A New Orleans native, Nabil Al-Tikriti is Professor of Middle East History at the University of Mary Washington. He earned a Ph.D. (2004) and M.A. (1996) in Ottoman history from the University of Chicago’s Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, an MIA (1990) from Columbia University’s School of International & Public Affairs, and a BSFS (1988) in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He also studied at the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad’s advanced Arabic language immersion program at The American University in Cairo in 1990-91, and the advanced Turkish language immersion program at Bogaziçi University in Istanbul in 1994 and 1995.
Dr. Al-Tikriti’s publications on early modern Ottoman intellectual history, contemporary Iraqi cultural patrimony, higher education, international politics, and forced migration have appeared in a number of journals, edited volumes, and web reports. He has received several grants and scholarships, including three Fulbright fellowships and a 2011 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)/American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) grant.
He has served as a polling station supervisor or election observer for multiple elections since 1997 in Bosnia, Kosovo, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Albania, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Türkiye for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In conjunction with his interest in peace and conflict, Dr. Al-Tikriti researched the effects on Iraqi civil society of the 2003 Anglo-American invasion after being awarded a 2007-2008 Jennings Randolph Fellowship at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington D.C.
From 1993 to 2017, Dr. Al-Tikriti completed short term assignments as a context and liaison officer, administrator, and logistician for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF-Doctors Without Borders), an international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 75 countries. He worked in Jordan, Turkey, Albania, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Mediterranean rescue, and his duties included jointly conducting an exploratory mission determining potential Médecins Sans Frontières activity in Iraq; negotiating with community and clan leaders concerning team security and staff contracts; serving as field liaison with United Nations, nongovernmental organizations, and local government personnel; and controlling personnel issues for more than 150 local staff colleagues in a war zone. From 2011 to 2017, he completed two elected terms on the MSF-USA Board of Directors, culminating as Vice President in 2016-17.
For full copies of Dr. Al-Tikriti’s publications, contact him at the email address above, visit https://umw.academia.edu/NabilAlTikriti
“3 Sufis 3” is the current reincarnation of an earlier blog entitled “truthtalkziraq,” which went inactive in August 2006. This blog concentrates on issues of professional and personal interest, including modern Middle East politics and history, US foreign policy, humanitarian assistance, Ottoman history, higher education, and New Orleans.
