PhD, SJD
I am the Resident Director of Dickinson College in New Zealand and Associate Professor of Politics at the University of Otago.
I earned two doctoral degrees: PhD in Francophone Studies from Florida State University and SJD in International Law from Penn State Law. I have a master’s degree in International Law and Human Rights from Université de Rouen in France, and a bachelor’s degree in Law from Saint Joseph University in Lebanon.
My teaching and research are interdisciplinary and focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Some of the topics I teach and research include: international law and terrorism, issues of statehood and borders disputes, armed conflicts, State, and Non-State actors, international humanitarian law, colonial and post-colonial relations in the Francophone world, women’s rights in the Middle East.
I have published extensively (monographs, book chapters, articles, and editorials). My first book Gendering Civil War: Francophone Women’s Writing in Lebanon, for which I earned the AAUW American Fellowship, was published with Edinburgh University Press (March 2022) and was nominated for the John Leonard Prize.
My second book Hezbollah in International Law examines Hezbollah’s legal status as a State or non-State actor in Lebanon and in the context of armed conflict (Israel and Syria). It also studies Hezbollah’s unlawful activities in Lebanon since 1982 and State responsibility; it recently appeared with Edinburgh University Press (2026).
My third book, Peacekeepers: The U.S Marines in Lebanon from 1982–1984, is currently under review; it focuses on the Beirut barracks bombing of 1983 that killed 241 American service members and 58 French parachutists. It studies U.S deployment to Lebanon in 1958 and 1982–1984, US-Lebanon relations, and the link between Beirut 1983 and the 9/11 attacks on American soil.
I have given numerous public talks and podcast interviews, and I am a media commentator with frequent appearances on NPR, Voice of America, Business Insider, Newsweek, France 24, TRT World, BBC Arabic, BBC News, ABC Australia, and Newzroom Afrika. I am a regular contributor to several news outlets including The Conversation, which is an independent news organisation.
I speak three languages: Arabic/Levantine Dialect, French, and English.
I am a proud American Red Cross volunteer and instructor of International Humanitarian Law “Even War Has Rules.”
View full bio and a list of publications on Mireille Rebeiz's website
Contact details
Room 4N11, Arts (Burns) Building
Email rebmi264@otago.ac.nz