Historian @uofuhistory; Director of @UofUMEC; Author: Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj @ColumbiaUP. Views are my own.
Salt Lake City, UT
Joined September 2016
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It is a great honor to collaborate with @kfcris_en/@KFCRIS on the Prince Mohammed Al Faisal Chair for the History of Technology and Innovation in the Kingdom.
We will host a conference, "A Century of Pioneers: Re-Imagining Saudi Histories of Technology and Innovation," in October 2027. Applications to participate are due by November 1, 2026. For details on how to apply:
kfcris.com/en/centerDomains/…
Most dramatically, Iran went after the power and water supply in Kuwait.
It was Trump who first publicly threatened the water supply of Iran in March. But it was the Iranians who turned that threat into a reality for its neighbors, said Michael Christopher Low, director of the Middle East Center at the University of Utah.
The threat was especially acute for Kuwait, a desert country that draws 90% of its drinking water from desalination plants. These facilities are often connected to coastal power plants because filtering the water takes massive amounts of heat and electricity.
Reuters found Iran hit at least four of Kuwait’s eight dual power-and-desalination plants from March 2 through July 20. Some were struck repeatedly. During one four-day period in July, Iran attacked what the government described as “several” desalination plants, including one at least twice in that brief period.
Iran’s missiles and drones have hit Gulf infrastructure sites at least 135 times, causing cascading failures that governments have often concealed. Reuters found the equipment struck was, time and again, exactly what mattered most reut.rs/4ioTXT5
Low said Kuwait does not have the natural water resources to survive without its desalination plants. “If you were to attack enough of their capacity, we’re talking about running out of water in days or weeks,” he said.
Kuwait’s government conducted a campaign asking citizens to conserve electricity and water in “the spirit of shared responsibility.”
M Christopher Low retweeted
The schedule for Exeter Centre for Gulf Studies virtual seminar series (2026-2027) is now up. You can register for the events at arabislamicstudies.exeter.ac… (click on the relevant month on the calendar to find the events).
ALT Centre for Gulf Studies Virtual Seminar Series To register, please go to the Events page of Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies. To view past events, please see our YouTube channel playlist. Tuesday 24 November 2027, 17:00-18:30 Neha Vora (American University of Sharjah) Migratory Republic: Multispecies Worldmaking in the United Arab Emirates Tuesday 8 December 2026, 17:00-18:30 Ahmed Dailami (Exeter) Neighbours: Iran and the Arab World Tuesday 15 December 2026, 17:00-18:30 Ashwak Hauter (University of California, Santa Cruz) Refuge in Alghayb: Violence, Love, & Affinity in the Physician-Patient Relationship Tuesday 19 January 2027, 17:00-18:30 Kusha Sefat (University of Tehran) The Social as the Epistemic Afterlife of Secularization Tuesday 26 January 2027, 17:00-18:30 Alex Boodrookas (MSU Denver) The Question of Solidarity in the Persian Gulf Tuesday 2 February 2027, 17:00-18:30 Ross Porter (Exeter) TBD Tuesday 9 February 2027, 17:00-18:30 Chris Low (University of Utah)
M Christopher Low retweeted
"Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at Chatham House, said the targeting of airports was designed to inflict maximum damage on the kingdom’s economic infrastructure and reputation."
by @ahmed
ft.com/content/bc7302fa-f8e4…
Submissions are due by November 1st! For more information on how to apply, see:
kfcris.com/en/centerDomains/…
The Prince Mohammed AlFaisal Chair for the History of Technology and Innovation in the Kingdom at #KFCRIS announces a call for contributions to a conference and edited volume, “A Century of Pioneers: Re-Imagining Saudi Histories of Technology and Innovation.”
For further information and to submit your contribution:
kfcris.com/en/centerDomains/…
A very useful thread on the wider impacts of the horrible Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport…
M Christopher Low retweeted
لطالما رسم الماء ملامح هذه المنطقة. أدعوكم لمحاضرة "التفكير مع الماء في الإمارات"، مهرجان السدر للأفلام البيئية، بجامعة نيويورك أبوظبي.
