Abdel Qader Amer ist derzeit Doktorand am Departement für Nah- und Mitteloststudien der Universität Basel und Projektassistent im Forschungsprojekt Futures Interrupted: Social Pluralism and Political Projects Beyond Coloniality and the Nation-State unter der Leitung von Prof. Dr. Falestin Naïli.

Er erwarb 2019 seinen Masterabschluss in Politikwissenschaft an der Universität Jordanien. In seiner Masterarbeit mit dem Titel „The Democratic Transition in Republican and Monarchical Systems in the Arab World (1991–2017): Tunisia and Morocco as Case Studies“ untersuchte er Entwicklungen in der Region aus der Perspektive vergleichender politischer Systeme.

Neben seiner Forschungstätigkeit verfügt Abdel Qader über drei Jahre Erfahrung in der Vermittlung von Arabisch als Fremdsprache am Institut Français du Proche-Orient (IFPO) in Amman.

As part of the “Futures Interrupted: Social Pluralism and Political Projects Beyond Coloniality and the Nation-State” project, this study seeks to re-examine the transitional period between the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of nation-states in the Arab world from a new perspective. Specifically, it focuses on local actors, analyzing the short-lived Syrian Arab government (1918–1920) and its interactions with Iraqi struggles for independence leading up to the establishment of the Iraqi state in 1920–1921 under the British mandate.

Within this framework, the project re-examines the formation of Iraqi national identity, which has often been described as a purely colonial legacy. By shifting the focus to the legacies of the late Ottoman period, this study explores their role in the formation and shaping of Iraqi national identity. It also engages with the broader concepts of nation-building and the formation of collective memory.

The research is based on the analysis of primary sources from the period to understand how individuals and groups articulated their perceptions of identity and belonging. Furthermore, it investigates administrative practices during the late Ottoman era and their potential role in laying the groundwork for the formation of Iraqi national identity.

Publications

Amer, Abdel Qader, Abdul Hameed El Kayyali & Nora Lafi. (eds.) (2023). تأملات حول المشاركة السياسية في المنطقة العربية مطلع القرن العشرين  (Approaches to Political Participation in the Arab Region in the early 20th Century) . Amman: Alaan Publishers & Distributers.