pm | Th e Unexpected North Africa (Panel Discussion) soas.ac.uk/history/events/ Art Circle at SOAS Lecture State: British Politics and the Cristina Almeida, Natalie Abou Programme. Admission free. Creation of Israel (Lecture) Shakra, Nate Mannone, SOAS. Tuesday 10 March Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T Carly Beckerman-Boys, Durham Organised by: Centre for Cultural, 0771 408 7480 E rosalindhaddon@ University. Organised by: LSE Literary and Postcolonial Studies, 5:00 pm | Th e Emergence of Islam gmail.com W www.soas.ac.uk/art/ Middle East Centre. Beckerman- SOAS (CCLPS). Panel exploring in Late Antiquity: Allah and His islac/ Boys challenges the traditional the music of resistance which will People (Lecture) Aziz Al-Azmeh, historiography of the Palestine attempt to untangle the processes Central European University. 8:00 pm | Arabic Music Sessions Mandate, revealing how intrigues and the unfortunate results of the Organised by: London Middle @ SOAS (Performance) Organised and political manoeuvring in renewed academic love aff air with East Institute, SOAS (LMEI). Part by: Ed Emery, SOAS. Monthly Westminster inadvertently forged resistant culture. Admission free. of the LMEI's Tuesday Evening music sessions. Pre-session Britain's formative relationship Room L67, SOAS. E kl19@soas. Lecture Programme on the practice and discussion at 6:30pm with Zionism. Admission free. ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/cclps/ Contemporary Middle East. Al- in G51a. Admission free. DLT, Room 2.04, New Academic events/ Azmeh discusses the subject of SOAS. E [email protected] W Building, LSE. T 020 7955 6198 his book Th e Emergence of Islam www.youtube.com/maqamproject E [email protected] W www.lse. 6:30 pm | Inaugural Lecture of in Late Antiquity: Allah and His ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ Professor Scott Redford: Ways People (Cambridge University Th ursday 12 March of Writing in Medieval Islam Press, 2014) in which he presents Tuesday 3 March (Inaugural Lecture) Scott Redford, a comprehensive and innovative 4:00 pm | Refl ections on the SOAS. Organised by: SOAS. reconstruction of the rise of Islam Changing Interpretations of 6:30 pm | Th e Caliphate: back Redford will address the many as a religion and imperial polity. Tell El-Hesi and its Environs: to the future (Panel Discussion) functions that the Arabic alphabet Admission free. Khalili Lecture 1838-2015 (Lecture) Jeff rey Madawi Al-Rasheed, King’s assumed in the medieval period. Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 Blakely, University of Wisconsin. College London; Reza Pankhurst, Admission free - Pre-booking 4330/4490 E [email protected] W Organised by: Anglo Israel academic and author; S Sayyid, required. Brunei Gallery Lecture www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/events/ Archaeological Society and the University of Leeds. Organised Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 7898 4013 Palestine Exploration Fund. by: London Middle East Institute, E [email protected] W www.soas. 5:30 pm | Early Persian Painting Admission free - Pre-booking SOAS (LMEI). Part of the ac.uk/about/events/inaugurals/ (Lecture) Yves Porter, Aix required T 020 7323 8181 W www. LMEI's Tuesday Evening Lecture Marseille Université. Organised britishmuseum.org Stevenson Programme on the Contemporary 6:30 pm | Master Builders in by: Th e Courtauld Institute of Art Lecture Th eatre, Clore Education Middle East. Admission free. Qajar Tehran: Th e Mirza Akbar and supported by Friends of Th e Centre, BM. T 020 8349 5754 W Khalili Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T Drawings (Lecture) Moya Carey, Courtauld and the Iran Heritage www.aias.org.uk 020 7898 4330/4490 E vp6@soas. IHF Curator, Iran Collections, Foundation (IHF). Spring 2015 ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/ Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A). Friends Lecture Series. Admission Friday 13 March events/ Organised by: Iran Heritage free. Kenneth Clark Lecture Foundation (IHF) in conjunction Th eatre, Th e Courtauld Institute 7:00 pm | A Musical Celebration 7:00 pm | In the Picture with with BIPS and the V&A. of Art, Somerset House, Strand, of Nowruz with Iranian Classical Lynsey Addario: It's What I Do Admission free. V&A, Cromwell London WC2R 0RN. T 020 7848 and Folk Music (Concert) (Talk) Organised by: Frontline Road, London SW7 2RL. T 020 2163 E sussan.babaie@courtauld. Organised by: Peyman Heydarian Club. From Afghanistan to Iraq, 7493 4766 E info@iranheritage. ac.uk W www.courtauld.ac.uk of the Voice of Santur and the Darfur to Libya, Lynsey Addario org W www.iranheritage.org/ SOAS Iranian Music Society. has spent the past decade and a Wednesday 11 March Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets: half capturing life on the frontline. Saturday 7 March £25/£15 conc./£10 students. DLT, In her new book It's What I Do 6:30 pm | Inaugural Lecture of SOAS. E events.santur@yahoo. she details the journey. Tickets: 9:00 am | Rediscover Hadhramaut Professor Laleh Khalili: Sinews com W www.thesantur.com £12.50/£10 conc. Frontline Club, (Conference) Organised by: of War and Trade (Inaugural 13 Norfolk Place, London W2 Hadhramaut Research Centre Lecture) Laleh Khalili, SOAS. Saturday 14 March 1QJ. T 020 7479 8940 E events@ in association with the London Organised by: SOAS. Khalili will frontlineclub.com W www. Middle Institute, SOAS (LMEI) be refl ecting on the foundational TBC | Norouz Gala 2015 frontlineclub.com with the support of MENARC and role of maritime transportation Organised by: Iran Heritage the British-Yemeni Society (BYS). and logistics in the transformation Foundation (IHF). IHF’s annual Wednesday 4 March Tickets: TBC. DLT, SOAS. T 020 of the Middle East into a global Norouz gala dinner, this year 7898 4330 E [email protected] W node of war and trade. Admission featuring entertainment by Arash. 1:00 pm | Al-Risala al-Mufi da: www.hadhramautresearchcentre. free - Pre-booking required. Tickets: £150-£250. Grosvenor A 6th/12th Century Isma`ili com/ Brunei Gallery Lecture Th eatre, House Hotel, London. T 020 3651 Commentary on Avicenna's SOAS. T 020 7898 4013 E events@ 2123 E [email protected] Poem on the Soul (Seminar) Monday 9 March soas.ac.uk W www.soas.ac.uk/ W www.iranheritage.org Toby Mayer, Institute of Ismaili about/events/inaugurals/ Studies. Organised by: Centre of 5:15 pm | Enslaved and Monday 16 March Islamic Studies, SOAS. Admission Emancipated Africans in 7:00 pm | Sultan-Abu Sa`id’s free. Room B111, SOAS. E nb26@ Ottoman Izmir: Th e Calf Festival, Nahj al-Faradis: an Illustrated 5:00 pm | Secular Domesticities,

