ABOUT THE ISSUE

The Iraq War 20 Years Later

In this issue, we delve into work being done by the CCAS community to better understand the lasting impacts of the American war in Iraq. CCAS professors Rochelle Davis and Joseph Sassoon discuss—respectively—the U.S. military’s conceptions of Iraqi culture and the regional growth of authoritarianism, post-invasion. Visiting Scholar Salma AlShami shares findings from a multi-year study on displacement in Iraq. Reflections on lessons learned are offered by alums Paul McKinney and Motasem Abuzaid. From our students, Besan Jaber details a project to honor slain Iraqi academics, while Shano Mohammed shares a powerful essay and a poem about the deeply personal impacts of war. We hope this issue serves to add to the ongoing reflections about the devastating legacy of the war and the deep injustices perpetrated against the Iraqi people.

Vicki Valosik, Editor

ON THE COVER Reach

Linocut and Chine Collé by Sarah Anne Decossard

About The Art

The art featured on the cover and throughout the issue are part of "Absence and Presence," a print initiative of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here project. The project was founded by Beau Beausoleil in response to the 2007 car bombing of Baghdad’s historic al-Mutanabbi Street, the heart of the city’s intellectual community and home to numerous booksellers. The project, which has been archived by Columbia University, engages artists and writers from around the globe to create works that serve as witness to the bombing and express solidarity with the Iraqi people and other arts communities in the MENA region. Beausoleil has said that wherever someone sits down and begins to write towards the truth, or picks up a book to read, it is there that al-Mutanabbi Street starts. Contributing artists featured in this issue are Sarah Anne Decossard (cover), Bev Samler (pg. 6), Wilson Hill (pg. 10), Jennifer Vickers (pg.11), Anne Moreno (pg. 12), Iram Wani (pg. 13), and Art Hazelwood (pg. 19). Additionally, you can learn more about a new project of Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here called "Shadow & Light" on page 8. For more information on these projects, Beau Beausoleil can be reached at overlandbooks@earthlink.net

A few highlights of the recent activities of CCAS faculty

Book Chapters

“Water and Climate Challenges in the Middle East: A Human Security Perspective” chapter in Enhancing Water Security in the Middle East (MENA Water Security Task Force, Al-Sharq Strategic Research and Colorado School of Mines, 2023) - Marwa Daoudy

“Stranded in Decolonization: The Attritional Temporality of Sahrawi Activism in Moroccan-Occupied Western Sahara” chapter in In the Meantime: Toward an Anthropology of the Possible (Berghahn Books, 2023) - Mark Drury, CCAS Qatar Post-Doctoral Fellow

“ Tunisia: A Reframed Security-Centered Approach” chapter in Security Assistance in the Middle East: Challenges ... and the Need for Change (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2023) - Nouredinne Jebnoun

“Beyond Oslo: Reimagining Israeli-Palestinian Futures” chapter in The One State Reality: What Is Israel/Palestine? (Cornell University Press, 2023) - Khaled Elgindy

Journal Articles

“Revolutionary Violence and Counterrevolution” (American Political Science Review, December 2022) - Killian Clarke

“Ambivalent allies: How inconsistent foreign support dooms new democracies” (Journal of Peace Research, February 2023) - Killian Clarke

“Naming the City: Saharan Urbanization and Disaggregated Sovereignty ” (L’Ouest Saharien, February 2023) - Mark Drury

“ Why Security Cooperation With Israel Is a Lose-Lose for Abbas” (Foreign Policy, February 2023) - Khaled Elgindy

“From Victims to Dissidents: Legacies of Violence and Popular Mobilization in Iraq, 2003–2018” (American Political Science Review, April 2023) – Killian Clarke

Reports & Policy Research

“ Women, Peace and Security: Gulf Perspectives on Integration, Inclusion and Integrity ” (Gulf International Forum, November 2022) - Dania Thafer

“China-Gulf Ties: Tougher Acts to Follow Successful Show ” (The Arab Gulf States Institute, January 2023) - Robert Mogielnicki

“Gulf governments enjoy fiscal flexibility; must spend wisely over coming years” (Al-Monitor, January 2023) - Robert Mogielnicki

“Surge in West Bank violence further undercuts Abbas’s precarious leadership” (Middle East Institute, March 2023) - Khaled Elgindy

“Omani and Saudi Economic Zones Create Avenues for Cooperation” (The Arab Gulf States Institute, March 2023)Robert Mogielnicki

“Saudi Arabia’s New Murabba project to lure global investors, but at what cost?” (Al-Monitor, March 2023) - Robert Mogielnicki

“GCC Performing Strongly but Economic Opportunities Vary throughout the Region” (Henley & Partners, 2023) - Robert Mogielnicki

“DeSantis’ ‘war on woke’ looks a lot like attempts by other countries to deny and rewrite history” (The Conversation, July 2023)Rochelle Davis

Podcasts & Interviews

“No happily ever after: how Succession will end – by the experts” – Interview with Prof. Joseph Sassoon by London’s The Telegraph (March 2023)

“Exhibition Spotlight: Shadow & Light” – Prof. Rochelle Davis spoke about her involvement and that of and that of several MAAS students in an exhibit at the University of Iowa Pentacrest Museums examining themes of academic freedom (see page 8 for details)

“Knowledge Production on Iraq: Joseph Sassoon’s Intellectual Journey ” – Jadaliyya (April, 2023)

“Killian Clarke: Egypt’s Counterrevolution and the Return to Tyranny” – on Babel, the podcast of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (May 2023)

“The Sassoons: The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire” – American Historical Association talk with Prof. Joseph Sassoon (May 2023)

Scholar Spotlight: Prof. Marwa Daoudy was the first to be featured in a new Scholar Spotlight series by the Environmental Studies Section at the International Studies Association 2023 convention