Prominent Egyptian Journalist Mohamed Heikal Treats Georgetown Students to a Rare Personal Appearance

Leading Egyptian journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal delivered a riveting presentation titled “The Gulf: The Day After Tomorrow” to an audience of faculty, alumni, and students of Georgetown University in Qatar, as well as members of the Doha community, at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) yesterday.

A highly respected commentator on the contemporary politics of the Arab world for the last fifty years, Heikal has met with countless world leaders, and overseen the unfolding of major events throughout his career in journalism and politics. Dedicating his life to writing, he has authored 62 books in Arabic, and 11 books in English, which have subsequently been translated into more than 33 languages.

Following a welcome address from Dean Gerd Nonneman of Georgetown University in Qatar, Heikal addressed the audience in his traditional eloquent style. Commenting on the importance of assessing the future of the Gulf region from within, he said, “Under all circumstances and among all options, there can be no defenses or battlements outside space and time, that is: outside geography and history.”

For students of politics and history, as well as those with an interest in the region, “There are few personalities who share Mohamed Heikal’s breadth of experience and direct knowledge of some of the most important events that have shaped recent Middle East history,” said Dean Nonneman.

“Heikal’s documentation of those events and his analysis of the policies and trends of a shifting region have long informed discussion and debate for countless people in the Arab world and around the globe, including our students here at Georgetown. This presentation was a very special opportunity to hear projections for the future of the region, from a witness to its history.”

Heikal has expressed an interest in Gulf issues in previous media appearances and publications, such as in his book “Illusions of Triumph: An Arab View of the Gulf War”. Likewise, recent topics on his popular Al Jazeera lecture series touched on such issues as the Gulf and the Arab Spring, the relationship to the broader Arab world, and the question of national identity in the context of the imbalances of expat populations in the region. Despite semi-retirement, he continues to provide in-depth analysis on critical issues in the Middle East and around the world, earning him an ever expanding and engaged audience.