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On March 10, 2018, AUK's Model United Nations team (AUKMUN) attended the Kuwait International Law Society MUN (KILSMUN) closing ceremony at the United Nations House. Representing the highly accomplished team at the prestigious ceremony was Ali Al-Qallaf, Ahmad Saleem, Farah Al-Deehani, Fatima Mir Ahmadi, Hussain Khashab, and Taibah Ismaeil.

Prior to the ceremony, the MUN sessions covered a variety of pressing global issues: statelessness; the prevention of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes; and the imposition of regulations, as well as economic and diplomatic sanctions on member states. Each committee had a facilitated discussion on one of the major issues, led by a committee chair. These chairs were selected by KILS and served as judges for the contenders in the competition, all of whom, in this case, were local students.

During the ceremony, AUKMUN member Ahmad Saleem gave a thoughtful presentation on the methods and benefits of recycling. His talk targeted the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals - a set of seventeen initiatives proposed by the U.N. as a "universal call to action" to end poverty, combat climate change, and prevent environmental degradation by 2030 - specifically focusing on Goal 8: Decent work & Economic Growth and Goal 13: Climate Action. Saleem demonstrated the ways in which recycling can support economic growth in Kuwait, while also furthering environmental protection and conservation both in Kuwait and abroad.

At the closing ceremony, Ali K. Al-Qallaf, president of AUKMUN, was named the KILSMUN "Best Delegate" which was his second time winning that award. American Ambassador H.E. Lawrence Silverman, United Nations Representative Dr. Tarek Al-Sheikh, and Zain representative Mr. Waleed Al-Khashti presented Al-Qallaf with his award - a high honor recognizing his extraordinary dedication to MUN. The award was based on Al-Qallaf's outstanding performance as a delegate representing the United States of America at the General Assembly. The two resolutions of which he was the main sponsor won majority votes within the committee. Al-Qallaf has also won three international awards previously - two in Geneva and one in Bahrain - bringing his total to five awards for AUKMUN.
 

In collaboration with the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and the Kuwait Program at Sciences Po, the Center for Gulf Studies (CGS) at AUK hosted a lecture entitled, "The Politics of Foreign Aid in the Middle East: The Gulf States Aid Donors". The lecture, which addressed the under-examined nature of foreign aid dynamics in the Middle East was presented by Dr. Khaled Al-Mezaini, a Research Associate at Cambridge University and Kuwait Visiting Professor at Sciences Po, Paris School of International Affairs. Dr. Al-Mezaini's unique approach to the topic of foreign aid attracted many members of AUK's community and the public to his lecture.

Dr. Al-Mezaini commenced the lecture with a historical summary-regional states have been receiving aid since the 1950s, Egypt, Iraq, and Jordan have been the largest regional recipients, and the USA, UK, and Germany have been among the top donors. Citing vague signs of limited political and economic reform-and clear signs of increased corruption-Dr. Al-Mezaini challenged the conventional narrative about the effectiveness of foreign aid transfers over the past five decades. He argued that aid has become politicized: instead of being used for its initially intended purposes-to directly fund projects that could be beneficial to the public-aid has been perverted in order to be used to bolster and maintain the status quos of regimes. Thus, the purpose of aid has become less about state welfare, and more about aligning those regimes with the security interests of the West.

As an example, the United States has primarily offered aid to Israel and Egypt-namely military aid-in order to assist those countries' defence efforts, and thus enable them to maintain territory or secure arms for state or non-state actors.

In addressing the future of foreign aid in the Middle East, he tackled difficult, but all the more critical, questions: whether Gulf nations can sustain aid provisions after the decline of oil prices, a possible shift from bilateral to multilateral aid, and the need for increased monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of foreign aid. He called for accountability where nations continue to provide aid despite failures to achieve its objectives.

Following the lecture, the audience engaged in a lively discussion with Dr. Al-Mezaini, which allowed him to further expand on his points regarding Kuwait's role in foreign aid, the lack of transparency in disclosing accurate details, and UN's non-binding role in following-up on underlying corruption within the dynamics of foreign assistance provision.

In commenting on the significance of this talk, Dr. Al-Adwani, the Acting Director of CGS, said, "The topic of foreign aid in the GCC is a topic that has not been well-researched because often the data is lacking, or the data is very difficult to get. What Dr. Al-Mezeini did today was provide a comprehensive overview of the topic, as it's something we haven't really seen collectively before."

Khaled Al-Mezaini is a Research Associate at Cambridge University. Al-Mezaini received his PhD in 2009 from the University of Exeter. His doctoral thesis focused on the role of foreign aid in UAE foreign policy. His publications, research, and teaching interests also include political economy of the Gulf, international relations of the Gulf, and comparative politics. His latest publication (2017) is an edited book with Jean-Marc Rickli entitled The Small Gulf States: Foreign and Security Policies Before and After the Arab Spring. His forthcoming book is The Politics of Aid: The Foreign Aid Programs of the Gulf States.

