When: Wednesday, December 4, 12:00pm—1:30pm
Where: Schwartz Hall 103, Brandeis University

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/781625312266400/

How and why are some minorities neither fully included nor simply expelled by a state? What does it mean to be suspended in limbo—residing in a territory for extended periods without ever accruing any citizenship rights? In this talk, Noora Lori will discuss her recent book, Offshore Citizens: Permanent Temporary Status in the Gulf, an in-depth study of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which uses new archival sources and extensive interviews to show how “temporary residency” can be transformed into a permanent legal status. This presentation will focus specifically on the UAE’s minorities—communities of South Asian, Persian, and East African descent whose Emirati citizenship was called into question when new biometric passports were introduced in 2008. After being stripped of their Emirati passports, these populations were issued passports from the Union of Comoros. This new legal status authorizes them to remain in the UAE, but as temporary ‘guest workers’. This arrangement codifies temporary residency into a formal citizenship status, allowing elites to effectively reclassify domestic minorities into foreign residents.

Noora Lori is an assistant professor of international relations at Boston University.

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When: Wednesday, November 20, 12:00pm—1:30pm
Where: Schwartz Hall 103, Brandeis University

Facebook Event:  https://www.facebook.com/events/2186491834992662/

Despite regional pressures, Oman has somehow managed to maintain friendly and effective diplomatic ties with Iran, neighboring Gulf Arab states, and the U.S. Given growing tensions both within the GCC and between the GCC and Iran, as well as a looming succession question, can Oman continue its unique foreign policy? And what does this mean for the U.S.? In this talk, Gary Grappo—who served as U.S. Ambassador to Oman from 2006-2009 and as Deputy Chief of Mission in both Oman (1998-2001) and Saudi Arabia (2003-2005)—will give a brief history of Oman and its policies. He will outline the challenges Oman faces and the past and future of Omani-U.S. relations.

Gary Grappo is a former U.S. ambassador and currently a distinguished fellow at the Center for Middle East Studies at the Korbel School for International Studies, University of Denver. Previously, he was visiting senior scholar at the University of Wyoming. He possesses nearly 45 years of diplomatic and public policy experience in a variety of public, private and nonprofit endeavors.

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