Middle East Monitor Conversations

MEMO speaks to Iraqi-American comedian and award-winning writer Reem Edan, discussing her career of doing comedy in America and the Arab world and how her background influenced the topics of her performances.Reem is known for her unique brand of 'Muslim-ennial' humour. She has performed at venues and colleges worldwide and opened for comics including Arsenio Hall and Jay Leno. She was previously invited to attend a programme at MIT for influencers using their platforms for social change, named one of Bustle's '5 Muslim Women Comedians to Get You Through Social Distancing' she can be seen performing in Arabic on the 'Stand Up Sketch Show'. Recently, Reem has worked as a synopsis writer/editor for Netflix and is the comedic voice of Tom & Jerry's Twitter page.

MEMO speaks with Professor and Director of foreign policy research Murat Yesiltas where we  discuss Turkiye's manoeuvres in the region and further afield and how this will improve its global standing.Author of 'Non-State Military Actors in the Middle East: Geopolitics, Strategy and Ideology', Yesiltas completed his BA and MA at the Department of International Relations of Sakarya University, while his PhD thesis was titled 'Locating Turkey: Geopolitical Mentality and the Army in Turkey'.Yesiltas is current carrying out research on international security, terrorism, military studies ethnic and religious radicalisation, non-state conflicts, and Kurdish affairs.

MEMO speaks with Austrian political scientist Dr Farid Hafez to discuss the latest European Islamophobia Report, of which he is a co-editor.Dr Hafez is a visiting professor of International Studies at Williams College and a non-resident senior researcher at Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative at the School of Foreign Service. Hafez published widely on Islamophobia. In 2010, he founded the Islamophobia Studies Yearbook before he created the European Islamophobia Report in 2015.