Exporting Hydrocarbons, Importing Human Capital: Foreign Scholarship Programs in Algeria and Saudi Arabia

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies is pleased to present

Adel Hamaizia

Given the numerous organizational and financial hurdles facing root and branch reform of MENA-region institutions of higher education, foreign scholarship programs seem to offer a way forward by “jump-starting” economies and state bureaucracies with a select vanguard of graduates — costly on a per capita basis, but less expensive overall than a complete overhaul of sprawling domestic higher-education systems. Furthermore, they offer states in the region the advanced training offered by the “liberal” universities abroad without the need for relaxed controls on university spaces at home. This seminar explores the cases of hydrocarbon exporters Algeria and Saudi Arabia, tracing their foreign scholarship programs over time, and assessing their impact on social change and development.

Adel Hamaizia is a visiting fellow at CMES and a doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, where he focuses on the political economy of Algeria and the broader Maghreb, and where he previously taught Middle East Politics. He was formerly a Senior Teaching Fellow at the Department of Financial and Management Studies at SOAS, University of London. His primary research interests include: political economy, geoeconomics, economic diversification, state-business relations, MSMEs and the informal sector across MENA (with a particular focus on the Maghreb and the GCC states). More recently he has led research and policy projects on China-MENA and GCC-Africa relations.

Adel is currently the Managing Director at London-based Highbridge Advisory, a strategic boutique advisory focused on information advantage, risk mitigation, policy development and implementation for companies and governments working in the Middle East, the Balkans, and Africa (MEBA). He is the Committee Vice-Chairman of the Oxford Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum (OxGAPS) where he is the co-founder and the co-editor of OxGAPS’ thematic-quarterly, “Gulf Affairs." Adel is also an associate at Global Partners Governance, and an associate fellow at the Chatham House MENA programme, where he works on political economy and development issues. He has consulted for several governments, foundations, and private sector organizations with a focus on political risk, due diligence, corporate investigations, public diplomacy and economic development.

Adel regularly convenes and contributes to track 1.5 and 2 meetings, and is engaged in a range of volunteering activities related to employability skills training for students across the Middle East and North Africa. He has provided commentary for a range of media outlets including the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, Arab News, the National, and Al Jazeera.

Contact: Liz Flanagan