Rex J Brynen
Professor

PhD, University of Calgary
Fall 2020 office hours
- There will be no in-person office hours this term due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Email me for a virtual appointment via Skype or Zoom.
My office is located in Leacock 510—but I won't be there!. I can be reached by email at rex.brynen(at)mcgill.ca.
Reference Letters
While I am always pleased to write letters of reference for former and current students, I receive literally hundreds of such requests each year. Consequently, I require a minimum of three weeks notice between receipt of all relevant materials (forms, unofficial transcript, CV) and mail-out.
- Security and development in fragile and conflict-affected states.
- Middle East politics: Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon; Arab-Israeli peace process (with special emphasis on development assistance and refugees); regional conflict, security and development in the Middle East; authoritarianism and democratization in the Arab world.
- Professional political-military wargaming. Conflict, peacebuilding, and development simulation.
- Intelligence analysis and strategic forecasting.
Political and Security Policy Staff, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (1994-95)
Special Advisor, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (1995-96)
Interdepartmental Experts Group on Middle East Intelligence, Intelligence Assessment Staff, Privy Council Office (1995-2018)
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council (2016-18)
Short-term consultant to: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canadian International Development Agency, Department of National Defence, Defence Research & Development Canada, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (UK Ministry of Defence), Global Affairs Canada, International Development Research Centre, Privy Council Office, NATO, READY Consortium/Johns Hopkins University, Slitherine Software, US Department of State, World Bank, various United Nations agencies, and others.
Books
- Challenges of the Developing World, 9th ed. (with Howard Handelman). New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019.
- The Palestinian Refugee Problem: The Search for Resolution (co-editor and contributor, with Roula el-Rifai). London: Pluto Books, 2013.
- Compensation to Palestinian Refugees and the Search for Palestinian-Israeli Peace (co-editor and contributor, with Roula el-Rifai). London: Pluto Books, 2013.
- Beyond the Arab Spring: Authoritarianism and Democratization in the Arab World (coauthor with Pete Moore, Bassel Salloukh, and Marie-Joelle Zahar). Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2012.
- Palestinian Refugees: Challenges of Repatriation and Development (co-editor and contributor, with Roula el-Rifai). London: I.B. Tauris, 2007.
- Persistent Permeability? Regionalism, Localism, and Globalization in the Middle East (co-editor and contributor, with Bassel Salloukh). London: Ashgate, 2004.
- A Very Political Economy: Peacebuilding and Foreign Aid in the West Bank and Gaza. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2000.
- Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, Volume 2: Comparative Experiences, (co-editor and contributor, with Bahgat Korany and Paul Noble), Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1998.
- Political Liberalization and Democratization in the Arab World, Volume 1: Theoretical Perspectives, (co-editor and contributor, with Bahgat Korany and Paul Noble). Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 1995.
- The Many Faces of National Security in the Arab World. (coeditor and contributor, with Bahgat Korany and Paul Noble). London: Macmillan, 1993.
- Echoes of the Intifada: Regional Repercussions of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. (editor, and contributor with Neil Caplan) Boulder: Westview Press, 1991.
- Sanctuary and Survival: The PLO in Lebanon. Boulder: Westview Press, 1990.
Serious Games
- Delivering the Needle: COVID-19 vaccine national tabletop exercise (Public Health Agency of Canada, 2020)
- Red Mirage US election simulation (The New Yorker, 2020)
- African Swine Fever (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2020)
- MaGCK: Matrix Game Construction Kit (The Game Crafter, 2017)
- Diplomatic Challenges in the South China Sea (Global Affairs Canada, 2017)
- AFTERSHOCK Expansion #1: Gender Dimensions of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (The Game Crafter, 2016)
- AFTERSHOCK: A Humanitarian Crisis Game (The Game Crafter, 2015)
Articles and Book Chapters
- “Gaming ‘Fog and Friction’: How Simulations Enhance Student Learning of Complex Policy Processes.” In Matthew Schnurr and Ann Macleod, eds., Simulations and Student Learning: An Interdisciplinary Perspective (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021).
“Virtual Paradox: How Digital War Has Reinvigorated Analogue Wargaming,” Digital War (Summer 2020). - "Crisis in Galasi - Simulating the Urban Dimensions of Religious Conflict." In Mick Dumper, ed., Contested Holy Cities: Urban Dimensions of Religious Conflicts (London: Routledge, 2019).