February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 29 Shiite Modernities: Refl ections Education Adviser to the MBI Al Arabia (BFSA) and the MBI al Collection of Persia' of over 250 on Iranians’ Ordinary Lives in Jaber Foundation. Organised by: Jaber Foundation in association maps that was gift ed to SOAS in Extraordinary Times (Seminar) MBI Al Jaber Foundation. Part with the Petrie Museum Friends. 2013. Th e collection includes Pamela Karimi, Iran Heritage of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation Tickets: £35 BFSA members; £40 important printed general maps Foundation (IHF) Visiting Fellow, Lecture Series. Admission free guests; £15 students - Pre-booking of Persia and more specialist items Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS. - Pre-booking required. MBI Al required E info@mbifoundation. from the early editions of Ptolemy, Organised by: Centre for Iranian Jaber Conference Room, London com Institute of Archaeology, at the end of the 15th century, up Studies, SOAS. Admission free. Middle East Institute, SOAS UCL, Gordon Square, London until the end of the Qajar dynasty T102, SOAS, 22 Russell Square, (LMEI), University of London, WC1. W www.thebfsa.org / www. in 1925. Admission free. Brunei London WC1B 5EA. T 020 7898 MBI Al Jaber Building, 21 Russell mbifoundation.com Gallery, SOAS. T 020 7898 4046 E 4330/4490 E [email protected] W Square, London WC1B 5EA. E [email protected] W www.soas. www.soas.ac.uk/lmei-cis/events/ [email protected] W Monday 30 March ac.uk/gallery/maps-of-persia/ www.mbifoundation.com Tuesday 17 March TBC | International Statebuilding Until 27 March | Songs of the Friday 20 March and Gender in the Middle East Deserts Exhibition by the artist 5:45 pm | Traditional building (Conference) Organised by: LSE Elaine M Goodwin inspired practices infl uencing the 11:30 am | ORTS Members Middle East Centre. Keynotes by by her overland desert travels shaping of Iranian Architectural Visit to the British Museum Brendan O’Leary, Pennsylvania between 1977– 2013 comprising Language from the 10th century Textile Centre at Blythe House University and Nadje Al-Ali, SOAS. 50 small works – ten on each onwards (Lecture) Stefania Organised by: Th e Oriental Rug Conference which aims to look of 5 deserts: the Great Sand Sea Petralla, former Iran Heritage and Textile Society (ORTS). A at the impact of the relationship Desert of Libya, the Sahara in Foundation (IHF) Visiting Fellow, visit to see selections from the between international, national Morocco, the Dasht-e Lut desert Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS. British Museum’s Middle Eastern and local actors on the level of of Iran, the Baluchi Desert of Organised by: London Middle and Central Asian Collections incorporation of gender in the Pakistan, and the Sinai in Egypt. East Institute, SOAS (LMEI) and led by Helen Wolfe, Textile processes of statebuilding in the Admission free. Th e Wolfson the Centre for Iranian Studies, Collections Manager and Fahmida Middle East. Tickets: TBC. LSE. Gallery, SOAS Library, SOAS. SOAS. Part of the LMEI's Tuesday Suleman, Phyllis Bishop Curator E [email protected] / r.sleiman- E [email protected] / Evening Lecture Programme on for the Modern Middle East. [email protected] W www.lse. [email protected] W the Contemporary Middle East. Tickets: £20 for membership with ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ www.soas.ac.uk/wolfsongallery/ / Lecture by Petralla investigating one year of 11 events). Blythe www.elainemgoodwin.co.uk the notion that vernacular House, 23 Blythe Road, London architectures are conditioned W14 0QX. T 020 7639 7593 E EVENTS OUTSIDE Tuesday 3 February by the