BCARS Executive Committee
The BCARS Executive Committee is comprised of academics, journalists, and advisers on Arab Region issues representing the fields of security, law, economics, and Middle East Politics. The Executive Committee meets annually and works in tandem with the BCARS Directorship to establish the Consortium’s research and outreach priorities.
Ali Banuazizi
Professor of Political Science and Director, of the Program in Islamic Civilization and Societies (ICS) at Boston College
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Ali Banuazizi’s scholarly interests include political cultures of the Middle East; intellectuals and politics in the Middle East; and Iran's social history, domestic politics, and foreign relations. He is the past President of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and the International Society for Iranian Studies (ISIS).
Dr. Banuazizi has held visiting appointments at Princeton, Harvard, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, M.I.T., and Oxford University.
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Susan Akram
Director of Boston University Law School's Human Rights Clinic
Clinical Professor of Law
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Dr. Akram was recognized with a Fulbright Senior Scholar Teaching and Research Award in 2000, and has lectured to both public and governmental audiences, including UNRWA and the EU. She has taught at the American University of Cairo, Al Quds University, Birzeit University, and Oxford University.
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She supervises students in international advocacy on the domestic, regional, and international levels. Dr. Akram's research interests revolve around immigration and human rights in the Middle East, Arab Region, and Muslim world.
Nadim N. Rouhana​​
Professor of International Affairs and Conflict Studies, Director of the Program on International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the Fletcher School, Director, The Fares Center of Eastern Mediterranean Studies
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Dr. Rouhana's research includes work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the dynamics of protracted social conflict, collective identity and democratic citizenship in multi-ethnic states, and settler colonialism. His recent books include the co-edited volume, "When Politics Are Sacralized: Comparative Perspectives on Religions Claims and Nationalism" (Cambridge University Press, 2021), and the edited volume, "Israel and its Palestinian Citizens: Ethnic Privileges in the Jewish State" (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Dr. Rouhana is also an affiliate faculty at the Harvard Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and founding Director at the Mada al-Carmel-Arab Center for Applied Social Research in Haifa
Joseph Bahout
Director, Issam Fares Institute, Professor of Practice, Political Science, American University of Beirut
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Bahout is also Associate Fellow at the Geneva Center for Security Policy, and has been a Visiting and Non-Resident Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Program, Professor of Middle East Politics at Sciences Po, and served as Permanent Consultant for the Policy Planning Unit at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Most recently, he's also served as a Non-Resident Associate Fellow with the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University, and member of the Scientific Board of the Institut Francais du PRoche-Orient (IFPO). He is the author of two books, in addition to numerous articles and book chapters, and a frequent commentator in the European and Arab media.
Rami Khouri
Founding Director and Senior Policy Fellow, Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, American University of Beirut
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Rami Khouri is a Palestinian-Jordanian and U.S. citizen whose family resides in Beirut, Amman, and Nazareth. His journalistic work includes writing books and an internationally syndicated column. His journalism background includes posts at the Daily Star (Beirut), the Jordan Times, (Amman), the Financial Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post.
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He has served as a fellow and research associate at several leading universities, often comments on Mideast issues in the international media, and lectures frequently at conferences and universities around the world.
