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‘The First World War and its Aftermath: The Shaping of the Middle East’Inaugural GINGKO Conference6-7 December 2014SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), LondonConvened by HRH Prince El Hassan of Jordanand Dr Barbara Schwepcke, of the Gingko LibraryThe Gingko conference series brings together scholars from the East andthe West. The Gingko conferences are designed to complement the GingkoLibrary, a project to publish one hundred books over the next ten years,presenting the latest work in both Arabic and English across the fullrange of humanities, social sciences and sciences relating to the MiddleEast and North Africa. The first Gingko conference, to be held in Londonon 6–7 December 2014, focuses on the effects of the First World War onthe Middle East. Our guest speakers include Professor Khaled Fahmy ofthe American University in Cairo and Dr Eugene Rogan of the Universityof Oxford. Other confirmed attendees include Professor Charles Tripp(SOAS), Professor Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak (University of Maryland),Professor Yousef Meri (LMU Munich) and Professor Mustafa Aksakal(Georgetown University).The course of the First World War, as it played out in the Middle Eastand the political and cultural changes around it, shaped the modernMiddle East: The Ottoman and the Russian Empires fought each other forsupremacy in the region – neither succeeded nor survived the fight. Bothsides tried to use notions of Islamic unity and Pan-Arabism to their ownadvantage: Sultan Mehmed V called for a global Muslim jihad against theEntente Powers, while Britain stirred Pan-Arabism with little intentionof honouring promises made in the process. At the end of the First WorldWar four multi-ethnic empires lay in ruins. In the Middle East lineswere drawn in the sand, dividing communities which had lived togetherfor centuries. Wilson’s ideals were as powerful an inspiration asLenin’s communist utopia on nationalist leaders such as ‘Abd al-‘Azizal-Tha‘alibi and Saad Zaghloul, but what constituted a nation in theMiddle East and North Africa in the aftermath of the First World War? Inthe end, neither the Tunisian Destour nor the Egyptian Wafd party wereallowed to present their case for national self-determination at theParis Peace Conference. And the only Middle Eastern delegation to attendwas the Hejaz, lead by Emir Feisal, who had been promised a unitedArabia – a promise betrayed at the end of the First World War.Points of discussion could include:• Shaping Ethnic Identity: From the Arab Revolt to Pan-Arabism, 1916 to 1933•Shaping State Identity: The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire andthe artificiality of the post-First World War state system, 1919 to 1939• Shaping National Identity: Wilson or Lenin? Who had the greaterinfluence on nationalism in the Middle East?• Shaping Political Identity: From Subject to Citizen – What constituteslegitimate governance in the aftermath of the First World War MiddleEast and North Africa?• Shaping Religious Identity: The Sultan’s jihad and the beginnings ofpolitical IslamAbstracts for papers should be submitted by Monday 2 June 2014 to AranByrne; proposals for sessions must be submitted by Monday 7 July 2014.Proposals should be no more than 300 words long.For further details please contact:Aran ByrneThe Gingko Library70 Cadogan PlaceLondon SW1X 9AHTel: +44 (0)20 7838 9055 Fax: +44 (0)20 7584 9501Email: aran@thegingkolibrary.comwww.thegingkolibrary.com/gingko-conferenceThe inaugural Gingko conference looks at the immediate aftermath of theFirst World War with a particular focus on how the period began a longprocess of reshaping the identities of the peoples of the Middle East.How has our understanding of this history changed in both Western andMiddle Eastern scholarship? What is the relevance of this history to theself-understanding of the people and politics of the region? What arethe implications in terms of the concept of nation state and nationalboundaries? How did it influence the legitimacy and governance in theregion? What lessons can be drawn from this period for both West andEast when looking at the challenges and opportunities in the Middle Easttoday?The conference will include a gala plenary discussion between Lord Owenand Prince El Hassan bin Talal on avoiding the mistakes of 1919 in themodern Middle East and a visit to, and reception at, the exhibitionForgotten Heroes: North Africans and the Great War 1914–1919. It willconclude with a literary event, bringing together writers from theMiddle East and the West. Together, the two parts of the event willcomplement one another, presenting a unique forum for intellectualexchange among scholars and writers and will establish the intendedcontinuity to next year’s conference, when Literature and Iran will bethe main focus of the Gingko Conference.The Inaugural Conference is expected to attract considerable mediaattention and a PR agency will be engaged to handle individual interviewrequests as well as to publicise the dialogue. The plenary discussionswill be recorded and made available via the internet to reach the widestpossible audience.Funding opportunities to cover travel and accommodation are availablefor scholars that are selected to speak at the conference. A selectionof the papers delivered at the conference will be published together ina volume in the Gingko Library, following review. We will also be keento talk to speakers at the conference about the possibility ofdeveloping their papers into book-length proposals for the GingkoLibrary. All speakers will be invited to become members of the GingkoNetwork, an association for scholars of the Middle East and NorthAfrica, based both in the region and beyond.The Gingko Library is a not-for-profit limited company by guarantee,which is currently applying for charity status and affiliation with theMiddle East Studies Association (MESA). It is committed to fosteringintercultural dialogue and better understanding between and withinOrient and Occident.Please find more information here: www.thegingkolibrary.com