A humbling experience

SAIS has experts in a great many fields. They are leading academics and policymakers. They help set the agenda.

Experts you can know

Events that have swept recently through the Arab world have brought to the fore some of the expertise inside of SAIS. Our Middle East Studies faculty have helped make sense of the developments in articles and interviews. The developments are of keen interest to many other areas, from economics to development.

I thought it was a good time to tap the knowledge of Karim Mezran, who is an adjunct professor of Middle East Studies at SAIS Bologna.

Prof. Mezran also teaches at John Cabot University in Rome and  is director of the Center for American Studies in the Italian capital. His two courses at SAIS Bologna this year are "Political Islam and Change in the Mediterranean Area" and "North African Political Development" -- surely relevant to current events.

I caught up with Prof. Mezran in his office in the Bologna Center. Here are his reactions to the recent events, which he called "a humbling experience" for all those who have studied North Africa and the Middle East.



Nelson Graves