Associate Professor to Discuss "Challenges for Peace in the Middle East"

by Angie Best, student newswriter, (254) 710-1961

Dr. George Gawrych, associate professor of Middle East history at Baylor University, will deliver a lecture titled "Hezbollah and the Challenges for Peace in the Middle East" at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, in Room 116 of the Draper Academic Building as a part of the Global Issues Lecture Series.

Gawrych specializes in modern Middle East, late Ottoman Empire and modern military histories. He is the author of multiple publications, including "The Albatross of Decisive Victory: War and Policy between Egypt and Israel in the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli Wars," and his most recent project, "The Crescent and the Eagle: Ottoman Rule, Islam and the Albanians, 1874-1913."

Gawrych's lecture will provide a historical perspective on Hezbollah's recent war with Israel and will address why Hezbollah was successful in forcing Israel to abandon its occupation of southern Lebanon. Gawrych also will discuss the significance of the Hezbollah phenomenon with respect to the prospects for peace.

Gawrych received his doctorate in history from the University of Michigan in 1980. Prior to joining the Baylor faculty in August 2003, he served as visiting and assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, the School for International Studies in Fort Bragg, N.C., the University of Kansas and the United States Military Academy.

For more information about Gawrych's lecture or the Global Issues Lecture Series, contact Gawrych or Dr. Lizbeth Souza-Fuertes at (254) 710-4531.