The Middle East in Transition Conference

The last two years have witnessed a profound shift in the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East, yet these transformations are inseparable from the region’s longer historical trajectories. In Gaza, today’s severe humanitarian crisis unfolds within a decades‑long history of occupation, conflict, and contested narratives of homeland and displacement. These events raise urgent questions not only about political responsibility but also about the ethical, historical and cultural frameworks through which suffering and resistance are understood.

In Syria, the post‑Assad transition remains complex, shaped by the legacies of authoritarian rule, colonial-era borders, and the historical negotiation of minority rights and communal identities. The fall of Assad has reconfigured regional alignments – contracting Iran’s strategic reach while opening new opportunities for Turkey and Saudi Arabia – but it also invites reflection on the deeper historical patterns of empire, intervention, and state formation that continue to inform social and political life. These shifts reverberate through cultural memory, artistic expression, and the reconstruction of identity in the wake of profound loss.

In the wake of the United States’ and Israel’s attacks on Iran, which carry prospects for regime change, Washington’s policies are entangled with a long history of external intervention, Cold War legacies, and competing moral narratives about global order and responsibility. These regional developments have echoed across Australia, where their social and cultural afterlives are increasingly visible. Rising intolerance, Islamophobia, and antisemitism have exposed vulnerabilities in the nation’s social cohesion.

Communities grapple with questions of identity, representation, and the ethics of coexistence. These challenges underscore the need for critical reflection on the stories societies tell about each other, the policies that structure belonging, and the practices that cultivate – or erode – social trust.

The yearning for justice, recognition, and human security is both contemporary and deeply historical. It is voiced through political claim-making but also through literature, oral histories, visual culture, and everyday acts of resilience that carry memories across generations.