Are Separatists the New Spoilers in the Middle East?
A Brown Bag Seminar with Ariel I. Ahram
May 1, 2019
In the wars in Yemen, Syria, and Libya, separatist militias have played critical roles in sustaining local orders as national politics unravelled as well as in fighting ISIS and other radical Islamist groups. In this talk, Ariel I. Ahram explains that while efforts are underway to end the fighting in each of these countries, conflict resolution efforts typically exclude such separatist actors. Ahram argues that as peace looms, these separatists are poised to be the Middle East’s next spoilers, blocking the re-consolidation of state authority and seeking to alter the region’s borders.Ariel I. Ahram ’01 is an Associate Professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. His new book, upon which this talk draws, is entitled, Break All the Borders: Separatism and the Reshaping of the Middle East.
Co-sponsored with the Graduate Program in Conflict Resolution & Coexistence.