- “Democracy and Security in the post-Arab Spring Middle East.” In Anders Jägerskog, Michael Schulz, and Ashok Swain, eds.,The Routledge Handbook on Middle Eastern Security (London: 2019).
- "Crisis on the game board – a novel approach to teach medical students about disaster medicine." (with Simon Drees and Karin Geffert). GMS Journal for Medical Education 35, 4 (2018).
- “ISIS Crisis: Using a Matrix Game to Explore Contemporary Conflict.” In John Curry, Chris Engle, and Peter Perla, eds., The Matrix Game Handbook: Professional Applications from Education to Analysis and Wargaming (History of Wargaming Project, 2018).
- "Compensation for Palestinian Refugees: Law, Politics, and Praxis," Israel Law Review 51, 1 (2018).
- "Here (Very Likely) Be Dragons: The Challenges of Strategic Forecasting." In Thomas Juneau, ed., Strategic Analysis and International Policy-Making: Case Studies in Achieving Analytical Relevance (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017).
- "Gaming the Non-Kinetic." In Pat Harrigan and Matthew Kirschenbaum, eds., Zones of Control: Wargaming in Analog and Digital Worlds (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2016).
- “Role-Play Games and Simulations in International Relations: An Overview,” Revista Española de Desarrollo y Cooperación 35 (Winter 2015).
- "Teaching About Peace Operations," International Peacekeeping 21, 4 (2014).
- "UNRWA as Avatar: Current Debates on the Agency — and their Implications." In Sari Hanafi, Leila Hilal, and Lex Takkenberg., eds. UNRWA and Palestinian Refugees: From Relief and Works to Human Development. London: Routledge, 2014.
- "Games, Simulations, and Peacebuilding" (with Gary Milante). Simulation & Gaming 44, 1 (February 2013).
- "Gaming Middle East Conflict," Middle East Journal, 67, 1 (Winter 2013).
- "Refugees." In Joel Peters and David Newman, eds. The Routledge Handbook on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. (London: Routledge, 2012).
- “The Iraq War and (non)Democratization in the Arab World.” In Mokhtar Lamani and Bessma Momani, eds. From Desolation to Reconstruction: Iraq’s Troubled Journey (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2010).
- (Ending) Civil War in the Classroom: A Peacebuilding Simulation, PS: Political Science & Politics 43 (January 2010).
- “Palestine: Building Neither Peace Nor State” In Charles Call and Vanessa Hawkins Wyeth, eds., Building States to Build Peace (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008).
- “Aid as Carrot, Aid as Stick: The Politics of Aid Conditionality in the Palestinian Territories," Accord (2008).
- “Canada's Role in the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process”. In Paul Heinbecker and Bessma Momani, eds, Canada and the Middle East: In Theory and Practice (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2007).
- “Managing Public Resources: The Experience of the Palestinian “Proto-State””. In James Boyce and Madalene O’Donnell, eds, Peace and the Public Purse: Economic Policies for Postwar Statebuilding (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2007).
- (with David Romano) “The Palestinians: Finding No Freedom in Liberation” In Ray Hinnebusch and Rick Fawn, eds. The Iraq War: Causes and Consequences (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006).
- “Perspectives on Palestinian Refugee Repatriation” In Mick Dumper, ed. Palestinian Refugee Repatriation: Global Perspectives (London: Routledge, 2006).
- “Donor Assistance: Lessons from Palestine for Afghanistan.” In Gerd Junne and Willemijn Verkoren, eds, Post Conflict Development: Meeting New Challenges (Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004).
- "Cluster-bombs and Sandcastles: Kramer on the Future of Middle East Studies in America" Middle East Journal, Spring 2002.
- "Mirror, Mirror? The Politics of TV Science Fiction." In David Schultz, ed., It's Showtime! Media, Politics and Popular Culture (Baltimore: Peter Lang, 2000).
- "Palestine." (with Hisham Awartani and Clare Woodcraft). In Shepard Forman and Stewart Patrick, eds., Good Intentions: Pledges of Aid for Post-Conflict Recovery. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000.
