Author: Nassef Manabilang Adiong

Nassef is the founder of Co-IRIS (International Relations and Islamic Studies Research Cohort), PHISO (Philippine International Studies Organization), DSRN (Decolonial Studies Research Network), and BRLN (Bangsamoro Research and Legal Network). He works on interdisciplinary research between Islam and International Relations and explores the Bangsamoro society as he heads the Policy Research and Legal Services (PRLS) of the Bangsamoro Parliament. Visit https://nassef.info/ for more details.

The Gulf/2000 Project

This site was developed by the Gulf/2000 Project at the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University in New York City. It is designed to make available in a single location a wealth of information on the eight countries of the Persian Gulf region–Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman,Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Click on a flag above to visit one of these countries.

A strategic crossroads, the Persian Gulf contains the world’s greatest reserves of oil and natural gas. Over the past few decades, it has been the site of three major wars, an Islamic revolution, and political and economic changes that have affected every country in the world. It is the home of more than 140 million people, of divers cultures and history, that extend back to the origins of recorded civilization.
Nevertheless, for most non-specialists the Gulf remains a mysterious and even forbidding part of the world. This site hopes to remove some of the mystery. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can visit any of these countries, read their local newspapers, check the latest news from the region, and find information about every aspect of their history, geography, politics, economics, military forces and much more.
We have identified what we believe are the most informative and reliable sources of information about the Persian Gulf. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of every item of information that you may find in the many sources collected here, but we have made it as easy as possible to cross-check facts between data collections located throughout the world.
To learn more about the Gulf/2000 Project click here.


The eight countries of the Persian Gulf region:





CFP: Europe with or without Muslims – Narratives of Europe

Call for Papers for a special issue for the Journal of Muslims in Europe “Europe with or without Muslims – narratives of Europe”

Guest editors:           


Göran Larsson, University of Gothenburg

Riem Spielhaus, University of Copenhagen


We are seeking papers for a special issue of the new double blind-peer reviewed Journal on Muslims in Europe by BRILL to come out in Spring 2013. This special issue seeks to take up tensions in conflicting stories about and different perspectives on Europe’s history and identity that present Europe without Muslims or contrastingly portray Muslims as part of Europe’s past and present.


Under the headline “Europe with or without Muslims – narratives of Europe” we aim to bring together a number of perspectives from multiple disciplinary fields such as history, religious studies, cultural anthropology, political science and sociology in an analysis of diverging accounts and notions of Europe over time and places throughout the continent, open as well to external perspectives. The initial question thereby is, what role Islam and Muslims have played and still play in the imagining of what Europe means. (See more details on different possible themes for contributions below.)


This way we aim to direct our view at the nexus between constructions of Europe and developments within contemporary European Islam providing space both for a critical review of academic approaches and the development of new impulses for future research.


Besides empirical papers we strongly encourage theoretical papers that challenge current research on Islam and Muslims in Europe and reflect on the own position of the researchers and his or her contributions to the construction of Europe and the role and function of Islam and Muslims.


We invite papers that address one of the topics of two sessions described below. Deadline for sending your abstracts: July the 1st 2012<https://secure.mail.ibt.ku.dk/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>. 


Accepted participants will be notified by July 20, 2012<https://secure.mail.ibt.ku.dk/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>. 

If your paper is accepted, you must submit the final paper (max 10,000 words inclusive of footnotes) by 20 October 2012<https://secure.mail.ibt.ku.dk/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>.


Applications to submit a short paper should include: 1. Proposer’s name and affiliation, 2. a title for the paper, 3. a ca. 500 word abstract.


All abstracts and paper should be written in English.


Time frame:

Deadline for abstracts (ca. 500 words): 1 July 2012

Deadline for sending final papers: 20 October 2012

Publication: 15 March 2013


Paper proposals should be send electronically in Microsoft Word formats to Göran Larsson, University of Gothenburg:goran.larsson@religion.gu.se<mailto:goran.larsson@religion.gu.se> and Riem Spielhaus, University of Copenhagen: rsp@teol.ku.dk<mailto:rsp@teol.ku.dk>.


For this special issue we invite papers on the narratives imagining Europe with and without Muslims analyzing contents, actors and setting of those narratives that relate to one or several of the following questions:


1. Localizing debates connecting Europe and Islam:


•    In what way are debates about Europe and its identity mentioning the European past with reference to Muslim’s presence in Europe on the local, regional, national or European Union level? How do these different levels (local, regional, national, transnational) intersect?


2. Imagining Europe without Muslims:


•    What are the main patterns of the dominant constructions of Europe’s heritage like notions of a Judaeo-Christian heritage? Where and by whom are these narratives told? To what extent are they embedded in European integration or projects of community or nation-building?


3. Narratives of Europe inclusive of Muslims:


•    In what cases is the Muslim history of Europe used as counter narrative to question the construction of Europe as a Christian continent? What groups of people insist on an imagination of Europe with Muslims? How are these narratives used to strengthen a feeling of belonging and responsibility of current Muslims?


4. Contextualizing Islam debates in European history of thought:


•    Is it possible to make any comparison between current debates about Islam and Muslims and previous debates about ties between religions and national identities e.g. different Christian denominations in early modern Europe?


5. Imagining Europe from outside:


•    How is the relationship between Europe and its Muslim inhabitants viewed beyond the Mediterranean? Do accounts of European history and presentations of the contemporary Europe from within and without bear considerable differences?

