Egypt and Beyond

Sally is Senior Lecturer in Middle East Studies and the Convener of the Middle East Studies program at Deakin. In addition, Sally is the Chair of the Faculty of Arts & Education Academic Progress and Discipline Committee and co-founder of the Australia Middle East Research Forum (AMERF).

She joined Deakin in February 2007 having taught Middle East politics, International Relations, and Australian foreign policy at Macquarie University in Sydney for 9 years.

Sally is an author and international expert on Middle East policy and politics and is a frequent commentator for, and contributor on, a wide range of issues relating to the Middle East for various radio, television and print media groups (e.g. Radio National, ABC Radio, ABC Television, Bloomberg, The Age/Sydney Morning Herald), as well as speaking at public forums and delivering public lectures.

Hamish Macdonald is Senior Foreign Correspondent on the Ten Network’s 6pm with George Negus. He shares hosting duties with Hugh Riminton in George’s absence.

Born and raised in the Snowy Mountains town of Jindabyne, Hamish left Australia in 2003, working initially for the prestigious UK Channel Four News before moving to the Al Jazeera Network. Named Young Journalist of the Year in the UK in 2008, Hamish more recently anchored the International Emmy nominated coverage of the Georgia-Russia war live from Tbilisi.

Highlights from his journalistic careers so far involve spending extended periods reporting from the frontline of the war in Afghanistan, street riots across Asia and investigated secret border incursions between India and China as well as oil industry corruption in Cambodia. Hamish has honed his interviewing skills on numerous world leaders and senior figures in South East Asia’s Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

Hamish also specialises in presenting major news events live from location. He has anchored coverage of the UK, US & Afghan elections, the G20 summit, the Georgia-Russia war from Tbilisi and the Sichuan Earthquake from China. During his time with Al Jazeera Hamish hosted the flagship Newshour program as well as investigative program People & Power and debate program Inside Story. He also stood in for Sir David Frost on Frost over the World.

Larry Stillman has a PhD from Monash University in the sociology of technology. He is a member of the Executive of the Australian Jewish Democratic Society, an organization which has long advocated a two state solution. He has studied Arabic and Hebrew.

Larry also has degrees from the University of Melbourne, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Harvard, specializing, until he gave up, as an Assyriologist - a specialist in ancient Mesopotamia.

He lived in Israel for 4 years in the 70s, studied and worked in the US during the Reagan years, and had a long interest-standing interest in the politics of Israel and its relationship to Palestinians and Arabic neighbours and to the US. One side of Larry’s family comes from the long-established Jewish community of Ottoman Palestine. Another side migrated to Australia in the 1920s.

He is currently involved in a new partnership between Oxfam Australia and Monash University to improve international development capacity. He previously worked for Vicnet, at the State Library. His work in the field has taken him to India and South Africa. In his spare time he blogs for Galus Australis, an online Jewish magazine, and occasionally for New Matilda. Until recently, he was on the Committee of Liberty Victoria. Views expressed by Larry reflect his personal position, and should not be seen as endorsed by Monash University or the AJDS.

Professor Fethi Mansouri, Director of the Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, holds a Chair in Migration and Intercultural Relations, School of International and Political Studies, Deakin University.

His publications include Australia and the Middle East: A Frontline Relationship (2006); Political Islam and Human Security (2008); Islam and Political Violence: Muslim Diaspora and Radicalism in the West, (2007); Identity, Education, and Belonging: Arab and Muslim Youth in Contemporary Australia (2008); Youth Identity and Migration: Culture, Values and Social Connectedness (2009); and Migration, Citizenship and Intercultural Relations ( 2011). His forthcoming books include: Muslim Diasporas and the Challenges of Representations and National Belonging (2012); and The Arab Revolutions in Context: Socio-Political Implications for the Middle East and Beyond (2012).