Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti

On Friday, June 13, 2014, Associate Professor of History and American Studies Nabil Al-Tikriti appeared on Los Angeles based KPFK’s “Radio Uprising” program to discuss the latest developments in Iraq. Hosted by Sonali Kolhatkar, Al-Tikriti was also joined by Matt Howard of the NGO “Iraq Veterans Against the War.”

The segment lasted just over 18 minutes, and can be screened via this podcast link: http://uprisingradio.org/home/2014/06/13/breaking-sunni-militants-capture-cities-as-baghdad-braces-for-an-invasion/.

In the course of this discussion, Al-Tikriti described the factors dating back to the 2003 Anglo-American invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq which led to the current crisis. He also offered prescriptive advice for today’s policymakers, suggesting both that the regional sectarian war that many have been predicting has in fact arrived, and that one of the few policy options with a modest chance of success would be for U.S. officials to mediate a meeting between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, June 21, 2014, Nabil Al-Tikriti appeared on San Francisco’s KPFA “Saturday Morning Talk” program to discuss developments in Iraq. Hosted by Kris Welch, Al-Tikriti was also joined by Sami Rassouli of the “Muslim Peacemaker Teams” and Robert Naiman of “Just Foreign Policy.”

The segment lasted roughly 55 minutes, and can be screened via this podcast link until July 5: http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/103986. Al-Tikriti’s starts at the 1:06 minute mark.

In the course of this discussion, Al-Tikriti described the meaning of the term ISIL, the evolution of the organization’s growth, the role played by U.S. foreign policy in the past, and some of the options facing foreign policymakers today.

In his capacity as a member of the Board of Directors for Doctors Without Borders/MSF USA, Nabil Al-Tikriti discussed MSF at two recent forums. In the first, he addressed the University of Virginia International Relations Organization and Middle Eastern Leadership Council on 16 April, at Jefferson Hall off the main quads. In this presentation, he discussed MSF’s involvement in the Middle East since the 1970s, as well as the movement’s overall goals, orientations, and decisions throughout its history.

On 21 April, Prof. Al-Tikriti represented MSF and discussed their protocols regarding field military-humanitarian cooperation at a forum organized as part of the Marine Corps University’s “Nine Innings” exercise on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief at Quantico, Virginia. In doing so, he joined a number of other NGO (ICRC, CARE, IMC) and US government  (USAID, DHS, State Department) representatives addressing similar concerns, and spoke with several Marine and international military officers about their experiences, limitations, and expectations working with independent NGOs in the field of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Nabil Al-Tikriti discussing an FAD topic.

In his capacity as a board member of the United States section of  MSF/Doctors Without Borders, Nabil Al-Tikriti, associate professor of history and American studies, participated in the annual Field Associative Debate (FAD) for MSF staff serving throughout Afghanistan, in Kabul on March 10 – 11.

This year’s international FAD topic covered the use of new communications and data collection technologies for field-based medical relief, while the national FAD topic asked where MSF might usefully choose to expand its operations in Afghanistan in the months and years to come. For the latter debate, participants were exposed to three UN maps detailing conflict, needs, and NGO presence in Afghanistan, and were then asked to debate potential regional and operational areas of need. After debating this year’s topics, staff members then presented recommendations and motions for consideration by the MSF International General Assembly. Immediately prior to this year’s FAD, Prof. Al-Tikriti joined several colleagues on a brief field visit to both a mobile clinic and Ahmad Shah Baba hospital in the outskirts of Kabul, a full service maternity, child health, and trauma hospital supplied, supported, and staffed with the assistance of MSF. Upon his return, he co-authored a FAD report, and completed a brief memo on regional operations for internal review.

Shortly after his return, Al-Tikriti made a presentation to the Stafford Rotary Club on March 19 describing his past experiences since 1993 volunteering in field operations with MSF, and his current activities as an MSF USA board member. In the course of this presentation, he discussed his experiences in several international conflicts, MSF’s charter and approach to medical relief, the movement’s global financial challenges, and his recent trip to Kabul.

On Sept. 28, Nabil Al-Tikriti offered a presentation entitled “Advocating for Release: The al-Darani Appeal” to the International Symposium on Piri Reis and Turkish Maritime History in Istanbul, Turkey. The conference, which brought together several dozen Ottoman maritime history experts from all over the world, was hosted by the new Prime Minister’s Ottoman Archives. Invited by the conference organizers, Prof. Al-Tikriti presented his analysis of two letters sent by a prisoner of the Knights of St. John, based in Rhodes. Organizers plan to complete an edited volume of conference presentations by the end of the year. This conference was hosted by the Turkish Historical Foundation, the Prime Minister’s Ottoman Archives, and the Ataturk Supreme Council for Culture, Language, and History. Here is a link to the conference program: http://sempozyum.ttk.gov.tr/eng/PiriReis_Program.pdf

Here is Prof. Al-Tikriti’s conference abstract:

“In 1504, in the midst of lengthy prisoner negotiations between Şehzade Korkud (d. 1513) and the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, the Ottoman prince demanded the immediate release of fourteen Muslim prisoners. One of those he named was a certain “Hajji Abu Bakr.” It is probable that this individual was Abū Bakr al-Dārānī, who had sent a letter to Korkud appealing for his rescue from these Knights of Rhodes. His letter, probably written at some point in 1502-1503, was transcribed and inserted into Korkud’s 1508 magnum opus, Da‘wat al-nafs al-ṭāliha.  Steeped in the rhetorics of ghazā’, al-Dārānī used arguments which combined the imperatives of militant piety, real world enrichment, and political calculation. As this prisoner saw it, the Knights were perfidious infidel pirates who never honor their agreements, pillage throughout the region, enrich themselves at the expense of Muslims, enslave ten Muslims for each one that they release, and oppress the Greeks (Rūm) who populate Rhodes. According to al-Dārānī, their harm to Islamdom was so severe that even if the Ottomans were to capture all of Christendom yet fail to capture Rhodes, they would have accomplished nothing. Al-Dārānī also set out to counter two widely-held beliefs concerning the Knights in Rhodes – that they would be difficult to conquer and that they possessed nothing worthy of the expense. Considering that only 600 Knights resided on the island, the prisoner insisted that the islanders would help the Muslims take the island, and that it would be easy to take. Not only were the Knights vulnerable, but they possessed great wealth, and their wealth was more than sufficient to compensate for any costs incurred by invading the island. Closing with political arguments concerning the dangers the Knights posed to Ottoman sovereignty, al-Dārānī, concluded that the Ottomans should waste no time invading Rhodes. Sources provide no sure indication whether al-Dārānī and the other prisoners listed in Korkud’s 1504 request were ever freed. However, another undated letter by a certain Taḳīyüddīn Dārānī of Ṭrablus-i Şām also urging an invasion of Rhodes provides several hints as to what might have ensued with these prisoners.

In my presentation, I examine these two letters in some depth and elaborate on what they tell us about Ottoman-Knights relations around the turn of the 16^th century. I also explore some of the broader implications concerning enslavement, raiding, piracy, and Muslim-Christian conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean during the same period.”