Lecture
Islamic Aid and Gulf States in Contemporary Crises
- Altea Pericoli
- Date
- Friday 23 October 2026
- Time
- Location
- Zoom
Altea Pericoli brings together an analysis of Islamic norms and foreign aid interventions by the Gulf States through the study of various levels of aid implementation and policies, and examines their behaviour in a specific case study: the Syrian humanitarian response from 2015 to 2023. The analysis explores the top-down decision-making process of aid allocation by Qatar, the UAE and non-state regional actors, as well as the humanitarian negotiations and aid distribution conducted by Gulf charities and local organisations in Syria after 2015.
The central argument of this book is based on the existence of non-universal but coexisting values that inspire humanitarianism, and the confrontation between values and practices in humanitarian aid implementation. The Gulf States, like any other donor states, are guided by the structural norms of the aid system and the politicisation of aid itself. However, originating from a different political and cultural background, including different Islamic understandings, they bring with them distinct practices and approaches within the system that can no longer be ignored.
About Altea Pericoli
Altea Pericoli is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow jointly affiliated with Princeton University and Ca’ Foscari University.
Event Information
This event is the fifth seminar in the “Genealogies of Islam and Humanitarianism” series organized by the ERC-funded Entangled Universals of Transnational Islamic Charity research project.
Altea Pericoli will be joined in conversation with Khaled Almezaini, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Zayed University.
Participants can register via the button below. The meeting link will be sent to registered participants one week before the event.
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