June 3, 2016 As Syrian refugees resettle throughout the US, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, they often struggle to preserve the intangible cultural heritage that ties them to their identities. Yearning for a taste of home, the Syrian diaspora accesses this heritage through reestablishing culinary traditions and recreating the tastes of home in kitchens […]

The Hollings Center and PONARS Eurasia organized a panel on February 5, 2016 entitled Making Sense of Russia’s Syria Intervention. The panel brought together local experts and speakers from Turkey, the US, Russia, and Armenia to discuss why Russia intervened in Syria, what it expects from this action, and what the implications are for its […]

Noah Coburn, political anthropologist at Bennington College, presented his current ethnographic research on Nepalese contractor employees to members of the YPIR network. Coburn has been interviewing people from Nepal, Georgia and Turkey, who have worked for contractors in Afghanistan during or after the war. He shared with YPIR members the socioeconomic profiles of his interviewees, […]

Members of the Young Professionals in International Relations (YPIR) network gathered for an open forum at the end of the year to share their perspectives of the important international relations events of 2015. Participants included university professors and researchers, NGO members, academic journal editors, and diplomats. The main topics of the evening were the climate […]

The deliberate targeting of cultural heritage in times of war and conflict is damaging on many levels: it robs countries of their past and impoverishes our shared heritage. What actions can be taken to mitigate the destruction? On October 15, 2015, the Hollings Center hosted a panel discussion entitled, “Preserving Cultural Heritage in Conflict” to […]

On September 29, the Hollings Center organized a policy round table at the College of International Security Affairs of the National Defense University. It featured policy practitioners, academics, and government representatives. Speakers included Sumona Guha from the Office of the Secretary of State of the U.S. Department of State; George Gavrilis, a Visiting Research Scholar, […]

On September, 29, 2015, the Hollings Center partnered with the Lifelong Learning Center at Kadir Has University to hold an event entitled Food for Diplomacy USA. This event followed-up on the Center’s next generation dialogue, Decoding Perceptions in U.S.-Turkey Relations held in fall of 2013. The event was held as part of the Lifelong Learning […]

April 30, 2015 Kadir Has University Manal Omar, Acting Vice President of the United States Institute of Peace and Shafqat Mehmood, Co-founder and Chairman of Paiman Alumni Trust gave a talk at Kadir Has University entitled Key Strategies in Countering Extremism: Experiences from the MENA Region and Pakistan. The event was co-organized by the Hollings […]

On January 21, 2015, the Hollings Center for International Dialogue held a panel entitled, “Breaking the Cycle: Creating Solutions for Water Security in the Middle East.” Event Description: Often overshadowed by political turmoil, the Middle East faces increasing environmental and resource-based challenges, notably its depleting water resources. Overuse enabled by government subsidies, growing demographic challenges […]

Can Islam be a motivation for corporate social responsibility (CSR)? Do Islamic corporations have a stronger morally obligation to act responsibly? Is CSR a product that the private sector uses as a PR tool or is it a value that firms must embrace to be sustainable? To answer these and other questions, the Hollings Center […]