War in the Middle East - Stakes and Outcomes
Kim Ghattas, Middle East expert, author, and Emmy Award winning journalist, in conversation with Victoria K. Holt Norman E. McCulloch Jr. Director of the Dickey Center.
Middle Eastern Studies visiting professor and author Ghattas joined us for a conversation on the state of the war and the paths ahead. A Beirut native and resident, she brings a firsthand perspective and decades of expertise on the region as a journalist and analyst.
Dartmouth College, April 23, 2026
Tomorrow is Yesterday: Life, Death and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine.
Author Robert Malley in conversation with Professor Ezzedine Fishere.
Robert Malley is a lecturer and Senior Fellow at the Yale Jackson School and the author, with Hussein Agha, of Tomorrow is Yesterday: Life, Death, and the Pursuit of Peace in Israel/Palestine. He served as Special Envoy for Iran from January 2021 to April 2023. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of the International Crisis Group. Under President Barack Obama, he served as Special Assistant to the President, Senior Advisor to the President for the Counter-ISIL campaign, and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and Gulf Region in 2015-2016 and, before that, as Senior Director for the Gulf Region and Syria.
Before joining the National Security Council staff in February 2014, Malley founded and directed the International Crisis Group’s Middle East and North Africa Program from January 2002. Prior to that, he was a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Until January 2001, Malley was Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs and Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council. Mr. Malley first joined the National Security Council staff in August 1994 as Director for Democracy. In July 1997, he became Executive Assistant to the National Security Advisor from July 1997 to September 1998, acting as an informal chief of staff for Samuel R. Berger.
Malley served as a law clerk to Justice Byron R. White of the United Sta...
Daniel Byman: New Fault Lines in Middle East
Visiting Distinguished Fellow Daniel Byman in conversation with Dickey Center Director Victoria Holt about America's future role in the Middle East.
Daniel Byman is Professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and the Director of the Warfare, Irregular Threats, and Terrorism Program at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS),
Monday, September 29, 2025 at Dartmouth College.
Sponsored by the Davidson Institute for Global Security.
The Future of US Policy in the Middle East: Henry Wooster
Henry Wooster, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, in conversation with Erica Barks-Ruggles -The Dickey Center's Magro Family Distinguished Fellow in International Affairs.
From the downfall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria to the deterioration of Iran’s proxy forces, the Middle East has been rocked by changes in recent years. How have those changes altered US relationships and interests in the region, and how is the new US administration responding?
Henry T. Wooster serves as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs. He served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from September 2020 to July 2023, and prior to his Ambassadorship, as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Maghreb and Egypt. He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Previously, he was the Deputy of Chief of Mission in Paris and Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. at U.S. Embassy Amman. Prior to those assignments, he was Political Counselor at U.S. Embassy Islamabad.
Dartmouth College, May 13, 2025
Legacies of Empire: Israel, Palestine, and the Quest for a Just Peace
Professors Derek Penslar and Yael Berda discuss whether Zionism is a colonial movement, exploring settler colonialism and post-colonial legacies in Israel, India, and Cyprus.
Dartmouth College, May 1, 2025
This is an event of the Middle East Initiative and Dartmouth Dialogues, a collaborative effort of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding and the Middle Eastern Studies and Jewish Studies Programs at Dartmouth. With generous support from Tal and Ariel Recanati P’21
Human Stories Behind the Headlines in the Middle East with Mona El-Naggar
Conflict, war, extremism, and oppression often dominate news headlines, overshadowing the human impact of these stories. Mona El-Naggar brings these narratives to life as an international correspondent and video journalist with years of experience producing and driving award-winning work for The New York Times. Based in Cairo, she authors stories that focus on issues of identity and often fall at the intersection of politics, religion, gender and youth culture. Some of her most recent work features a series of character profiles that shed light on the human toll of the war in Gaza. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, Emmy nominee, and current Berlin Prize Fellow at the American Academy of Berlin, El-Naggar is in conversation with Jonathan Smolin, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth College, discussing her career and the stories behind the headlines.
