The Crown Center for Middle East Studies is committed to conducting balanced and dispassionate research of the modern Middle East that meets the highest academic standards.
The center seeks to help make decision- and opinion-makers better informed about the region. The scope of the center's research includes the 22 members of the Arab League as well as Turkey, Iran and Israel. The Crown Center's approach is multidisciplinary in its study of the politics, economics, history, security, sociology and anthropology of the region's states and societies.
Latest Crown Conversation
On September 15, 2020, Israel and two Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, signed the Abraham Accords, officially establishing diplomatic relations. Later expanding to include Sudan and Morocco, the Accords represent the first instance of Arab-Israeli normalization since Israel's peace treaty with Jordan in 1994. To mark the third anniversary of the Abraham Accords, we asked Shai Feldman and Sanam Vakil to assess the impact of the Accords on the region, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and the prospects of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Image credit: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)
Brandeis' 75th Anniversary Panel Event
Join us in celebrating 17 years of the innovative course, “Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East,” team-taught by Shai Feldman, Abdel Monem Said Aly, and Khalil Shikaki and the second edition of their corresponding textbook Arabs and Israelis: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East. The three authors come together to discuss the dramatic changes in the Arab-Israeli conflict over the past 100 years, including whether for all practical purposes the broader conflict has ended, leaving only the Israeli-Palestinian dimension intact, and if recent progress has been impactful enough to reverse the current wave of violence and achieve a breakthrough in Israeli-Palestinian relations.
Registration is required for virtual attendance and encouraged for in-person attendance using the same link. The event is free and open to the public. Middle Eastern fare and refreshments will be served.
Image credit: Chae Lee
Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast
Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast is produced by the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. Through conversations with scholars and practitioners encompassing a variety of disciplines and perspectives, each episode will debunk key misconceptions about the contemporary Middle East. "Counter/Argument" is committed to a balanced and dispassionate approach to the region and to making scholarship more widely accessible. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Download, subscribe, rate and review, and most importantly, please share with a friend!
Image credit: Chae Lee