UCLA has experts on the politics, history and culture in the Middle East,Israel and Palestine, Arab-Israeli relations and Islamic law. Click an expert’s name for a more detailed biography and contact information.
Modern Middle East and Israel
James Gelvin
Gelvin is a professor of history and author of “The Arab Uprisings: What Everyone Needs to Know.” He is an expert on the social, cultural and political history of the modern Middle East, including the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
Kevan Harris
Harris is an assistant professor of sociology and an expert on modern Iran, specifically Iranian politics, government and society. He is also an authority on economic development in the Middle East and the history of the Middle East.
Steven Spiegel
Spiegel is a professor of political science and director of UCLA’s Center for Middle East Development. He is an expert on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East.
Aslı Bâli
Bâli is a professor of law and an expert on terrorism and international law. She is also an authority on civil liberties and human rights, and comparative law in the Middle East.
David Myers
Meyers is a professor of history and past director of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies. He is an expert on the history of Zionism, Israel and Jewish-Arab relations. Meyers is the author of numerous books, including “Between Jew and Arab: The Lost Voice of Simon Rawidowicz.”
Saree Makdisi
Makdisi is a professor of English and comparative literature and he has written extensively on politics in the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is the author of “Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation.”
Stuart Gabriel
Gabriel is a professor of finance in the Anderson School of Management, and also serves as a visiting professor at the Recanati Graduate School of Business at Tel Aviv University. He is an expert on economic and housing issues in Israel.
Neil Netanel
Netanel is a professor of law and past director of the Israeli studies program.
Kal Raustiala
Raustiala is a professor of law and director of the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations. He is an expert on international law and international relations.
Yoram Cohen
Cohen is a distinguished professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and an expert on water purification and desalination. An adjunct professor at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, Cohen is also an expert water and natural resources issues in Israel and other parts of the Middle East.
Benjamin Radd
Radd is a lecturer of global studies, international and area studies, and political science in the UCLA College. Radd is an expert on government and politics in the Middle East, particularly Iran, and U.S. foreign policy.
History and culture of the Middle East and Israel
Nile Green
Green is a professor of history and an expert on the history of Islam and Muslim societies, as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Rahim Shayegan
Shayegan is a professor and director of Iranian Studies in the department of Near Eastern languages and cultures and the director of the Pourdavoud Center for the Study of the Iranian World. He is an expert on Iranian history and his scholarship has covered the languages, literary traditions and history of Iran and Mesopotamia from antiquity to the early medieval period.
Nadav Molchadsky
Nadav Molchadsky is a lecturer in near eastern languages and cultures at UCLA and an expert in Israeli and Jewish history, as well as contemporary society and politics in Israel.
Mark Kligman
Kligman is a professor of ethnomusicology in the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music and an expert in the liturgical traditions of Middle Eastern Jewish communities and various areas of popular Jewish music.
To find more faculty members with expertise, search the Media Guide to UCLA Experts.
