Dr Abbas Kelidar gave a public lecture titled “Fragile States in the Arab Middle East” on 24th June 2002, at Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation's headquarters, Eagle House in Wimbledon, London.
In his lecture, Dr Kelidar discussed the historical circumstances surrounding the creation of the states of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait and mandated Palestine in the opening decades of the twentieth century. He argued that these circumstances ensured the fragility of these states and carried within them the seeds of disturbance and upheaval prevalent in these countries since then.
Abbas Kelidar obtained his PhD in political studies at SOAS where he then taught politics with special reference to the Middle East for almost 20 years.