Our Director, Dr. Ibrahim Karawan with Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III on April 11, 2005. (Photo Courtesy of Janessa Karawan)

Lecture Series

Once again, the Middle East Center at the University of Utah demonstrates its leadership role in giving our University community and our Utah community the opportunity to have diverse and thoughtful perspectives on key regional and international issues pertaining to the Middle East region. Among the successful efforts that we have organized in that regard was our lecture series on the September 11 events and the phenomena associated with international terrorism. With the Iraq conflict escalating, we organized another lecture series about the transition from a crisis to war to occupation of Iraq. At this critical juncture, and as the peace efforts in the Middle East reach a particularly dangerous stalemate, we are announcing a fifth lecture series under the title "Challenges Facing the United States in the Middle East." This series will extend from October 12 to mid April. Scheduled speakers include very prominent former policy makers and analysts who are interested in issues of national politics, international mediation, sociology of democratization, and the role of the media in conflict resolution. They represent various approaches and different communities to enrich our understanding and discussion of the challenge of building a stable and viable peace in the Middle East. .