- "Building Economic Peace and Regional Security: The Primacy of Politics" [in Arabic]. In Augustus Richard Norton, ed., al-Amin fi al-sharq al-awsat: tawjihat jadidah [Security in the Middle East: New Directions]. Palestinian Council on Foreign Relations, 1999.
- "Recent Political Developments." In World Bank, Development Under Adversity? The Palestinian Economy in Transition (Washington, DC: World Bank,1998).
- "Much Ado about Nothing? The Refugee Working Group and the Perils of Multilateral Quasinegotiation," International Negotiations 2, 2 (November 1997).
- "Imagining a Solution: Final Status Arrangements and Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon," Journal of Palestine Studies 26, 2 (Winter 1997).
- (with Jill Tansley) "The Refugee Working Group of the Middle East Multilateral Peace Negotiations," Israel-Palestine Journal 2, 4 (Autumn 1995).
- "The Neopatrimonial Dimensions of Palestinian Politics," Journal of Palestine Studies 25, 1 (1995).
- "The Palestinians and Confidence-Building Measures in the Arab-Israeli Conflict", in G. Ben-Dor and D. Dewitt, eds, Confidence and Security Building in the Middle East: The Arab-Israeli Nexus (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994).
- "Economic Crisis and Post-Rentier Democratization in the Arab World: The Case of Jordan", Canadian Journal of Political Science, 35, 1 (1992).
- (with Paul Noble) "The Gulf Conflict and the Arab State System: A New Regional Order?" Arab Studies Quarterly13, 1-2 (Winter/Spring 1991).
- "Palestine and the Arab State System: Permeability, State Consolidation, and Responses to the Intifada", Canadian Journal of Political Science, (1991).
Other Reports
- Exploring US Engagement in the Middle East: A Crisis Simulation. Washington, DC: Atlantic Council, September 2016.
- Building a Better Relationship: Palestinian Refugees, Lebanon, and the Role of the International Community, Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2009.
- The Past as Prelude? Negotiating the Palestinian Refugee Issue, Chatham House Briefing Paper, June 2008.
- The Regional Dimension of the Palestinian Refugee Issue: Simulation Exercise Report. Chatham House, June 2008.
- “Diasporas and Domestic Security: Implications for Host Countries.” Paper presented to the Metropolis Interconference Seminar on Immigrants and Homeland, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 9-11 May 2002.
- Aid Effectiveness in the West Bank and Gaza. Washington DC: World Bank, June 2000. (principal author). Front material, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6
- "Compensation as Part of a Comprehensive Solution to the Palestinian Refugee Problem." Workshop Report, IDRC/PRRN, July 1999. (available on PRRN)
Online Materials (selection)
- "Gaming a Contentious American Election," PAXsims, 11 November 2020.
- "A “horrible, one-sided deal”: A US-Iran matrix game," PAXsims, 30 June 2019.
- "Wargaming and Representation," PAXsims, 20 June 2019,
- "Diplomatic Challenges in the South China Sea," PAXsims, 10 October 2017.
- "Experimenting with DIRE STRAITS," PAXsims, 7 October 2017.
- "Dissecting DIRE STRAITS," PAXsims, 9 September 2017.
- "Exploring matrix games for mass atrocity prevention and response," PAXsims, 4 June 2016.
- "Gender and national security gaming," PAXsims, 5 March 2016.
- "AFTERSHOCK," PAXsims.
- "ISIS Crisis at McGill," PAXsims, 8 March 2015.
- "Israel and UNRWA," Palestinian Refugee ResearchNet, 8 August 2014.
- "Neutrality," Palestinian Refugee ResearchNet, 30 July 2014.
- "Gaming the Crisis in the Ukraine," PAXsims, 17 March 2014.
- "Gaming Political Science," PAXsims, 23 February 2014.
- "Humanitarian Crisis Game: Beta Release," PAXsims, 29 September 2013.
- "Video Game Wars,” CNN Global Public Square, 23 January 2012.
- "Palestinian Refugees and the Right of Return," Palestinian Refugee ResearchNet, 26 January 2011.
- "Reflections on EVOKE," PAXsims, 19 June 2010.
See also:
Fall 2020
POLI 340 (Developing Areas: Middle East)
POLI 640 (Seminar in Middle East Politics)
Winter 2021
POLI 452 (Conflict Simulation)