Dear all,
We are pleased to announce Centre for Policy and Research on Turkey (Research Turkey)'s public conference entitled "The Role of Political Islam in Middle Eastern Politics" in which Mr. Bill Park and Dr. Filippo Dionigi will give a talk. This event will take place on Tuesday, 3 June
2014 between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at K-1.56, Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus, King's College London, WC2R 2LS. Dr. Christos Kourtelis (Teaching Fellow in European and International Studies, King's College London) will kindly chair this event.
Abstracts of the Speeches
Mr. Bill Park: "Islam as a Factor in the Turkey's Foreign Policy"
This talk will consider how and to what degree the AKP government has been driven by or has operationalised Islam in its foreign policy. It will contrast and seek to explain foreign policy areas where Islam has seemed to apply and where it has not been a factor, and consider the relationship between Islam and other drivers of Turkish foreign policy, such as neo-Ottomanism, nationalism, Turkism, trade, energy and security interests.
Dr. Filippo Dionigi: "Islamists in Times of Counterrevolution"
In this talk Dr Filippo Dionigi will propose a reflection on the dynamics of transformation of Islamist movements in the region from the beginning of the 2011 uprisings to the contemporary phase of counterrevolution. How did Islamism react to the changes in the domestic political context and the regional balances? Are we witnessing the decline of Islamism in the region? Will this open new political space for the rise of post-Islamism? The speaker will offer his thoughts on the subject looking at the cases of Islamist mobilisation in the region from a comparative perspective.
Biographies of the Speakers and the Chair
Short Biography of Bill Park: Bill Park is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Defence Studies, King's College, London University. He is the author of journal articles, book chapters, and monographs on a range of Turkish foreign policy issues, including its EU accession prospects, Turkey and ESDP, the Cyprus problem, Turkey's policies towards Northern Iraq, Turkey-US relations, the Fethullah Gulen movement, and the Ergenekon affair. Among his publications are 'Turkey's policy towards Northern Iraq: problems and prospects', Adelphi Paper No. 374, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and 'Turkey-KRG relations after the US withdrawal from Iraq: putting the Kurds on the map', published by the
Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, in March 2014 (available online). He is currently writing a book on Turkey's Kurdish predicaments. His book, 'Modern Turkey: People, State and Foreign Policy in a Globalized World', was published by Routledge in 2011. He is a frequent visitor to Turkey, and has given papers on Turkish affairs at various academic and official workshops and conferences around the world, and has appeared as a Turkey expert on British, Turkish, US, Russian, French, Iranian, Iraqi and Australian TV and radio, has given written and oral testimony on Turkish issues to both UK Houses of Parliament, and is used as a consultant on Turkish issues by various UK government agencies. He serves as a trustee and council member for the British Institute at Ankara, was until recently an Advisor to the Dialogue Society in London, and is an editorial board member for the
journal Mediterranean Politics.
Short Biography of Dr. Filippo Dionigi: Dr Filippo Dionigi is a Fellow at the London School of Economics and his research focus on international norms and Islamist movements in the Middle East. He has completed his PhD in International Relations at LSE and is presently working on a book tentatively titled Hezbollah, Islamist Politics and International Society.
Short Biography of Dr. Christos Kourtelis: Christos completed his undergraduate degree in European Studies in Greece at the Hellenic Open University (distinction). He then continued his studies at the LSE, where he obtained an MSc in development studies. His research interests include the EU external policies to the Mediterranean countries, the aid policies of the EU member states, the history and politics of EU development assistance. He has worked for the European Commission. Christos has taught several modules related to EU politics, international relations, Middle East politics and comparative politics at the University of Westminster and at Birkbeck College.
Speakers: Mr. Bill Park, Dr. Filippo Dionigi
Title: The Role of Political Islam in Middle Eastern Politics
Location: K-1.56, Lecture Theatre, Strand Campus, King's College London, WC2R 2LS
Date: Tuesday, 3
June 2014 , 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m
Chair: Dr. Christos Kourtelis
