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Brandeis University author and professor Kanan Makiya will discuss whether Iraq can sustain its current borders.

By University Communications
February 11, 2008

Is Iraq a country, or merely an artifact of early 20th-century colonialism? The question has been around since Iraq was partitioned from the old Ottoman Empire. It has taken on increased importance since the U.S.-led overthrow of former Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Kanan Makiya will visit The University of Arizona campus to discuss whether the Iraqi state in its current borders is still viable. Makiya is the Sylvia Hassenfeld professor of modern Middle East studies at Brandeis University.

Makiya will give this year’s Sabbagh lecture, sponsored by the UA anthropology department, on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Arizona Historical Society.

A native of Baghdad, Makiya is the founder and president of the The Iraq Memory Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to document the abuses of Hussein’s Ba’athist regime. He also is the founding director of The Iraq Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes public activities concerning democracy in Iraq.

Makiya left Iraq to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1981, he gave up his architecture practice to write “Republic of Fear” (1989), which became a best-seller following Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.

His third book, “Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World” (1993), won the Lionel Gelber Prize in 1993 as the best English-language book on international relations. His most recent effort, “The Rock: A Seventh Century Tale Of Jerusalem” (2001), is a historical novel about the interplay of Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

Makiya also has written for The Independent, The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement and The Times of London.

The annual Sabbagh Lecture has been supported for 16 years by Tucsonans Entisar "Vivi" Sabbagh, who has a doctoral degree from the UA anthropology department, and Adib Sabbagh, a cardiac surgeon.

The lectureship brings an expert in Arab cultures to campus for a public lecture and a master seminar for graduate students, bringing an anthropological focus to the complexity and diversity of Arab cultures of the Middle East. The lectures also are designed to enhance public understanding and appreciation for Arab cultures and enrich the anthropology department curriculum.