On Monday, April 28, 2025, Dr. Maher Hamoud, Associate Scholar at the University of Leuven, Belgium, and former Editor-in-Chief of Daily News Egypt, delivered a thought-provoking public lecture to students of the Department of Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) at the International University of Sarajevo (IUS).
Dr. Hamoud, who earned his PhD in Political Science from Ghent University specializing in Conflict and Development Studies, offered a deep dive into the complex relationships between state power, media ownership, and political change in the Arab world. His lecture, titled “Crossroads of State Power, Media Ownership, and Political Change: Arab and Egyptian Media Focus,” focused particularly on Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
With a robust historical and contextual background, Dr. Hamoud traced the evolution of media in the Arab world, emphasizing key moments such as the First and Second Gulf Wars, and the seismic political shifts during the 2011 Arab uprisings and the 2013 Egyptian military coup. Drawing from his extensive research, he used a critical political economy framework to explore how media systems in the region are tightly interwoven with political power structures, focusing on the role of elites in consolidating control over both public and private media.
One of the central themes of Dr. Hamoud’s lecture was the concept of hegemony as theorized by Antonio Gramsci, which he applied to explain how ruling regimes use media to maintain political control. By leveraging framing, narratives, and counter-hegemonic discourses, elites in the Arab world manage to influence public opinion and political outcomes. He illustrated how media can either reinforce or challenge state power, acting as a tool for ideological influence and shaping societal discourse.
The lecture also provided an in-depth analysis of some of the most influential broadcasting outlets in the region, including Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, BBC Arabic, MBC Group, and Nilesat (Egypt). Dr. Hamoud highlighted how these networks evolved from both technological and business perspectives, shaping not just media but also regional geopolitics. His analysis showed that media outlets in the region are not mere broadcasters; they are key players in the political and ideological game, often reflecting or resisting the interests of dominant political regimes. A particularly striking point in the lecture was Dr. Hamoud’s observation about Al Jazeera's impact on Qatar’s global position. He remarked that Qatar’s international reputation is often divided into two phases: “Qatar before Al Jazeera and Qatar after Al Jazeera.” Al Jazeera, launched in 1996, transformed Qatar from a small Gulf state into a powerful media player, reshaping its diplomatic and political influence across the Arab world and beyond.
Dr. Hamoud’s lecture provided invaluable insights into the intersection of media, power, and political change in the Middle East, shedding light on how media can shape and reflect the evolving political landscape. His use of a critical political economic approach encouraged students to think critically about the role of media in both supporting and challenging power structures in the Arab world.
