CFP: “An Assessment of Intelligence Operations in the Middle East: A Focus on Strategic Analysis, Covert Affairs, and Diplomacy” for ISA 2020

Jeffrey G. Karam Announcement
Subject Fields
Diplomacy and International Relations, Middle East History / Studies, Political History / Studies, Political Science

CFP: “An Assessment of Intelligence Operations in the Middle East: A Focus on Strategic Analysis, Covert Affairs, and Diplomacy”

Dear colleagues,

The subfield of intelligence studies has become an important, integral, and rapidly emerging research area in Political Science, History, and related disciplines. Several noteworthy scholarly works explore the role of intelligence officers and diplomats in the struggles for independence and state formation in the early 20th century and during important episodes in the Cold War and beyond. While the bulk of existing accounts focus primarily on U.S., U.K., and other European narratives and records, there are a few studies that draw on underutilized multilingual archival sources in other languages, including Arabic, English, French, and Hebrew, and from geographically diverse archival locations. This panel offers a new perspective on the relationships between Western intelligence officers and local political actors in the Middle East.

 

Our goal is to broadly focus on the topic of intelligence in the Middle East by focusing on several understudied cases and drawing on both Western and Middle Eastern sources. How did relationships between Western intelligence officers and diplomats and Middle Eastern actors shape and impact the formation of intelligence assessments? How did Middle Eastern political actors impact how information was collected and processed in different Middle Eastern capitals? How did local sources in the Middle East impact failed and successful covert operations in the Middle East before and during the Cold War?  How have these developments impacted security and intelligence services in the region?

We seek abstracts from scholars in Political Science, History, and related disciplines interested in exploring this topic at a panel at the ISA Annual Convention in Honolulu, 25-28 March 2020. We are particularly interested in receiving abstracts from both women and men in different disciplines and colleagues working in the Global South on the topic of intelligence in the Middle East.

We hope that the panel will pave the way for a special issue and/or special section in a peer-reviewed journal on the topic of intelligence in the Middle East.

If you are interested in being part of this project, please send a title, an abstract (150-200 words), and a short CV to Jeffrey G. Karam (jeffrey.karam@lau.edu.lb) and Steven Wagner (Steven.Wagner@brunel.ac.uk) by 29 May 2019. 

Kind regards,

Jeffrey G. Karam and Steven Wagner

 

Jeffrey G. Karam, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs
Department of Social Sciences
School of Arts and Sciences
Lebanese American University
Beirut, Lebanon
E-mail: jeffrey.karam@lau.edu.lb

 

Associate, Middle East Initiative
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs 
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University 
E-mail: jeffrey_karam@hks.harvard.edu 
Website: https://www.belfercenter.org/person/jeffrey-g-karam 
Twitter: @JGKaram

Dr Steven Wagner

Lecturer in International Security
+44(0)1895 268984 | E steven.wagner@brunel.ac.uk 

https://brunel.academia.edu/StevenWagner

 

Brunel University London

College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences

Department of Social and Political Sciences

 

Marie Jahoda Building, Brunel University London, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, United Kingdom

www.brunel.ac.uk

Contact Information

Jeffrey G. Karam (jeffrey.karam@lau.edu.lb) and Steven Wagner (steven.wagner@brunel.ac.uk)