Within a few years of the historic Arab uprisings of 2011, popular mobilization dissipated amidst instability in many Arab countries. We trace the relationship between shifting macro-political conditions and individual-level political values in the Middle East, demonstrating that a preference for democracy and political trust are not fixed cultural features of populations but rather can shift rapidly in the face of perceived insecurity. Our empirical analyses employ longitudinal data from the Arab Barometer covering 13 countries and data from the 2015 World Values Survey, which includes...

Thomas Roland Harris is a second-year student in the AM in Middle Eastern Studies program.... Read more about Q&A with Thomas Roland Harris

Jocelyne Dakhlia, Director of Studies, Center for Historical Research, Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, was the distinguished speaker this year for the H.A.R. Gibb Arabic and Islamic Studies Lecture Series, established in 1964 in honor of Sir Hamilton A.R. Gibb, who was a director of CMES as well as University Professor and James Richard Jewett Professor of Arabic at Harvard. Youssef Ben Ismail, PhD candidate in Muslim Societies and Cultures in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, covered the lectures for CMES.

In the summer of 1535...

Jocelyne Dakhlia, Director of Studies, Center for Historical Research, Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, delivers the second lecture of the 2019 H.A.R. Gibb Arabic and Islamic Studies Lecture Series. Also see a video of Dakhlia's first lecture in the series, and read Youssef Ben Ismail's coverage of both talks.... Read more about Video: Undesired Bodies: Figures of Continuity and Discontinuity in the Mediterranean of Lady Montagu

Jocelyne Dakhlia, Director of Studies, Center for Historical Research, Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales, delivers the first lecture of the 2019 H.A.R. Gibb Arabic and Islamic Studies Lecture Series. Also see a video of Dakhlia's second lecture in the series, and read Youssef Ben Ismail's coverage of both talks.... Read more about Video: The Sultanic Harem in Movement: State Logic and Feminine Mobility in Morocco (1500-1800)