Understanding the roots of regional conflicts
ASCS explores the historical roots and impacts of regional conflicts, aiming to provide a deeper understanding of their origins and effects on contemporary issues.
About ASCS
Arab Society for Conflict Studies
An academic association of scholars interested in conflict studies in the Arab world.
Who we are
Introducing ASCS
The Arab Society for Conflict Studies (ASCS) is an academic association of scholars interested in conflict studies in the Arab world. It focuses on stimulating scholarly research and producing authentic knowledge related to conflict in the region in terms of its causes, issues, dynamics, available solutions for its management and resolution. This can be achieved by benefiting from available scholarly studies on the phenomenon and the tools and concepts provided by Arab society to deal with it. Thus, the society seeks to contribute to the establishment of “Arab Conflict Studies” research, considering the cultural and historical specificity of Arab society and benefiting from global scholarly production in this field. Researchers come from a background of various disciplines including sociology, political science, international studies, psychology, communication, and others.
Why an Arab society for conflict studies?
The Arab region currently suffers from protracted conflicts whose roots extend back to the era of global colonization and before, where the region was subjected to various forms of colonization that influenced its cultural, social, and political structure. This resulted in distorted national structures that interacted with internal factors within Arab society, leading to multiple national and regional conflicts. Almost no Arab country today is free from conflicts at various levels, some of which manifest in extreme violence, exacerbating fragmentation and weakness in Arab society as a whole. Some of these conflicts have political, societal, and cultural dimensions, taking various forms such as political partnership deficiency, sectarian and tribal divisions, relations with minorities, social gender issues, and many more. Despite the abundance of conflicts in Arab society, there is a severe scarcity in higher education institutions for conflict studies, whether at the level of Arab universities or civil society institutions and NGOs concerned with studying conflicts on scholarly grounds. Conflict has been present in human society since the beginning of social interaction, and there have been scholars throughout history who dedicated their lives to studying conflicts, including the renowned Ibn Khaldun. However, the study of conflict as an academic discipline with its various pillars took a distinct form in the twentieth century.
Today, it is observed that most contributors to the study of conflict as a discipline in the twentieth century came from Western universities and societies. Their educational and cultural training in the field of study, along with the dominance of Western cognitive production in the social sciences in general, led to monopolizing the formulation of theories, concepts, perspectives, and intervention mechanisms. The output has not necessarily taken into considerations not only the cultural specificities and social structures of non-Western societies but also contributed to shaping the foreign policies of Western countries in a way that exacerbated these conflicts in various regions of the world, including the Arab region. Hence, there is a need to produce genuine Arab knowledge that contributes to the accumulation of efforts to establish an Arab science of conflicts
built upon what Arab society provides in terms of tools to deal with conflicts, benefiting from both the local and global intellectual heritage in understanding, managing, and resolving conflicts. Although global cognitive production in this field is abundant and important, any Arab attempt cannot dissociate itself from it, knowledge is cumulative, deriving its inputs from human intellectual production rather than from an independent group by itself. However, the need for a genuine Arab perspective has become imperative to enrich the field based on the requirements of local and regional understanding, developing new and innovative research approaches that contribute to deepening the critical vision of conflicts and finding sustainable solutions to them. ASCS is one of these scholarly forums working towards this direction.
Why ASCS?
Addressing the gap in conflict studies
ASCS fills the void in conflict studies within the Arab region by developing research and resources tailored to local contexts and integrating global insights.
Arab knowledge production in conflict studies
The science of conflict studies originated mostly in the Western world. ASCS helps produce knowledge that develops the field from an Arab perspective, building on human knowledge production in this field.
What we do
The association's work is diverse across the following areas.
Research
Contributing to authentic Arab research on conflict in Arab society and the solutions available to deal with it, including joint research among members: authoring and editing books, academic articles and research projects.
Education
Educational resources on conflict as an academic study within the Arab cultural framework: curriculum materials, workshops and a bank of syllabi that university professors at every level can use to teach conflict management, conflict theory, conflict in the Middle East, armed groups and more.
Activities
Seminars, conferences and discussions on conflict in Arab society and on political developments related to conflicts in the Arab world.
Our vision
ASCS aims to create an academic environment that contributes to achieving a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of conflict in the Arab world on both societal and political levels within the boundaries of the nation-state and in the relations between Arab states and their relations with other countries. The association seeks to accomplish this through objective, independent, authentic, and constructive research work, as well as educational activities in the field of postgraduate studies, and related events such as conferences and scientific seminars.
The association seeks to attract research and practical expertise from various disciplines in the social and human sciences that possess deep and multidimensional interests in the field of conflict in their various forms, such as civil and international wars, revolutions, and rebellions that resort to violence to achieve their goals, in addition to widespread forms of violence.
Our team
FOUNDING President
Ibrahim Fraihat
Ibrahim Fraihat is an associate professor in international conflict resolution at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, a fellow at the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College, USA, and non-resident fellow at Deakin University’s Middle East Studies Forum in Australia. He previously served as senior foreign policy fellow at the Brookings Institution, and taught conflict resolution at Georgetown University and George Washington University.
Program Manager
Reema Aburamadan
Reema Aburamadan is an accomplished professional with a strong background in social sciences, particularly in conflict resolution, humanitarian efforts, and international relations. Aburamadan holds two master’s degrees: one in Global Affairs from Bahcesehir University and another in Conflict Management and Humanitarian Action from the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. She also has a bachelor’s degree in International Relations.
International Advisory Board
Executive Committee
Join our network
Become part of a growing community of scholars and specialists focused on conflict studies in the MENA region. Collaborate on research, contribute to advancing knowledge in the field and engage with experts from diverse disciplines.