REEVALUATING THE NEXUS OF ARAB REVOLUTIONS, ISLAMISM AND GLOBAL SECURITY:
U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY AND GLOBALIZED CONFLICTS

Robert Rabil

Lifelong Learning Society Distinguished Professor of Current Affairs 2012-2013
Recipient of the LLS 2008 Excellence in Teaching Award

DESCRIPTION: The end of the Cold War, and the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, marked the height of the unipolar power of the U.S. But complex challenges and threats emanating from various contested, strategic areas of conflict have cast a shadow over U.S. national security. Scholars and analysts refer to the process of transition from a unipolar to multi-polar world to contextualize and understand the nature of these challenges and threats to U.S. national security. Significantly, Arab revolutions, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, radical Islam, and Iran’s nuclear program advances have underscored the complex and nuanced dynamics of these interconnected issues. This series will attempt to analyze a number of conflicting security issues within the context of their local and international dimensions, with
the aim of challenging certain misconceptions affecting U.S. foreign policy.

EIGHT LECTURES:

1. Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States: The lost war?
   
2. Islam and Islamism in Russia: Domestic and foreign implications
   
3. The Muslim Brotherhood in Power: A real or cosmetic transformation?
   
4. Islam and Islamism in France: Domestic and external implications
   
5. Algeria: Beyond Arab revolutions?
   
6. Libya: Path to unity or disintegration?
   
7. Israel and Azerbaijan: A sustainable alliance?
   
8. Arab Revolutions and the United States: The rise or fall of U.S. leverage in the Middle East?

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Dr. Robert G. Rabils holds a Masters in Government from Harvard University and a PhD in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. He served as Chief of Emergency for the Red Cross in Lebanon, and was project manager of the U.S. State Department-funded Iraq Research and Documentation Project. He has written extensively on Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, U.S.-Arab Relations, reform in the Arab world, radical Islam and terrorism. Dr. Rabil is a frequent speaker at major university campuses throughout the country. He lectures and participates in forums and seminars sponsored by the U.S. government, including the U.S. Army and the National Intelligence Council. He currently is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and was recently conferred with an honorary PhD in humanities from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.