Middle East and Islamic studies
Current and recent research projects
Conflict management in disputed territories
Professor Gareth Stansfield (IAIS) is researching the situation in Kirkuk with a Research Fellowship awarded by the Leverhulme Trust and is investigating why, after so many predictions of civil war breaking out in the city were made, the reality is one of a tense but reasonably stable political process developing between interest groups.
Cities and the contested state
This five-year project (2007-2012), focuses on divided cities as key sites in territorial conflicts over state and national identifies, cultures and borders. Its objectives are to analyse how divided cities in the Middle East and Europe have influenced and been shaped by ethnic, religious and national conflicts. Funded by a large grant from the ESRC, the project primarily focuses on Jerusalem and Belfast, but will also include research on Kirkuk and Beirut. Lead: Professor Mick Dumper.
See the project's Conflict in Cities and the Contested State website for more information.
Ethnopolitics in a globalised world
This world-wide study into the effects of ethnicity on politics and society is being funded by a £738,000 award from the Leverhulme Trust. The five year project, carried out by a team of seven researchers at the Exeter Centre for Ethnopolitical Studies will include research into Iraq and Palestine. Lead: Professor Gareth Stansfield.
Political change in the Gulf oil monarchies
The ‘oil monarchies’ of the Gulf present an intriguing paradox – first seemingly bucking a trend of global ‘modernisation', now surprising many by fledgling political reforms once thought beyond these ‘traditional’ autocracies. Professor Gerd Nonneman has been examining these questions in a number of interlinked projects. Professor Tim Niblock has focused on these issues with particular respect to Saudi Arabia, where he has given particular attention to the links between the legitimacy which underlies the regime and its ability to remain in power.
Military intervention and ethical statecraft
This ESRC-funded study group builds on the work of a previous study group on Iraq. The culmination of the project will be a major international symposium on the challenges facing Western states as a result of an era of military interventions. The group involves a collaboration between academic staff and senior military planners. Leads: Professor Tim Dunne and Dr Gareth Stansfield.
More information about this study group can be found on the HuSS News webpages.
Violent non-state actors in contemporary world politics
The overarching theme of this research project is the relation between various armed groups including Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban and Al Qaeda and the state/s. It explores the correlation between violent non-state actors and the environment that creates and nurtures them, with the aim of identifying suitable policy responses. Lead: Dr Lise Storm.
For more details of this project, visit the Exeter Centre for Ethnopolitical Studies website.
The transformed political economy of the Gulf region
Professor Tim Niblock’s research has focused on the major economic power on the Arab side of the Gulf, namely Saudi Arabia. Dr Kamil Mahdi is looking at the manner in which the Iraqi economy is developing.
Interpreting tradition
Professor Ian Netton has compared the different interpretations of tradition in Islam and Christianity. One of the most important aspects of his research is the proposal of a new vocabulary in English for the articulation of Islam, to replace the somewhat dated concepts of “orthodoxy” and “heterodoxy”.
Forbidding frontier
Dr James Onley has examined how Britain's Political Resident in the Gulf and his very small cadre of British officers maintained the Pax Britannica on the waters of the Gulf, protected British interests throughout the region, and managed political relations with the dozens of Arab rulers and governors on both shores of the Gulf.
Understanding Islamist radicalisation in North Africa
This project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, brings together academics in the Departments of Politics and History with those in the IAIS, and includes Principal investigator Dr Jonathan Githens-Mazer (Politics), Professor Martin Thomas (History), Professor Gareth Stansfield (IAIS) and Dr Lise Storm (Politics). The project seeks to understand the causes of Islamist radicalisation amongst North Africans. Widening this field of expertise, IAIS has just appointed Dr Omar Ashour, who has completed a path-breaking comparative project on de-radicalisation of islamist groups, to be published by Routledge in 2009.
