ROLES Common Room Talk #03 Dr. Seyed Ali Alavi on the latest phase of Political Islam: Consolidation of the Islamist Regime in Syria Under the Turkish Ausipices in the Context of Israel-Iran War and the Gulf Turmoil
ROLES Common Room Talk #03 "The Latest Phase of Political Islam: Consolidation of the Islamist Regime Under the Turkish Ausipices in the Context of Israel-Iran War and the Gulf Turmoil"
In this seminar, Dr. Seyed Ali Alavi of SOAS will explore the latest phase of Political Islam in both Sunnite and Shite world.
In August 2021, the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, and in December 2024, the Assad regime collapsed in Syria, leading to the establishment and consolidation of the Sharaa government, a coalition of Islamist forces supported by Turkey's long established Islamist regime. These developments suggest that political Islam may have reached a new phase.
On the other hand, Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, ushered in an era of Israel’s unlimited military confrontations against adversaries in the region, starting from Palestine to Lebanon, Syria and eventually reaching at Iran. The “12-Day War” between Israel and Iran in June 2025 and the U.S.-Israel war on Iran from February 2026 have dealt with a significant blow to the foundations of the Iranian regime, undermining its regional hegemony while triggering a global energy crisis due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. How will Shiite political Islam, which reached its peak with the 1979 Iranian Islamic Revolution, change as a result of the Iran War?
“ROLES Common Room Talk” series is an exclusive research seminar for scholars and pratcitioners in research and policy. This third session of ROLES Common Room Talk will examine in detail the latest developments in Islamism against the backdrop of the direct confrontation between US-Israel and Iran.
Moderator: Satoshi Ikeuchi, Professor of Religion and Global Security, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology (RCAST) of the University of Tokyo/Founding Chair of the RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES)
Date and Time: 15:00 -16:30, 22 April 2026
Venue: Auditorium at RCAST Building No. 13, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology of the University of Tokyo Address: 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, Japan 153-8904
Participation: Members of the ROLES, Invited Scholars and Pratcitioners (Registration from here)
Organizer: RCAST Open Laboratory for Emergence Strategies (ROLES) of the RCAST of University of Tokyo