Water has always shaped this region. Join us for “Thinking with Water in the UAE” at Al Sidr Film Festival. Tickets: abu-dhabi.platinumlist.net/e…
Today! Starting soon!
Mark your calendars! @UofUMEC is looking forward to hosting @BUPardeeSchool's Aimee M. Genell on October 8 at 12PM in CTIHB 143/Jewel Box. Dr. Genell will speak about her new book, Empire by Law: The Ottoman Origins of the Mandated System in the Middle East, from @ColumbiaUP!
M Christopher Low retweeted
Why resilience is more important than weapons
A state that cannot feed its people, generate its energy or manage its water holds an incomplete sovereignty
This article is drawn from “The Food-Water-Security Nexus: Resilience and Sustainable Governance in Saudi Arabia and the Arab World,” planned for publication by Routledge in 2027.
arab.news/wjkqv
M Christopher Low retweeted
📢 CFP: "A Century of Pioneers: Re-Imagining Saudi Histories of Technology and Innovation." The conference is in October 2027 and is hosted by @kfcris and the Prince Mohammed Al Faisal Chair. Proposals are due November 1.
kfcris.com/en/centerDomains/…
يشرفني كثيرًا التعاون مع @KFCRIS في إطار كرسي الأمير محمد الفيصل لتاريخ التقنية والابتكار في المملكة.
وفي أكتوبر 2027، سننظم مؤتمرًا بعنوان: قَرْنٌ مِن الرُّوَّاد: إعادة تصوُّر تاريخ التقنية والابتكار في المملكة العربية السعودية.
آخر موعد لتقديم طلبات المشاركة هو 1 نوفمبر 2026. لمزيد من التفاصيل والمعلومات حول كيفية التقديم:
kfcris.com/centerDomains/res…
Call for Papers: "A Century of Pioneers: Re-Imagining Saudi Histories of Technology and Innovation" hosted by the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies
Proposals are due by November 1. For more information:
networks.h-net.org/group/ann…
M Christopher Low retweeted
خطوة جديدة نحو شراكة معرفية أكثر تكاملًا تجمع #دارة_الملك_عبدالعزيز ومركز الملك فيصل للبحوث والدراسات الإسلامية @KFCRIS، في مسارات مشتركة تستثمر خبرات الجانبين وإمكاناتهما.
M Christopher Low retweeted
يُعلِــنُ كــرسُّي الأمــير محمــد الفيصــل لتاريخ التقنية والابتكار في المملكة، في #مركز_الملك_فيصل، عن دعوته إلى تقديم مساهمات بحثية لمؤتمر وكتاب مُحرَّر بعنوان:
«قرنٌ من الروّاد: إعادة تصوّر تاريخ التقنية والابتكار في المملكة العربية السعودية»
للتقديم ولمزيد من المعلومات:
kfcris.com/centerDomains/res…
M Christopher Low retweeted
Mark your calendars! @UofUMEC is looking forward to hosting @BUPardeeSchool's Aimee M. Genell on October 8 at 12PM in CTIHB 143/Jewel Box. Dr. Genell will speak about her new book, Empire by Law: The Ottoman Origins of the Mandated System in the Middle East, from @ColumbiaUP!
M Christopher Low retweeted
Wonderful news for Indian Ocean folks!! Huge congratulations to Fahad Bishara on “Monsoon Voyagers” winning the British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize, and to Mandana Limbert on receiving the Jack Goody Award for her CSSH article, “Homeland Is Where the Soul Resides.” 💐
M Christopher Low retweeted
“Genell’s impressive archival research also allows her to reconstruct how contemporary actors interpreted the political moment they lived in, and how they rationalised the options before them.” — Daniel Neep, Englesberg Ideas buff.ly/sx4rayk #BookReview #ReadUP
