POMEPS Middle East Political Science Podcast Marc Lynch
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- Education
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Discussing news and innovations in the Middle East.
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Redefining Ceasefires (S. 13, Ep. 20)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Marika Sosnowski of the University of Melbourne Law School joins Marc Lynch to discuss her new book, Redefining Ceasefires: Wartime Order and Statebuilding in Syria. This book explores how ceasefires are not only military tactics but are also tools of wartime order and state-building. While ceasefires have been used in Syria to halt violence and facilitate peace agreements since 2012, Sosnowski demonstrates the diverse consequences of ceasefires and provides a fuller, more nuanced portrait of their role in conflict resolution. (Starts at 0:10).
Music for this season’s podcast was created by Malika Zarra. You can find more of her work on Instagram and Linktree. -
Smugglers and States (S. 13, Ep. 19)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Max Gallien of Institute of Development Studies joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Smugglers and States: Negotiating the Maghreb at Its Margins. This book examines the rules and agreements that govern smuggling in North Africa, tracing the involvement of states in these practices and their consequences for borderland communities. Gallien demonstrates that, contrary to common assumptions about the effects of informal economies, smuggling can promote both state and social stability.
Music for this season’s podcast was created by Malika Zarra. You can find more of her work on Instagram and Linktree. -
The Gulf Monarchies After the Arab Spring (S.13, Ep. 18)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Cinzia Bianco of the University of Exeter joins Marc Lynch to discuss her new book, The Gulf Monarchies After the Arab Spring: Threats and Security. This book applies an original theoretical framework to unpack the threat perceptions and strategic calculus driving the behavior of new impactful regional players in the Middle East and North Africa. Bianco looks at how the small monarchies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) spent the decade between 2011 and 2022 trying to re-shape regional equilibria as protagonists to provide reading keys to the past, present, and future of policy-making in the Gulf monarchies, middle powers destined to play an oversized role in the new multipolar world. (Starts at 0:10).
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Soldiers of Democracy? (S. 13, Ep. 17)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Sharan Grewal of the College of William and Mary and the Middle East Initiative at Harvard University joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book Soldiers of Democracy? Military Legacies and the Arab Spring. The book argues that a military's behavior under democracy is shaped by how it had been treated under autocracy. This scholarly volume illustrates this theory through detailed case studies of Egypt and Tunisia and drawing on over 140 interviews with civilian and military leaders, and three surveys of military personnel.
Music for this season’s podcast was created by Malika Zarra. You can find more of her work on Instagram and Linktree. -
Egypt Under El-Sisi (S. 13, Ep. 16)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Maged Mandour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Egypt under El-Sisi: A Nation on the Edge. His book follows President Sisi's regime in the aftermath of the coup that brought him to power, as a chronology of the devastating political, economic, and social consequences of direct military rule. Mandour explains exactly how Sisi operates and what makes his regime so different, and so dangerous, compared to those that came before. It shows, for the first time, how Egypt has been pushed to the brink of the abyss and why this will change the country for decades to come.
Music for this season’s podcast was created by Malika Zarra. You can find more of her work on Instagram and Linktree. -
Moroccan Other-Archives (S. 13, Ep. 15)
On this week's episode of the podcast, Brahim El Guabli of Williams College joins Marc Lynch to discuss his new book, Moroccan Other-Archives: History and Citizenship After State Violence. The book shows how Moroccan cultural production has become an other-archive: a set of textual, sonic, embodied, and visual sites that recover real or reimagined voices of these formerly suppressed and silenced constituencies of Moroccan society. The book draws on cultural production concerning the “years of lead”—a period of authoritarianism and political violence between Morocco’s independence in 1956 and the death of King Hassan II in 1999—to examine the transformative roles memory and trauma play in reconstructing stories of three historically marginalized groups in Moroccan history: Berbers/Imazighen, Jews, and political prisoners.
Customer Reviews
Keeping up with MENA scholarship made easy
I took IR in the Middle East from Dr. Lynch as a master’s student. When analyzing events in the region, his class is the one I think back to the most. This podcast is fantastic because I keep receiving his insights into the region through the curated scholarship presented.
Excellent source
For those looking beyond headlines about news in the Middle East, this podcast is a must. These conversations provide excellent analysis and astute context to the challenges and opportunities facing the region, and those who study it, today.