Petra Stienen will discuss recent developments in the Arab world, with a focus on Syria and Egypt. 

She is the author of Dreaming of an Arab Spring: A Dutch Diplomat in the Arab World (in Dutch) and a senior advisor on social development with BMC management consultancy.  Stienen studied Arab and Middle Eastern studies in Leiden, Cairo and London and worked as a diplomat specializing in human rights, development, migration and refugees, including at the Dutch embassies in Egypt and Syria.

Professor Toby Jones, Rutgers University, Department of History, will present a lecture on "Oil and Counterrevolution in the Gulf" Thursday, April 19th at Noon in Denny Hall #317.

The wave of popular protests sweeping the Arab world collided and reached Bahrain in February, 2011 only to be suppressed by decisive intervention by Saudi Arabia.  Why is Bahrain a pivotal element in the strategic calculations of Saudi Arabia and the United States?