*Please note, spaces for this event are strictly limited and only ticket holders will be able to attend. Please contact mideastconf@pmb.ox.ac.uk if you have any further questions.

** Tickets are not required for the Keynote lecture on Friday 26 January, all are welcome.

Nation-states in the Middle East are facing profound challenges. Borders and boundaries are coming under pressure, being (re)made and mobilised owing to a confluence of internal and external factors including war, mass migration, geopolitical competition and domestic struggles. On the one hand, these regional challenges relate to the dynamics of nation-building. Struggles over the questions that were posed in the nation-building era, including the relation between religion and politics, the nature of citizenship and the management of diversity have continued to impact contemporary conflicts. These have gained further salience in the wake of events such as the Iraqi invasion and the Arab uprisings since 2011. On the other hand, new strategies and technologies utilized by diverse actors, social movements, ethnic entrepreneurs and state elites are producing novel forms of mobilization and politics.

At the centennial of the end of WWI, and as the region appears to be at a new crossroads, this conference intends to reflect on nature of borders and boundaries, to be explored from both historical and contemporary lenses with an aim to draw comparative lessons and identify the dynamics of continuity and areas of change. The conference will focus therefore on the questions of why, how and in what ways borders and boundaries have and are being (re)constructed and their implications for the management of diversity.

Tickets are available here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rethinking-nationalism-sectarianism-and-e...