Invited Scholars and Guest Speakers

Invited Scholars & Guest Speakers

“Strategic Diplomacy: Israel – Europe Relations in a Middle East Context”

Ambassador Zeév Boker

Consul General of Israel to New England, former Israeli Ambassador to Ireland, and Zeév, former Director of the International Relations Department and Director of the Southeast Europe Department of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Libya’s Impact on Department of State Policy in the Sahel”

Renee Michelle Ragin

Renee Michelle Ragin is a Ph.D. Candidate with Duke University’s Program in Literature and is earning a certificate in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. Her dissertation is on the prominent political ideologies during the Lebanese civil war era (1975-1990), as well as the counter-narratives employed by non-combatants, especially writers and artists. She has taught at Duke University and North Carolina State University and has lectured on the Syrian refugee crisis at a local high school. Prior to Duke, Renee was a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State serving in Washington, DC and Saudi Arabia. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 2010.

“Under Contract: The Human Costs of Privatizing War”

“Opportunities And Challenges Of Establishing Afghanistan’s First And Only All-Girls Boarding School”

Noah Coburn

Author of Under Contract: The Invisible Workers of America’s Global Wars, and Bazaar Politics: Power and Pottery in an Afghan Market Town, and a sociocultural anthropologist focusing on political structures and violence in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Shabana Basij-Rasikh

President and co-founder of the School of Leadership, Afghanistan (SOLA). Since its establishment in 2008, SOLA students have represented 23 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. More than 45 students have been sent to colleges and universities abroad, and they received more than 194 years of scholarships, valued at $9.4 million.

“Indo-Pacific: From Oceans Of Confrontation To Oceans Of Prosperity”

Admiral Tomohisa Takei Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (Ret.)

Former 32nd Chief of Maritime Staff of the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force. A graduate of the Japan National Defense Academy.