Isis shows ‘Oriental studies’ are essential

This piece is a timely reminder that 'market forces' which are dominating the HE landscape in terms of ranges of programmes of study available, are failing the sector in relation to strategically important disciplines.

I am an academic at the University of Manchester and sit on Senate which has twice discussed the closure of the Middle Eastern Studies undergraduate programmes. I did not participate in the first discussion, in October, but was unhappy about the decision to close them. A day or two later, I happened to hear Rory Stewart MP (and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee) on the Radio 4 Today programme saying that a lack of people who could speak local languages was a major problem for the British army in Afghanistan and Iraq. It struck me again that the University should not be closing down these degrees at a time when the Middle East, an area of the world so important for global peace, is in such turmoil. I therefore put my head above the parapet when Senate met a couple of weeks ago, asking for the decision to be looked at again. Sadly, my intervention did not have the desired effect, but, bizarrely, Rory Stewart was on Today again the next morning, saying we need to improve our "deep understanding" of the Middle East in order to oppose ISIS. Since then I have also listened on BBC iPlayer to an interview he gave on its Hardtalk programme in January, in which he said the British foreign services do not have enough "deep linguistic knowledge" and "area expertise" of the region – in other words, just the kind of knowledge and expertise the University of Manchester has provided for over 150 years and which will soon be lost.