Program Description

The UCLA Center for Middle East Development hosted the event, "CMED Chats, Episode 6," on October 27, 2021. Watch or listen to the sixth edition of the series, hosted by CMED Research Fellow, Dr. Eric Bordenkircher, with guest, Friedmann Fellow at the Washington Institute’s Geduld Program on Arab Politics, Hanin Ghaddar.

CMED Chats is a unique monthly series that engages charismatic guests who are from the Middle East and North Africa or connected to the region in some capacity. We plan to bring you diplomats, activists, journalists, analysts, policy makers, artists, musicians, and many more guests who can help us dig deeper into an often misunderstood, complex part of the world. Our hosts will sit down for one-on-one casual chats of at least 30 minutes, covering a variety of topics that will highlight the myriad voices and realities that enrich this colorful region. 

GUEST — Hanin Ghaddar is the Friedmann Fellow at The Washington Institute’s Geduld Program on Arab Politics, where she focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant. The longtime managing editor of Lebanon’s NOW news website, Ghaddar shed light on a broad range of cutting-edge issues, from the evolution of Hezbollah inside Lebanon’s fractured political system to Iran’s growing influence throughout the Middle East. In addition, she has contributed to a number of US-based magazines and newspapers. Prior to joining NOW in 2007, Ghaddar wrote for the Lebanese newspapers As-Safir, An-Nahar, and Al-Hayat, and also worked as a researcher for the United Nations Development Programme regional office.

HOST — Dr. Eric Bordenkircher writes, teaches, and speaks on the domestic politics and international relations of the Middle East. He is currently a research fellow at UCLA’s Center for Middle East Development and lectures at George Washington University. A former visiting assistant professor at Claremont McKenna College and Pepperdine University, he focuses on Lebanese and Iraqi politics, US relations and policy toward the Middle East, Progressives and US foreign policy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, Islamic movements, governance, and the impact(s) of globalization. His journal articles appear in Middle East Policy, Middle East Quarterly, and the Review of Middle East Studies. His writing also appears in The American Conservative, The Jerusalem Post, The San Diego Union Tribune, Washington Examiner, The National Interest, Fikra Forum, The Algemeiner, Lobelog, 1945, and Eurasia Review. He has provided commentary for CNN, the BBC, CGTV, The Los Angeles Times, and The International Herald Tribune. His blog on the President, Congress, and the Middle East can be found at The Times of Israel.

Picture Descriptions (Left to right): Speaking on a conference panel about a political solution to the Syrian conflict in 2015 (Credit: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Flickr); Speaking at a conference in 2015 (Credit: Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Flickr); Holding a Sign (Credit: Hanin Ghaddar); Interview (Credit: Voice of America); Speaking (Credit: Hanin Ghaddar); Speaking on Hezbollah's interest in the Syrian conflict in a forum hosted by the Washington Institute (Credit: C-SPAN); Washington Institute profile (Credit: Hanin Ghaddar); Meeting with US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Robert Karem, in the Department of Defense (Credit: Hanin Ghaddar, Twitter); Meeting with colleagues (Credit: Hanin Ghaddar).