Episode 18 - If you think you understand the Middle East, think again!

In today's podcast, we are on the line with Beirut, speaking with Middle East expert Omar Abdulaziz Hallaj. Having lived most of his life in Aleppo, Syria, Aziz brings an extraordinary degree of insight and analysis to the history of the world's most unstable region, what has caused these multiple crises and what the future may hold; and the news is not good. If regional solutions for the simultaneous crises of ongoing conflict, growing poverty, persistent drought and climate change and even looming famine are not found soon, the changes brought about by the Arab Spring beginning in 2011 will pale in comparison in terms of regional instability. In Episode 18 we also explore how the features and foundations of world citizenship can provide the basis for a very different - and better - future for all the people in the Middle East and beyond. OMAR ABDULAZIZ HALLAJ is a consultant on urban planning, development and local governance. He is co-founder and advisor for the Syria Project at the Common Space Initiative in Beirut, where he is engaged in facilitating various dialogue and research projects for peace building and recovery planning in Syria. His professional and published research covers institutional, financial and political aspect of the urban built environment; housing, land and property (HLP); and the war economy. Formerly, he was the CEO of the Syria Trust for Development, and served on the boards of several NGO’s, and public commissions. In 2007, Mr. Hallaj was the recipient of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture as team leader of the Shibam Urban Development Project (GIZ). He subsequently served on the master jury and the steering committee of the Award.