The Conflict in the Middle East: Contexts and Ramifications is a series of conversations that provides an in-depth analysis of the ongoing war and conflict, focusing on historical roots, current dynamics, and potential pathways to peace. The series explores the longstanding tensions between Israel and Palestine, the political and social implications for both sides, and the broader regional and international impact.
Each session features experts in the field, including historians, legal scholars, political analysts, and human rights advocates, who discuss key events leading up to the current conflict, the humanitarian crisis, and diplomatic efforts. The goal of these academic discussions is to foster an informed dialogue that helps audiences understand the complexities and perspectives involved in the crisis. The sessions will be moderated by Sarah Wildman of the New York Times.
All sessions will be held for free online via Hopkins at Home, though registration is required.
These discussions are part of the Johns Hopkins University’s commitment to the creation of knowledge and the exploration of ideas. Read more about free expression at Johns Hopkins.
Upcoming Conversations
All of the talks in this series will be moderated by Sarah Wildman, an editor and writer for Opinion at the The New York Times.
Wildman was previously the co-creator, producer, and host of Foreign Policy’s First Person podcast.
International Law and the Israel-Palestine Conflict
April 22, 2025, 6 to 7:30 p.m., virtual
Speakers: Kevin Jon Heller of the University of Copenhagen Centre for Military Studies, Martin Lederman of Georgetown Law, and Hala Khoury-Bisharat of the Ono Academic College School of Law
Join us as our speakers examine the role of international law amid the current landscape of violence and conflict in the Middle East. What are the challenges of enforcing accountability and how do legal frameworks influence the complexities of diplomatic strategies?
All Conversations
International Law and the Israel-Palestine Conflict
VirtualApril 22, 2025, 6 to 7:30 p.m., virtual Register here! Speakers: Kevin Jon Heller of the University of Copenhagen Centre for Military Studies, Martin Lederman of Georgetown Law, and Hala […]
Our Speakers
Michelle Goldberg
Michelle Goldberg has been an opinion columnist at the The New York Times since 2017. She was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service for reporting on issues of workplace sexual harassment.
Samer Sinijlawi
Samer Sinijlawi is a Palestinian political activist and founding chairman of the Jerusalem Development Fund. He was a head of the International and Israeli relations on Fateh Supreme Committee and oversaw relations between Fateh and major political parties in Europe and the Arab world as well as in Israel.
Hussein Rashid
Hussein Rashid is an Assistant Dean for Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School.
Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov is the Samuel Pisar Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University. Educated at Tel Aviv University and St. Antony’s College, Oxford, he has written widely on war crimes, interethnic relations, and genocide.
Bret Stephens
Bret Stephens is an opinion columnist for The New York Times, writing about foreign policy, domestic politics and cultural issues.
Samuel Moyn
Samuel Moyn is the Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University, where he also serves as head of Grace Hopper College.
Seyla Benhabib
Seyla Benhabib is a senior research scholar and adjunct professor of law at Columbia Law School. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Columbia University Department of Philosophy and a senior fellow at the Columbia Center for Contemporary Critical Thought.
Kevin Jon Heller
Kevin Jon Heller is Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Military Studies and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires.
Martin Lederman
Professor Lederman was Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel from 2009 to 2010, and an Attorney Advisor in OLC from 1994-2002.
Cass Sunstein
Cass Sunstein is currently the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard. He is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School.
Michael Roth
Michael S. Roth ’78 became the 16th president of Wesleyan University in 2007, after having served as Hartley Burr Alexander Professor of Humanities at Scripps College, Associate Director of the Getty Research Institute, and President of the California College of the Arts.
Sarah Wildman
Our moderator, Sarah Wildman, is an op-ed page editor at the The New York Times. She is the co-creator, producer, and host of Foreign Policy’s First Person podcast.
Rula Hardal
Rula Hardal is the co-director of the Palestinian-Israeli political organization “A Land for All–Two States, One Homeland” and a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
Hassan Jabareen
Jabareen is the general director of Adalah, which provides legal aid and advocacy for Palestinian rights in Israel. He has litigated scores of landmark constitutional law cases regarding the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel, including the Palestinian leadership in Israel.
Hala Khoury-Bisharat
Hala Khoury-Bisharat has a Ph.D. in law from the University of Oxford, England. She is a lecturer and the academic director of the law school in Ono Academic College, Haifa Campus and adjunct lecturer at the law faculty in Tel Aviv University.
David French
David French is a columnist for The New York Times. A graduate of Harvard Law School, David was previously a senior editor at The Dispatch and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He is a former constitutional litigator and a past president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
Robert Satloff
Robert Satloff is the Segal Executive Director of The Washington Institute, a post he assumed in January 1993. In that capacity, he oversees all Institute operations and leads the organization’s unparalleled team of Middle East scholars, experts and policy practitioners.