University of East Anglia

Faculty Member, School of Political, Social and International Studies

Lecturer in Middle East Politics

About

Dr Johan Franzén is Lecturer in Middle East Politics in the School of Political, Social and International Studies, University of East Anglia (UEA). He joined the department in 2009 after having completed a PhD in modern Middle East history at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). Prior to joining UEA he had been teaching courses on Middle East politics and history at SOAS, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Queen Mary and Birkbeck College.

Dr Franzén's main research focus has been on the role that political ideologies have played in shaping the politics of the modern Middle East (20th century), with a special focus on the Arab East (the Mashreq). His PhD thesis, which was entitled "The Power of Ideas: Communism, Iraqism and Pan-Arabism in the Ideological Formation of the Iraqi Communist Party, 1958-1979", was a study of one of the most influential ideological organisations in the modern history of the region, the Iraqi Communist Party. The thesis tracked the ideological development of this party as it faced the challenges of imperialism and nationalism during perhaps the most formative period of recent Iraqi history.

Dr Franzén is also interested in the ways in which Britain and other Western powers have been exercising power in the region from the First World War onwards. The interconnectedness between imperialist policies and nationalist responses and the resulting political ideologies are some of the key areas that his research focus on.

Contact Information