materials employed for [email protected] W LONDON construction with reference to www.orientalrugandtextilesociety. Until 12 April | Dor Guez: Th e buildings realised from the 10th org.uk / www.orts.org.uk Sick Man of Europe Entitled century onwards until the fi rst Wednesday 18 March ‘Th e Painter’ this new installation Qajar era. Admission free. Khalili 12:00 pm | Title TBC (Seminar) is the fi rst of fi ve from a new Lecture Th eatre, SOAS. T 020 Sinan Kuneralp, ISIS Press, 6:00 pm | Th e Art of Collecting body of work, Th e Sick Man of 7898 4330/4490 E [email protected] Istanbul. Organised by: SOAS (Lecture) David Khalili, scholar, Europe, by Dor Guez, an artist of W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/events/ Modern Turkish Studies collector and philanthropist. Christian Palestinian and Jewish Programme, LMEI. Sponsored by Organised by: Th e British Tunisian descent, living in Jaff a, Wednesday 18 March Nurol Bank. Part of the Seminars Foundation for the Study of Arabia and considered a leading and on Turkey series. Convened (BFSA) and the MBI al Jaber critical voice from the Middle 6:30 pm | Th e Origins of by Benjamin Fortna, SOAS. Foundation. Since 1970 Professor East. Guez's project refl ects on Kuwait's National Assembly Admission free. Room 116, SOAS. Khalili has assembled eight of the military history and current in Comparative Perspective T 020 7898 4431 E [email protected] the world’s fi nest art collections political climate of the Middle (Lecture) Michael Herb, Georgia W www.soas.ac.uk/lmei/events/ with items from the collections East through the creative practices State University. Organised exhibited in museums worldwide of individual soldiers from the by: LSE Kuwait Programme. 1:15 pm | Along the Watchtower: including the BM and the V&A. region. Tickets: Day Membership Despite recent setbacks, Kuwait's Making a Chateau amongst the Admission free - Pre-booking £1 (except Tuesdays). Institute of parliament remains the strongest Vineyards of Kefraya, Lebanon required E info@mbifoundation. Contemporary Arts (ICA), Th e amongst the GCC states. Michael (Seminar) Elizabeth Saleh, com Corpus Christi College, Mall, London, SW1Y 5AH. T 020 Herb delves into Gulf history to Goldsmiths, University of London. Oxford. W www.thebfsa.org / 7930 3647 W www.ica.org.uk explain why Kuwait's political Organised by: SOAS Food Studies www.mbifoundation.com system diff ers from those of its Centre. SOAS Food Forum. Th ursday 19 March neighbours. Admission free. Admission open to members of Wolfson Th eatre, New Academic the SOAS Food Studies Centre EXHIBITIONS Th roughout March | Iranian Building, LSE. T 020 7955 6639 only, to become a member see Urban Art Exhibition of top E [email protected] W www.lse. contact details. Room 4426, SOAS. Iranian graffi ti artists from around ac.uk/middleEastCentre/ E [email protected] Sunday 1 February the world with free documentary W www.soas.ac.uk/foodstudies/ fi lm matinees, rap, graffi ti Th ursday 19 March forum/ Until 21 March | Maps of Persia workshops and academic panel 1477–1925: A graphical journey discussions with luminaries such 5:45pm | Th e Promotion of Euro Saturday 21 March through the history of Iran as Ala Ebtekar. Tickets: TBC. Arab Dialogue through Public- Exhibition featuring a selection of Graffi k Gallery, 284 Portobello Private Partnership: Challenges 9:45 am | Study Day on Seafaring Maps – urban plans, topographic Road London W10 5TE. T 020 and Opportunities (Lecture) Organised by: Th e British maps, and sea charts – taken 8354 3592 E art@graffi kgallery. Mir Asghar Husain, European Foundation for the Study of from the 'Dr Cyrus Ala'i's Map co.uk W http://graffi kgallery.com

