Akil Awan to speak at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on Jihadist Narratives in a Turbulent Middle East and North Africa

Akil Awan will be speaking next week, 12 December 2014 at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and Royal United Services Institute one day conference on Jihadist Narratives in a Turbulent MENA Region at Whitehall. Organised by the FCO's National Security Research Group and Middle East and North Africa Research Group, the conference will look at how jihadist narratives have evolved in recent years in response to events in the MENA region, with leading experts in the field discussing recent trends before suggesting implications for policymakers.

To attend, please RSVP to Simon.Staffell@fco.gov.uk & Marie.Haynesperks@fco.gov.uk

PROGRAMME

Welcome address: Simon Gass, Director General Political, FCO 9:00

SESSION ONE: Start, 9:15; End 10:45

Chair and discussant: Laurie Bristow, Director National Security, FCO

1. Simon Staffell: Overview: Jihadist Narratives in a Turbulent Middle East

2. Donald Holbrook: AQ Senior Leaders

Iraq, Syria and Jordan

3. Nelly Lahoud: ISIL

4. Joas Wagemakers: Jordanian Narratives

SESSION TWO: North Africa Start, 11:15; End 12:30

Chair and discussant: Cornelia Sorabji, Head of Research Analysts, FCO

5. Omar Ashour: Libya and Egypt

6. Valentina Bartolucci: Maghreb

7. Jonathan Githens-Mazer: Tunisia

SESSION THREE: Other Regions and Responses Start, 13:30; End 15:00

Chair and discussant: Raffaello Pantucci, Director International Security Studies, RUSI

8. Elisabeth Kendall: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

9. Christopher Anzalone: Shia responses to Jihadist narratives in a turbulent MENA

10. Martha Turnball: Responses from jihadists outside MENA

SESSION FOUR: Implications for Policy and at Home Start, 15:00; End: 16:30

Chair and discussant: Raffaello Pantucci, Director International Security Studies, RUSI

11. Akil Awan: Impact on radicalisation

12. Rachel Briggs: Policy implications