Moynihan Institute News, Research and Commentary

"There really is no winner here, and a military solution is not possible. What needs to happen is for a high-level diplomatic effort by the Biden Administration, using regional partners and allies, to de-escalate the conflict," Osamah Khalil, professor of history, tells CNY Central.

“Israel had no intention of agreeing to the emergence of a viable, contiguous, and independent Palestinian state,” says Osamah Khalil, professor of history. “Israel was able to pursue its occupation and settlement policies with the political cover of endless negotiations,” he says.

"Action anthropology and public policy change: Lead poisoning in Syracuse, NY," co-authored by Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Robert Rubinstein, was published in the Annals of Anthropological Practice.

"One initial impetus for the book was my desire to bring geography’s concepts and insights into better conversation with topics in Middle East area studies," says Timur Hammond, assistant professor of geography and the environment. "Although over a decade has passed since I started research on this topic, expanding the disciplinary connections between geography and Middle East area studies continues to be a core goal."

"Trajectories of Translation," co-authored by Timur Hammond, assistant professor of geography and the environment, was published in Progress in Human Geography.

Six faculty members were granted tenure and promoted to associate professor and three were promoted to professor.

“If they [Saudi Arabia] want to be able to guarantee their population food security, they know that they can’t really do that domestically,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. The Arizonan land was particularly appealing to the kingdom “because you can get more bang for your buck when you buy that farm,” says Koch.

The award was established in 2016 to recognize excellence in teaching and to appreciate indispensable contributions of our faculty to enhancement of knowledge of the Middle East and North Africa region.

“If you can invest the capital to drill a deep well that can get deep into the groundwater supply, then you can really pump as much as you want,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. “This was appealing to the Saudis as well to go [to La Paz County], where they’re not being charged for water they extract because there’s no measuring of it.”

Timur Hammond, assistant professor of geography and the environment, has written “Placing Islam: Geographies of Connection in Twentieth-Century Istanbul” (University of California Press, 2023). 

“The U.S. has always been promoting and setting up this entire thing,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. “It’s not like the Americans are passive in this. We have absolutely helped sow the seeds for that Saudi agricultural industry that has come back to us now.”

Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment, argues that state lawmakers need to update the state’s 43 year old water law and create more active management areas to regulate water use across Arizona. “There needs to be some way of monitoring and regulating who is drawing what from the aquifers,” says Koch.

"Delta Democracy: Pathways to Incremental Civic Revolution in Egypt Beyond" (Oxford University Press, 2020), written by Associate Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs Catherine Herrold, was reviewed in Democratization.

In her recently published book, “Arid Empire: The Entangled Fates of Arizona and Arabia” (Verso, 2023), Maxwell School faculty member Natalie Koch explores the exchange of colonial technologies between the Arabian Peninsula and the United States over the last two centuries. 

“Pumping groundwater in Arizona remains largely unregulated,” writes Natalie Koch, professor of geography. “It’s this legal failing that, in part, allows the Saudi company to draw unlimited amounts of water to grow an alfalfa crop that feeds dairy cows 8,000 miles away.”

Catherine Herrold, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, was a guest on the Project on Middle East Political Science (POMEPS) podcast and discussed her recent study, "Curating Sovereignty in Palestine: Voluntary Grassroots Organizations and Civil Society in the West Bank and East Jerusalem."

Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history, tells USA Today the meeting between the leaders could have an impact on the United States' efforts to garner more support for Ukraine.

Research on the relationship between lead poisoning and community violence by Robert Rubinstein, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, and Sandra Lane, professor of anthropology by courtesy appointment, was featured on the CNY Central segment, "Could Syracuse's lead paint problem be causing more youth violence? Researchers think so."

"Rethinking Authoritarian Politics Through Commemoration Following Turkey’s July 2016 Coup Attempt," authored by Assistant Professor Timur Hammond, was published in ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies.