The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in association with the India International Centre (IIC) invites you to a talk on:
West Asia after Bashar al-Assad: Regional and Global Ramifications
Speaker:
Amb. Talmiz Ahmad, Former Indian Ambassador, and Expert on West Asia and Ram Sathe Chair, International Studies, Symbiosis International University, Pune
Chair:
Amb. Gautam Mukhopadhaya, Senior Visiting Fellow, CPR and Former Ambassador of India to Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar
Monday, 20th January 2025, 6:00 PM IST
The talk will be held at Lecture Room II, India International Centre Annexe, New Delhi. Register below to attend.
About the talk:
The talk will look at the background to the upheaval in Syria, the emergence of the Hayat Tahreer al-Sham as a military and political force in the country, and the factors that facilitated its capture of Damascus. Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad will then discuss the role of different external players in the Syrian regime-change and the uncertainties – political, ideological and economic – that are likely to shape the national scenario in coming months.
Finally, he will delve into the longer term implications of developments in Syria for regional and global politics and conclude with some reflections on the larger issues relating to emerging civilisational competitions and world order that will be resonant in coming years.
About the speaker:
Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974. He served as Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia twice (2000-03; 2010-11); Oman (2003-04), and the UAE (2007-10). He was also Director General of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), New Delhi, in 2006-07. In July 2011, the Saudi Government conferred on him the King Abdul Aziz Medal First Class for his contribution to the promotion of Indo-Saudi relations.
He has published four books: Reform in the Arab World: External Influences and Regional Debates (2005); Children of Abraham at War: The Clash of Messianic Militarisms (2010), and The Islamist Challenge in West Asia: Doctrinal and Political Competitions after the Arab Spring (2013). His latest book, West Asia at War: Repression, Resistance and Great Power Games, was published by Harper Collins in April 2022. He writes regularly in the Indian and West Asian media and lectures on the politics and economics of West Asia, Eurasia and the Indian Ocean, political Islam and energy security.
Ambassador Ahmad is now a full-time academic and holds the Ram Sathe Chair in International Studies, Symbiosis International University, Pune.
