Anna Viden

Dr. Viden obtained her Ph. D. summa cum laude in History of International Relations at Sciences Po, Paris, in 2011. During her doctorate she spent a year as a Ph. D-fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. She also had the opportunity to intern within the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution where she worked on counter-insurgency and civil and military relations in Afghanistan. Dr. Viden spent the academic year of 2014-2015 as an Assistant Professor at Charles University in Prague where she taught U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East. July 1, 2015-Jan 6, 2017, she rejoined the IR-Program at U-Penn. She is now the Program Coordinator at the Middle East Center.

Dr. Viden’s research deals with U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East in a historic and contemporary context with a specific focus on U.S.-Saudi relations. She is also interested in the interplay between domestic and external factors in Saudi foreign policy and the role played by religion and tribal elements in the formation of the Saudi state. Some of Dr. Viden’s other research projects also deal with the outcome of the Arab Uprisings.

Presented lecture: Saudi involvement in Europe

Selective list of publications:

  • “Why Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Record Does Not Matter”, E-International Relations, Oct 21, 2015. Available at: http://www.e-ir.info/2015/10/22/why-saudi-arabias-human-rights-record-do…
  • « La fausse rupture de la politique américaine face aux Frères musulmans », Les Frères musulmans et le pouvoir 2011-2014. Edited by Pierre Puchot. Paris: Galaade éditions, 2015.
  • Longer Review Article. Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel: The Syrian Dilemma. The MIT Press, Cambridge, 2013, 285 p., $17, 95. ISBN: 978-0262026833. New Global Studies, 2014; 8(3):377-385. DOI 10.1515/ngs-2014-0037
  • “Is the Saudi-U.S. Relationship “Broken”?”, E-International Relations, May 9, 2014. Availabe at: http://www.e-ir.info/2014/05/09/is-the-saudi-u-s-relationship-broken/https://www.sas.upenn.edu/irp/sites/all/modules/extlink/extlink.png); padding-right: 12px; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat;”>
  • Joseph A. Kéchichian, Legal and Political Reforms in Sa’udi Arabia. London and New York: Routledge, 2013. Book Review, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol.46, no. 1, February 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0020743813001554
  • “Saudi Arabia: Status Quo Amidst Unrest”, InFocus Quarterly, Winter 2011.
  • « Les États-Unis et le printemps arabe », Confluences Méditerranée, n. 79, automne 2011.