30 The Middle East in London February – March 2015 Middle East Summer School 2422 JuneJune-23 – 26 July July 2015 2013

An intensive five-week programme which includes two courses: an Arabic Language Course (introductory or intermediate) and another on ‘Government and Politics of the Middle East.' or ''Culture and Society in the Middle East '.

BeginnersArabic 100 Arabic (Level 1) Government andand PoliticsPolitics of of the Middle East This is an introductory course in Modern Standard Arabic. It teaches students the Arabic script and This coursecourse provides serves as an an introduction introduction to theto the politics politics of the provides basic grounding in Arabic grammar and ofMiddle North East Africa and (TheNorth Maghreb), Africa (MENA) the Arab region. East It gives(The on a syntax. On completing the course, students should Mashriq)country by including country basis,the Gulf, an overview the Arabian of the Peninsula, major political be able to read, write, listen to and understand simple Israel,issues andTurkey developments and Iran. It ingives, the region on a country since the by Arabic sentences and passages. This course is for countryend of the basis, First anWorld overview War and of addressesthe major keypolitical themes complete beginners and does not require any prior issuesin the studyand developments of contemporary in theMiddle region East since politics, the knowledge or study of Arabic. endincluding: of the the First role World of the War military, and addresses social and key economic themes indevelopment, the study of political contemporary Islam, and Middle the recent East uprisingspolitics, Arabic 200 including:(the ‘Arab Spring’). the role of the military, social and economic Beginners Arabic (Level 2) development, political Islam, and the recent uprisings (the ‘Arab Spring’). This coursecourse is focuses a continuation on reading, of Beginners writing Arabicand grammar Level 1. Itand completes provides the training coverage in listening. of the grammar The course and syntax will also of Culture and Society in the Middle East Its main aim is to develop the students’ understanding introduce modern media Arabic to prepare students to Modern Standard Arabic and trains students in reading, Thisof the course major examines trends in the Middle major Easterncultural politicspatterns and and read newspapers, magazines and internet news sources comprehending and writing with the help of a dictionary institutionstheir skills ofof politicalthe MENA analysis region through. It is taught critical through reading, a study published in the Arab world today. On completing the more complex Arabic sentences and passages. oflectures, some lively presentations topics such and as religious informed and discussion. ethnic diversity, course, students should be able to read and understand impact of the West, stereotyping, the role of tradition, texts of an intermediate level, compose short texts in education (traditional and modern), family structure and Arabic on a variety of topics and be able to follow oral To qualify for entry into this course, students should value, gender politics, media, life in city, town and village, communication in Arabic. Students will also be trained have already completed at least one introductory labour and labour migration, the Palestinian refugee in the basic skills necessary to read and understand course in Arabic. problem and Arab exile communities, culinary cultures, Arabic news media with the aid of a dictionary. music and media, etc. This is an intermediate course. To qualify for entry into this course, students should have already completed at least one introductory course in Arabic.

FEES Session (5 weeks) Programme fee* Accommodation fee** 2224 June–26June-23 July July 2015 2013 (two (two courses)courses) £2,500 from £300/week

* An Early early bird bird discounts discount of 10%10% applyapplies to to course course fees fees before before 1 March15 April 2013. 2015. ** Accommodation fees must be paid by 1 March 2013 to secure accommodation. ** Rooms Please cancheck be ourbooked website at the from Intercollegiate mid-October Halls 2012 which for conﬁare located rmed prices. in the heart of Bloomsbury: www.halls.london.ac.uk.

For more information, please contact Louise Hosking on [email protected]. Or check our website www.soas.ac.uk/lmei February – March 2015 The Middle East in London 31 A graphical journey through the history of Iran 23 January – 21 March 2015 Presented by the Centre for Iranian Studies at the London Middle East Institute Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London Thornaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG t. 020 7898 4046 (Recorded Info) e. [email protected] w. soas.ac.uk/gallery Admission Free, Open Tuesday – Saturday 10.30 – 17.00 Late night opening Thursday until 20.00 Closed Sunday, Monday & Bank Holidays

32 The Middle East in London February – March 2015