POMEPS hosted its 4th annual conference May 23-24, 2013 at the George Washington University. About 35 prominent political scientists attended the two-day conference focused on the Middle East. Four plenary panels considered the themes of democracy, violence, mobilization, and gender in relation to the changing dynamics in the Arab world. In addition to the four exploratory plenary discussions, POMEPS held 10 breakout sessions where participants presented article manuscripts and working papers focused on the politics of the contemporary Middle East with an eye toward preparing them for publication. In these smaller sessions, participants provided comments and critiques on their peers’ work. Some of the topics discussed included:
Albrecht, Holger. “The Myth of Authoritarian Consolidation: Coups d’état in the Middle East and North Africa, 1950-2011.”
Herb, Michael. “Institutions and zeitgeist: regime type and the pattern of protests in the Arab Spring.”
Langhor, Vickie. “How Activists for Women’s Rights In Egypt Understand and Respond to Sexual Assault at Protests: Implications for Women’s Rights Organizing.”
Lust, Ellen and Waldner, David. “Parties, Polarization, and Democratic Development in the Middle East and North Africa.”
Marshall, Shana. “The Political Economy of Control: The Egyptian Military’s Economic Interests & its Institutional Response to the Uprising.”
Pearlman, Wendy and Arslanalp, Mert. “Mobilization against Military Tutelage: Lessons from Turkey, Brazil, and Egypt.”
Shelef, Nadav G. and Zeira, Yael. “Assessing the Impact of International Recognition on Attitudes Towards Territorial Compromise.”