23th November 2017.
European Solidarity Centre
Gdańsk, Poland.

Third edition of the international academic & business conference
Arab and Muslim World in International Relations



The conference will be held in Gdańsk (Poland), in the European Solidarity Centre on 23th November 2017. This invitation is addressed to scholars, researchers, experts and professionals interested in the broadly defined Arab and Muslim World reaching from the West Africa through the Middle East and Central Asia until the Far East. The major focus of the conference is on the Middle East countries, yet topics related to the Muslim countries of the Far East (e.g. Indonesia), Central Asia (e.g. Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan), or North Africa (e.g. Algeria, Morocco) are also within the conference agenda.

Conference Objectives:

Share information on research and exchange opinions among academics and professionals specializing in the Arab and Muslim region;
Promote cooperation between academia and business;
Explain economic, political, and legal dilemmas of the Arab and Muslim World;
Expand the academic and business-academic cooperation between Higher Educational Institutions from Poland and the Arab and Muslim countries, including development of joint research projects;
Provide space for expanded business cooperation between entrepreneurs from Poland and the Arab and Muslim countries;
Understand cultural differences among and within the countries involved in the conference, and thus contribute to the intercultural dialogue.


he conference will address four major dimensions of international relations in the Arab and Muslim World: Politics, Economy, Law, and Culture

Language: The working language of the conference is English.


Special Guest:

Ashraf El-Sherif is a lecturer in political science at the American University in Cairo. He is an expert in political Islam, state-religion relations, democratic transition, social movements, and state-society relations in the Middle East and North Africa. He was a nonresident associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He has contributed to several journals and newspapers in English and Arabi.

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CONFERENCE PROGRAMME

08:30-16:00 Registration Desk Open

09:00-09:15 Opening Ceremony, Temporary Exhibition Hall (ground level)
Welcome: Professor Rafał Ożarowski, Chair of Conference Organizational Committee
Opening: Representative of European Solidarity Centre
Opening: Professor Edward Haliżak, President of Polish International Studies Association
09:15-10:15 Keynote Lecture
Chair: Professor Rafał Ożarowski, University of Business and Administration, Poland

Professor Ashraf El-Sherif, American University in Cairo, Crisis of the Old Polities and Sustained Revolutionary Conditions in the Middle East

10:15-10:45 Coffee break
10:45-12:30 Plenary Session, Temporary Exhibition Hall (ground level)
Chair: Professor Rafał Ożarowski, University of Business and Administration, Poland

Professor Radosław Fiedler, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, Iran as a regional power: ideas vs. reality
Professor Edward Haliżak, University of Warsaw, Poland, Offshore balancing in the US foreign policy: Case study of the Middle East
Vladimir Naxera, PhD, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic, Islamophobia without Muslims: anti-Muslim and anti-Arab attitudes in Czech society
Zining Yang, PhD, Claremont Graduate University, USA, A Multi-Resolution Model Scanning Political Stability in Arab and Muslim World
12:30-13:00 Lunch
13:00-14:30 Panel sessions 1, 2, 3
Panel 1 Political Dilemmas in the Gulf, Part I
Venue: Temporary Exhibition Hall (ground level)
Chair: Professor Jakub Zajączkowski, University of Warsaw, Poland

Professor Przemysław Osiewicz, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland, The Iranian Foreign Policy Towards Central Asia After 2013
Abdollah Ghanbarloo, Associate Professor in the Dept. of International Relations, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies (IHCS), Tehran, Iran, Religious Nationalism and Its Impacts on Iranian Foreign Policy
Jiři Zákravský, PhD, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic, The Sports Diplomacy of the State of Qatar and Its (Lack of) Success in the Czech Republic: Analysis of the Czech Nationwide Press in 2016
Yusuf Can Gokmen, PhD Candidate, Emin Ertas, PhD Candidate Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, Soccer as a Tool of International Politics: Qatar Case

Panel 2 Economic Issues in the Middle East, Part I

Venue: Room No. 4 (level +1)
Chair: Karina Jędrzejowska, PhD, University of Warsaw, Poland

Professor Marek Rewizorski, University of Gdańsk, Poland, Socio-Economic Governance Revisited. The Case of Saudi Arabia Oil (In)dependency
Anna Wróbel, PhD, University of Warsaw, Poland, PTAs of Persian Gulf States: Determinants and Implications
Wojciech Grabowski, PhD, University of Gdańsk, Poland, Vision 2030: Saudi Arabia Beyond Oil
Mehdi Amiri, PhD Candidate, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran, Economic Diplomacy in Iran Foreign Policy after Nuclear Deal (With an Emphasis on Iran_ EU Relations)

Panel 3 Conflicts and Terrorism in the Muslim World

Venue: Room No. 5 (level +1)
Chair: Hadi Ajili, PhD, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran

Magdalena El Ghamari, PhD, Collegium Civitas, Poland, Military operations in MENA region
Saaedeh Kouzehgari, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran, Necessitous of analyzing phenomena in the Middle East, based on Chaos Theory
Saed Raza Shah, Cecos College London, UK, Terrorism and Muslim Community
Syed Subtain Hussain Shah, PhD Candidate, University of Warsaw, Poland, Comparative Study of Post 9/11 and Post Arab Springs Violent Religious Extremism in Pakistan
Przemysław Zawada, University of Wroclaw, Poland, Avigdor Lieberman and Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2009-2017)
14:30-14:45 Coffee break
14:45-16:15 Panel sessions 4,5,6