The Center for Gulf Studies is a research center under the College of Arts and Sciences at the American University of Kuwait. We aim to promote greater cultural understanding of and increased intellectual interest in the Gulf, by facilitating free and open academic discourse on a range of issues that both shape and challenge this critical region of the world. Our goal is to enable scholars as well as political and civil society actors both within and outside the region to contribute and add value to the burgeoning field of Gulf Studies. To this end, we seek to encourage, support, and cultivate interesting and original research on the Gulf, and to create an environment in which our students and faculty can interact and collaborate with researchers and activists from around the world in creative and engaging ways.
 

For the 12th consecutive year, AUK hosted visitors that included 14 political science students along with their professor, Dr. Kathleen T. Bailey, an Associate Director of Islamic Civilization & Societies Program.

As an educational trip, this visit aimed to supplement their learning for a course they are enrolled in entitled, Kuwait: Intercultural Diplomacy where they are allowed to practically live life in Kuwait through a series of cultural experiences. The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs and several student volunteers organized their tour around campus by showcasing AUK's recently completed Student Center and other facilities. Their visit concluded at AUK with a lecture on campus by Mr. Samer Khanachet, Group Chief Operating Officer of KIPCO.

In commenting on the significance of this opportunity Dr. Bailey said, "They see Kuwait, and they have an idea of what this area of the world is like, and it's usually a misperception. Then you come to Kuwait, and it's peaceful and lovely, and people are interested in sharing different ideas. You find that you have much more in common than before." Dr. Bailey also noted the ripple effect this could have as it similarly affects different generations throughout the coming years.
 

The Center for Research in Informatics, Sciences and Engineering (RISE) at the American University of Kuwait, in collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, hosted a lecture entitled, "Dare to do Mighty Things: Hitting the Road on Mars" by Zainab "Nagin" Ahmed Cox, a graduate of Cornell University and the United States Air Force Institute of Technology. After serving as a US Air Force Officer, Ms. Cox went on to serve as a systems engineer and manager on multiple interplanetary robotic missions, culminating in her current role as a systems engineer and the tactical uplink lead at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Beginning with welcoming remarks and a short video showing the 2012 landing of the Mars Rover Curiosity on the Martian surface, the lecture discussed a variety of topics ranging from the importance of teamwork in modern space exploration to the finer points of landing some of humanity's most complex machines 54.6 million kilometers away from Earth. Ms. Cox easily walked the audience through the history of NASA's four Mars rovers, including the three of which she had been involved with, and paid special attention to the most recent mission-Curiosity, and the next mission which will take place in 2020. She discussed the purpose of Curiosity in depth, focusing on the specifics of soil analysis, drilling, the search for water, and, of course, taking breathtaking pictures. The final technical part of her lecture was devoted to the 2020 rover, whose mission this time is specifically to search for signs of past life on Mars.

Ms. Cox also discussed the rigors of working for NASA, demonstrating the challenges of what it means to "...live on one planet but work on another". This includes 100-hour work weeks leading up to Curiosity's landing, to working shifts on "Mars Time" for the first 90 days after the successful touchdown. Her descriptions of the trials and rewards of working in space exploration gave the audience an inside look into the human side of the technology-heavy field, and the videos and pictures she shared of colleagues celebrating the success of all their hard work were a testament to the close bonds formed in extreme work environments. In noting that space exploration is more significantly an active, international and committed effort to serve a common goal, she said, "I see no borders; I see no nations; I see one planet." Towards the end of the lecture, she called on the audience to do exactly what the title of her lecture demanded: to not fear challenge, to always push boundaries, and to believe that the hard things in life are worth doing, even if they require great sacrifice, assuring, "I can tell you that after 25 years, the thrill does not go away."

Dr. Amir Zeid, Director of the RISE Center, said, "The speaker walked the audience through the history of NASA's four Mars rovers, giving the audience the opportunity to hear about the most recent mission-Curiosity from an expert who has worked on it firsthand. Nagine's extraordinary experiences as an engineer and scientist demonstrated to the attendees that in order to have an extraordinary life you must dare to do mighty things."
 

The American University of Kuwait (AUK) celebrated International Women's Day with an exciting and empowering weeklong agenda of various activities at the AUK Campus.

The events included debates about gender roles, confidence-boosting discussions circles, panel discussions about domestic abuse and women's progress and success, and a women's march. Most of the events were organized by AUK's Fikir Club, Alpha Psi Omega club, and the Division of Student Affairs.

The busy week came to a close with a lively and influential panel discussion featuring successful women who gathered to speak about the progress and success of women, how far they have come, and the bright future ahead of them. The group of inspirational guest speakers included Mrs. Salma Al Hajjaj, General Manager, Human Resources at Gulf Ban; Zeina Mokaddam, Managing Director at PH7 Publishing House; Balsam Al Ayoub, CEO and Founder of Balsam International; Sarah Chouari, Founder & Artist at ARTSPACE; and Faten Al Kadiri AUK Alumni and HR Administrator for Talent Acquisition & Benefits & Compensation at AUK.

Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Hanan Muzaffar said, "March 8, International Women's day is a time to celebrate the accomplishment of women and to highlight the progress and success that has paved the way for a promising future and what better way to do this than to inspire and motivate our future generations."