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David Mednicoff

Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Director, Middle Eastern Studies, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Prof. David Mednicoff (J.D./Ph.D., Harvard) directs the Middle Eastern Studies program at the University of Massachusetts -- Amherst. His areas of expertise include Middle Eastern law and politics, international law, human rights, globalization studies, US foreign policy, and comparative public policy.

Prof. Mednicoff's publications and ongoing research deal broadly with interdisciplinary connections between legal and political ideas and institutions at the national and transnational levels, particularly as these relate to current policy issues in the Middle East. He is currently completing two book manuscripts on the politics of the rule of law, democratization and US foreign policy in five Arab societies. He also has written on Arab constitutional politics and Islam before and after the events of 2011, the legal regulation of migrant workers in the Arab Gulf, human rights in the Middle East and humanitarian intervention. He has presented his work at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the US Department of State, the Saudi Arabia Institute of Diplomatic Studies, and Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford and Yale Universities, among other places.

Prof. Mednicoff's teaching honors include a university-wide Lilly Teaching Fellowship for promising junior faculty, the U. Mass. College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award, and a national prize for innovative teaching related to the US after 9/11/01. Prof. Mednicoff was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in law in Qatar in 2006-7, where he taught legal and political philosophy at Qatar University. He was a Research Fellow in 2010-11 in the Dubai Initiative at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. He will hold a Fellowship at the ZIF (Institute for Advanced Study) in Bielefeld, Germany in 2014 as a member of a research group on Religion and Human Rights in Constitution-Writing. He writes and comments frequently for the media.

Global Geopolitics Series

The US-Iran conflict and the consequences of international law-breaking

Jan 10, 2020 10:25 am UTC| Insights & Views

Editors note: Irans missile attack on a U.S. base in Iraq in retaliation for the Trump administrations killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani has dramatically escalated global tensions. Dozens of questions have...

Netanyahu’s hardline foreign policies may outlast his tenure

Mar 06, 2019 14:24 pm UTC| Insights & Views

The upcoming indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could end the long-serving conservative politicians career. But even an abrupt exit would leave his hawkish policies in the Middle East intact. The...

A Trump Administration casualty: Democracy and civil rights in the Middle East

Aug 28, 2018 15:26 pm UTC| Insights & Views

Donald Trump has shown little interest in encouraging democratic politics and human rights in other countries. This departure from decades of American foreign policy rhetoric has received comparatively little attention....

Global Geopolitics Series

US airstrike on Syria: What next?

Apr 08, 2017 05:36 am UTC| Insights & Views

Make no mistake. The April 6 U.S. airstrike on Syria following Bashar al-Assads chemical weapon attack is a remarkable shift in President Donald Trumps and Washingtons past policy. As president-elect, Trumps Middle...

Economy

US Yen Intervention Unlikely to Deliver Lasting Recovery, Yardeni Says

U.S. efforts to strengthen the Japanese yen may offer only temporary relief as Japans fiscal policies, wide interest-rate gap with the United States, and preference for a weaker currency continue to pressure the yen,...

Iran-Oman Near Strait of Hormuz Deal as Shipping Tensions Persist

Iran and Oman are nearing an agreement on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran says a bilateral deal alone will not be enough to fully reopen the critical global energy route. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas...

Trump Unveils $3 Billion U.S. Critical Minerals Push

President Donald Trump announced roughly $3 billion in U.S. government investments and financing for critical minerals, battery materials and mining projects, part of a broader effort to strengthen domestic production and...

Oil Prices Set for Steep Weekly Losses as Hormuz Deal Stalls

Oil prices fluctuated on Friday and remained on course for sharp weekly declines as uncertainty surrounding a potential agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz continued to drive volatility across global energy markets....

Gold Prices Surge 7% as Dollar Falls, Fed Rate Hike Bets Ease

Gold prices rallied sharply on Friday, putting the precious metal on track for its strongest weekly performance since late January as a weaker U.S. dollar, lower oil prices and softer Federal Reserve rate hike expectations...

Politics

Germany Warns of Daily Hybrid Warfare Threats

Germany is facing foreign hybrid warfare operations on a daily basis, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has warned after authorities discovered an explosive-carrying drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Dobrindt said hostile...

ICE to Complete Nationwide Body Camera Rollout by End of August

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will equip all officers and agents working in the field with body-worn cameras by the end of August, accelerating a nationwide rollout that was initially expected to take...

Joe Biden’s Prostate Cancer Has Spread Further, Hunter Biden Says

Former U.S. President Joe Bidens prostate cancer has spread beyond his bones and is causing significant pain, according to his son, Hunter Biden, who discussed his fathers health in a BBC interview. Speaking to the BBCs...

Senate Majority Leader John Thune Moves to Advance Crypto Clarity Act

U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has taken a key step toward advancing the Clarity Act, a major cryptocurrency regulation bill that could establish the first comprehensive federal framework for the U.S. crypto...

Taiwan President Lai Oversees Coastal Strike Drills in Han Kuang War Games

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te observed coastal strike drills on Saturday as the island continued its annual Han Kuang military exercises, designed to strengthen Taiwans defence readiness against a potential Chinese attack....

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Nvidia Seen Beating Q2 Targets as Vera Rubin Cycle Begins

Nvidia (NVDA) could enter a multi-quarter growth cycle as shipments of its next-generation Vera Rubin AI chips begin, with BofA Global Research forecasting stronger-than-expected quarterly results and maintaining a bullish...

OpenAI Restricts Astra AI Over Cyberattack Risks

OpenAI has reportedly restricted parts of the development of its next-generation AI model, code-named Astra, after early evaluations indicated the system could potentially carry out sophisticated cyberattacks with limited...

Nvidia to Invest Up to $3 Billion in Blackstone-Backed Lancium

Nvidia is reportedly preparing to invest as much as $3 billion in Lancium, a Blackstone-backed power infrastructure developer involved in the Stargate artificial intelligence infrastructure initiative, as demand for...

Meta Ordered to Pay $567M Over Child Safety Violations in New Mexico

Meta Platforms Inc. has been ordered to pay $567 million into a fund designed to address harm to young people, in a major legal ruling involving child safety on Facebook and Instagram. Judge Bryan Biedscheid of New Mexicos...

Nintendo Shares Jump as Switch 2 Sales Boost Earnings

Nintendo shares surged nearly 5% on Friday after the Japanese gaming giant reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings and upgraded its full-year financial outlook, supported by robust demand for the new Switch...