Advisory Board

The Advisory Board consists of academic specialists in Middle East studies who advise Campus Watch and provide insights into developments in the field.

David Cook
Professor of Religion
Rice University
Areas of expertise: early Islam, Muslim apocalyptic literature and movements for radical social change, dreams, historical astronomy, Judeo-Arabic literature, and West African Islam.
https://profiles.rice.edu/faculty/david-cook

Philip Carl Salzman
Professor of Anthropology
McGill University
Areas of expertise: Iran, India
http://www.mcgill.ca/anthropology/people/fulltime/philipsalzman

Kemal Silay
Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies Endowed Chair Professor
Indiana University, Bloomington
Areas of expertise: Ottoman and Turkish history and literature, Turkish language studies.
https://sgis.indiana.edu/faculty/directory/silay-kemal.html

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No Strategic Convergence in the Greece-Turkey Dialogue
The Stakes Are High for the United States, Which Seeks to Maintain Cohesion Among Regional Partners and Avoid Escalation Between Allies
February 2, 2026
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Nicoletta Kouroushi
If the Saudi pivot is a strategy, the Red Sea littoral is its primary theater of application; if the Abraham Accords represented a vision of an integrated regional order anchored in normalization and infrastructure interdependence, the Red Sea is where that vision encounters the structural obstacles to its realization.
Middle East Forum Online
Contested Order: The Structure of End-State Competition in the Red Sea
February 1, 2026
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Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
By allowing or facilitating the movement of radical elements toward the coast, unstable regimes in North Africa and the Levant gain a powerful bargaining chip against Europe. Their message is clear: “Fund our reconstruction and legitimize our rule, or the next boat to Lampedusa will carry more than just economic migrants.” Image: Iron boat used by migrants smugglers to arrive on the island of Lampedusa, Italy.
Middle East Forum Online
How Post-Assad Chaos and North African Smugglers Collide
The Diplomatic Veneer of the ‘New Syria’ Began to Crack, Revealing a Security Nightmare That the West Has Spent a Decade Trying to Prevent
February 1, 2026
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Amine Ayoub
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reportedly has been in hiding since Israel's airstrikes began in June 2025.
Middle East Forum Observer
Khamenei Raises Specter of Regional War Amid Unrest at Home
Reports Indicated That Tehran May Be Willing to Give up Its Stockpile of Enriched Uranium to Prevent a U.S. Attack
February 1, 2026
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Mardo Soghom
Saudia Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Middle East Forum Observer
If Saudi Arabia Flips to the ‘Axis of Ikhwan,’ What Happens to Qatar?
While Saudi Arabia Outlaws the Muslim Brotherhood at Home, Mohammed Bin Salman Empowers It Abroad
February 1, 2026
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Michael Rubin
A file photo of Syrian refugees in Kobane, a Kurdish-majority city.
Middle East Forum Observer
The Newest Deal Between Syria and the Kurds Is Not Sustainable
The Agreement’s Ambiguity Leaves Room for Multiple Interpretations, Which Could Affect Its Implementation
February 1, 2026
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Sirwan Kajjo
A terrorism investigation launched into Musa Abu Jafar in 2011 on allegations of al-Qaeda membership was quietly shelved in 2014 by the Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after senior police chiefs and prosecutors involved in the case were removed from their posts. Image: Flag of Al-Qaeda
Middle East Forum Online
Al-Qaeda–Linked Cleric Operates from Idlib Under Protection of Turkish Intelligence Agency
Musa Abu Jafar Is a Salafist Cleric Who Has Long Promoted Jihadist Causes Across Multiple Countries
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Abdullah Bozkurt
A supercomputer in a data center.
Middle East Forum Observer
Cyprus and U.S. Technology Cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean
An Agreement with Nvidia for a Computing System Reflects a Broader Trend of Deepening U.S.-Cyprus Technology Alignment
January 31, 2026
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Nicoletta Kouroushi
Reports
A Field Report from Afrin: Assessing the Prospects for Return of Displaced Kurds
Property Restitution, Security Conditions, and Minority Rights in Northwest Syria
January 30, 2026
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Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Two Baptist writers who claim to champion religious freedom have gone on tour promoting a book about “Islamophobia” in the Christian church. Yet their book and public statements normalize Islamism—a movement that undermines the very freedoms they purport to defend.
FWI Opinion & Interview
Baptist Islamophobiacs Submit to Islamism in the Name of Peace
Scholars Confess the Sins of their Fellow Christians to Islamist Activists
January 30, 2026
 · 
Dexter Van Zile