Panel 4 Political Dilemmas in the Gulf, Part II

Venue: Temporary Exhibition Hall (ground level)

Chair: Professor Przemysław Osiewicz, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland

Muzaffer Kural, PhD Candidate, Adam Mickiewicz University, Geopolitical Rivalry Between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the Middle East
Hadi Ajili, PhD, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran, Comparative Review of Iran and Saudi Arabia Middle East Policies (2011 -2017)
Professor Rafał Ożarowski, University of Business and Administration, Gdynia, Poland – War in Syria in foreign policy of Iran
Fazli Dogan, Assistant Professor, Selcuk University, Turkey, Success of Integration Initiatives in the Islamic World: The Case of D-8

Panel 5 Economic Issues in the Middle East, Part II

Venue: Room No. 4 (level +1)

Chair: Professor Marek Rewizorski, University of Gdańsk, Poland

Anna Czarczyńska, PhD, Kozminski University, Poland, Cross-culture vs. cross-compliance
Professor Adriana Łukaszewicz, Kozminski University, Poland, Model of sustainable development in the GCC countries in light of ecological constraints
Karina Jędrzejowska, PhD, University of Warsaw, Poland, Arab Countries as Donors of Development Finance
Iwona Sobol, PhD, Gabriela Mieczkowska, PhD, University of Gdansk, Poland, Islamic Banking development in GCC region on the examples of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates
Panel 6 Islamic Issues in Eurasia

Venue: Room No. 5 (level +1)

Chair: Yehuda Udi Blanga, PhD, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Professor Jakub Zajączkowski, University of Warsaw, Poland, Middle East in India’s Foreign Policy
Professor Sylwester Gardocki, University of Warsaw, Poland, Russian Foreign Policy Towards Middle East Countries
Gracjan Cimek, PhD, Polish Naval Academy, Poland, Islam in Russia’s efforts for Eurasian integration
Martina Ponížilová, PhD, University of West Bohemia, Czech Republic, The (Again) Changing Strategic Map of the Middle East: Foreign-Policy Activities of China As Emerging Powers in the Region
Salma Naz, Minhaj University, Pakistan, Foreign Policy Decision Making in Pakistan in perspective of Political Culture
16:15-16:30 Coffee break

16:30-18:00 Panel Sessions: 7, 8, 9

Panel 7 EU and the Islamic World: Mutual Perspectives and Strategies

Venue: Temporary Exhibition Hall (ground level)
Chair: Wojciech Grabowski, PhD, University of Gdańsk, Poland

Hana Hlaváčková, PhD, Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic, EU small states and their fight against ISIS
Karol Bieniek, PhD, Pedagogical University of Cracow, Poland, The European Future of Turkey and the Security Perspectives in the Justice and Development Party`s Era
Magdalena Ickiewicz-Sawicka, PhD, Bialystok University of Technology, Poland, Balkan Muslims – origin, structure, identity
Daniel Gołębiowski, PhD Candidate, Jagiellonian University, Poland, Culture in EU External Actions – Example of Arab Countries

Panel 8 Islamic Movements and their Activities: Goals and Strategies

Venue: Room No. 4 (level +1)

Chair: Professor Rafał Ożarowski, University of Business and Administration, Poland

Yehuda Udi Blanga, PhD, Bar-Ilan University, Israel, The Rise of the Phoenix: The Muslim Brotherhood and the Civil War in Syria
Konrad Pędziwiatr, PhD, Cracow University of Economics, Poland, State as a Key Actor in Politicization of Islam in Egypt and Tunisia Before and After the Arab Spring
Ali Jafari, PhD Candidate, International Institute for Islamic Studies, Iran, ISIS and Fundamentalist Religious Interpration of Islam
Rafał Kobis, PhD Candidate, Jagiellonian University, Poland, Riffian al-Hirak Movement – The new (political) face of Berberism in Morocco
Patryk Jędrowiak, PhD Candidate, University of Wroclaw, Poland, Hizmet Movement and public diplomacy of Turkey

Panel 9 Identity and Culture in the Muslim World

Venue: Room No. 5 (level +1)

Chair: Professor Adriana Łukaszewicz, Kozminski University, Poland

Professor Yuriy Skorokhod, Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv, Ukraine, Consociational democracy”: the model of the democratization of deeply divided Arab societies?
A. Z. Obiedat, PhD, Wake Forest University, USA, Identity Contradiction in Islamic Awakening and the Reformation Attempts
Michał Moch, PhD, Kazimierz Wielki University, Poland, Popular Culture, Politics and Ethnicity. New Forms of Popular Music in Palestine/Israel
Magdalena Mateja, PhD, University of Nicolas Copernicus, Poland, Media images of civil war in Syria and its consequences: child as a symbol of death and destruction

18:00-18:15 Closing Remarks, Temporary Exhibition Hall (ground level)

Professor Rafał Ożarowski, Chair of Conference Organizational Committee
Professor Edward Haliżak, President of Polish International Studies Association