The Quest for Democracy in the Middle East & North Africa

The Mohammed Arkoun Doctoral Scholarship

Dear Colleagues, 

Please note the following announcement of a new Doctoral Scholarship in honour of the late Professor Mohammed Arkoun. 

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The Mohammed Arkoun Doctoral Scholarship

In recognition of the late Professor Mohammed Arkoun’s contribution to the the field of Islamic Studies and allied disciplines, the Institute of Ismaili Studies has established a new scholarship entitled “The Mohammed Arkoun Doctoral Scholarship”.
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=113402

Mohammed Arkoun (1928-2010), originally from Algeria, was for many years Professor of History of Islamic Thought at the Sorbonne University in Paris. He was an original voice in this field, developing a critical approach to the history of Islam as well as contemporary evaluations of the field in both theological and academic writings on the subject. In particular, he advocated joint use of historical research and concepts from modern linguistics and social sciences with the aim of creating a new discipline of an anthropological history of Islam. He saw this as a further means to a unified science of religion embracing at least all faiths of ‘Mediterranean’ origin as well as modern secular ideologies, which in his view deserved an equally critical examination.

These ideas were disseminated through his many writings, lectures and informal addresses and communication. Mohammed Arkoun was also a keen contributor to practical projects aiming at cultural and intellectual inquiry about the Muslim world. Pre-eminent among these was the Aga Khan Award for Architecture. He also taught at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, of which he was one of the Governors for many years, up to the time of his death.

The doctoral scholarship will be awarded once every four years for a four-year period to a graduate student pursuing research in the field of Islamic Studies, preferably in areas and on questions which are of importance to Professor Arkoun’s work. These include (but are not limited to):

-simultaneous attention to historical and modern issues in Islamic thought and society.

-harnessing the tools of the social sciences and humanities (notably, linguistics, sociology and anthropology) to the study of thought and culture in Muslim societies;

-consideration of theoretical frameworks for a critical understanding of religious thought and imaginaire in Muslims communities and other ‘Societies of the Book’.

This Scholarship will cover both tuition fees and personal expenses , up to the amount of GBP 25,000 per annum, for a maximum of 4 academic years.

Deadline for applications: 15 July 2012

Applications should be sent, in English, to Dr Omar Alí-de-Unzaga at scholarships@iis.ac.uk with the following documentation in PDF format:

– covering letter;
– doctoral research proposal (maximum 2000 words);
– applicant’s current CV;
– a writing sample (between 10-25 pages)
– letter of acceptance from the university where the applicant intends to study.

In addition, the applicant must arrange for three academic reference letters to be sent directly to the above address. Applicants who have already commenced their doctoral studies will be required to submit two academic reference letters AND a letter of good standing from the applicant’s principal academic supervisor.

INFORMATION ALSO AVAILABLE IN ARABIC, FRENCH, PERSIAN AND RUSSIAN AT www.iis.ac.uk
***********************************************************************


Omar Alí-de-Unzaga
Academic Coordinator, Quranic Studies
The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London
oali@iis.ac.uk
qs.iis.ac.uk

New ISA Section Proposed: Religion and International Relations

New ISA Section Proposed: Religion and IR


Dear Colleagues:

I am writing to invite you to support the founding of a new ISA section on religion and international relations. This section will encourage ISA papers and panels on religion, broadly defined, without prejudice regarding methodology, region, or issue area. 

The number and quality of papers on religion and IR at ISA annual conferences is on the rise. By my count, some 3-5% of papers delivered at ISA annual conferences are on religion and the numbers are increasing. In 2010, I counted 134 papers. In 2011, I found 137. At this year’s meeting, about 145 papers touched on religion, faith, secularism and belief worldwide. This is a rough estimate (there is no easy way to identify these papers so I searched on-line programs using several religion keywords) but it indicates a widespread interest. 

The advantages of having these papers sponsored by an organized section are considerable. Scholars interested in religion have a hard time locating like-minded colleagues or panels at ISA conferences, developing common projects or furthering their interests as a sub-group. Setting up a section on religion and IR at ISA (as have scholars of security studies, ethnicity, or human rights, for example) will allow us to sponsor our own panels and expand the number of papers presented at ISA at an even faster pace. It will also afford ISA members who are interested in religion the opportunity to network at the annual reception, recognize outstanding papers and books with section awards and initiate round tables and discussion forums.

The American Political Science Association has had a religion and politics section since September 1987. It boasts close to 600 members, making it the 13th largest of the forty APSA sections. Many of our colleagues have already voiced their support for setting up a complementary section at ISA, as has the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s working group on Religion and IR (Notre Dame), the Program on Religion, Politics and Globalization (U.C. Berkeley), the Center for International Studies (USC), and the officers of APSA’s organized section on religion and politics.

This initiative has already attracted the required 100 signatures but I would like to ensure that this section represents as many scholars, institutions and viewpoints around the globe as possible. 

If you’d like to support this initiative, please sign the on-line petition athttp://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rir/

Please let me know by email if you would like to play a role on the executive committee of this section. And please share this invitation with any ISA colleagues who have an interest in religion.

Best,
Ron E. Hassner

Assistant Professor of Political Science
U.C. Berkeley
hassner@berkeley.edu