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Spring 2025 Reading Group

Devising Possibilities for the Middle East and Beyond

Prerequisites: None

Exam Type: No Exam

In the face of persistent war, escalating dynamics, and seemingly intractable conflicts in the Middle East, traditional tools for strategy, international negotiations, and conflict resolution appear limited at best. On one hand, U.S. and European policies and initiatives often fall short and, too frequently, cause harm due to a host of strategic, structural, and cultural conditions. On the other hand, local actors in the region experience acute and perpetual insecurity, which largely drives them to adopt overwhelmingly defense-oriented postures, perceive reality through a short-term, zero-sum lens, and behave accordingly.

This combination of external and local actors—shaped by what drives them and the conditions under which they operate—collectively constructs the system we see today. This system perpetuates horrific violence, ongoing insecurity, experiences of exclusion, and destructive competition and animosity.

This reading group aims to grasp this tragic reality and examine what other possibilities might realistically be played out, how and by whom those might be materialized. It is not an exercise in wishful thinking but an attempt to flesh out plausible and more desirable trajectories for the people of the region. At times, we will take on the audacious role of an orchestrator, zooming out to view the system as a whole. At other times, we will exercise radical empathy, diving deeply into the perspectives of specific actors to understand how their worldviews are constructed and what drives their behavior.

Be ready to learn and explore together, to step into the shoes of those you may not understand—or may even deeply disagree with—and to examine critically those with whom you might feel more aligned. This reading group assumes that each of us carries our own baggage of experiences, values, deeply held beliefs, and biases. However, these can be powerful tools when channeled with a genuine desire to learn, grow, and work toward advancing positive change in the region’s reality.

Lastly, as we tap into and strengthen our practices of expanding the realm of possibility, we will examine generalizable insights that can be applied in the Middle East, the U.S., and beyond.

Note: This reading group will meet on the following dates: 2/20, 2/27, 3/13, 4/3, 4/10, 4/24