Dartmouth College, March 5, 2025
The Power of Literature and Free Expression in the Middle East
Ahmed Naji is an Egyptian journalist and novelist who uses fact and fiction to examine and relay stories of the human struggle, informed and shaped by his life experiences in Egypt and in the United States. After the publication of his novel, Using Life (2014), Naji was jailed in Egypt for “violating public decency.” After nearly a year in prison, he moved to the United States. His most recent novel, Rotten Evidence (2023), chronicles his jail experience. He is the winner of many honors and awards including the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award.
In conversation with Prof. Tarek El-Ariss, the James Wright Professor and Chair of Middle Eastern Studies at Dartmouth, Naji shares stories from his incarceration and trial, reflecting on the power of literature and free expression in the face of censorship and exile.
Dartmouth College, Feb 11, 2025
Made possible by The Middle East Initiative -- a collaborative effort of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, the Middle Eastern Studies and Jewish Studies Programs at Dartmouth, and part of the Dartmouth Dialogues.
Who Supports Hamas?
How much support does Hamas have among Palestinians? Opinion polls give mixed signals, so how do we make sense of these polls? How do we explain the level of support Hamas has, including in Gaza, despite October 7 attacks, the ensuing war and the death and destruction this brought on Palestinians? To answer these - and other - questions, The Middle East Initiative and Dartmouth Dialogues hosted Dr. Khalil Shikaki, prominent Palestinian researcher and pollster, in conversation with Ben Valentino, Dartmouth Professor of Government.
Dartmouth College, Oct 30, 2024
Israel and Iran: The Future of The Middle East
Dartmouth College, September 30, 2024. Princeton's Seyed Hossein Mousavian & Suzanne Maloney of Brookings discuss the complex relationship between Iran and Israel and its impact on Middle East. They delve into the strategic, political, and military challenges that define the relationship between these two pivotal actors, exploring how their rivalry shapes regional stability. The session explores key issues such as include Iran's nuclear ambitions, Israel's security strategies, shifting alliances, and the broader geopolitical landscape.
Moderated by Victoria K. Holt, Dickey Center Director.
Made possible by The Middle East initiative: a collaboration between the Dickey Center for International Understanding, Middle Eastern Studies, and the Jewish Studies Programs, and part of the Dartmouth Dialogues.
Can the US Lead the Israelis and Palestinians Towards Peace?
Dartmouth College, Feb 29, 2024.
Professor Ezzedine Fishere in conversation with Andrew P. Miller, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs.
Andrew P. Miller is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli-Palestinian Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to this, he served as a Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, covering the Middle East and North Africa, counterterrorism, political-military affairs, and intelligence. From 2017 to 2020, Miller was the Deputy Director for Policy at the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and a Nonresident Scholar in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East Program.
Miller’s previous government assignments included serving as the Director for Egypt and Israel Military Issues on President Obama’s National Security Council from 2014 to 2017, where he was involved in deliberations regarding U.S. security assistance to Egypt and Israel and Middle East Peace, among other issues. He also worked at the U.S. Department of State in a variety of intelligence and policy roles, including in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Policy Planning Staff, and at the U.S. Embassies in Cairo and Doha. Miller earned a B.A. in Political Science from Dickinson College and an M.A. in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia.
Co-sponsored by Middle Eastern S...
Israel & Gaza: Is There A Way Forward?
Dartmouth College, Feb 26, 2024
Prof. Daniel Byman of Georgetown in conversation with Dartmouth Government Professor Benjamin Valentino on the war in Gaza, options for Israel & the Palestinians, and the role of the United States.
Second Discussion on the Horrific Events Unfolding in Israel and Gaza
Two discussions on the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas were organized by The Jewish Studies and Middle Eastern Studies programs at Dartmouth and led by faculty. This recording is of the discussion that took place on Thursday, October 12, 2023 in Filene Auditorium at Dartmouth College.
The event was moderated by Senior Lecturer Ezzedine Fishere, an Egyptian author and academic who has written extensively on the region, and attended by faculty from both departments including Susanne Heschel, Chair of Jewish Studies; Jonathan Smolin, a Middle Eastern Studies professor; and Visiting Professor Bernard Avishai.
