CMES

Newsletter #40

December 2023

CMES staff standing in front of a window with Christmas decorations.

CMES staff at holiday lunch (December 2023)

Message From the Director

Season's greetings from the team at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies!

Coming close to the end of 2023, we look back on a very productive year. CMES 2.0 is now fully implemented after three years of major re-organization. The results exceed expectations on all fronts and would not have been possible without the commitment and excellent work of the CMES staff, a dream team to work with! The research staff has greatly expanded with new recruitments of PhD students, post-docs, tenure-track lecturers, and distinguished international visiting fellows, such as the Olof Palme Professor and Fulbright Schuman Scholar. All the big interdisciplinary research projects have been launched, and are up and running. Arabic language courses are offered at all levels to students and researchers at Lund University. CMES has also developed its quality of research communication. Today we have well-established routines of outreach activities beyond academia and a great toolbox of dissemination strategies on various digital platforms.

In 2024, some new strategic research initiatives are taken. First, CMES will establish a robust data infrastructure platform to coordinate and compile large data sets and analyses on the MENA region to be openly shared with the public. Second, a collaborative international research project on political youth in the Middle East will be launched together with CMES and the Arab Reform Initiative, a think tank based in Beirut and Paris. Third, CMES will organize the annual national conference of SWEMENA (Swedish Middle East North Africa Network) on 22-23 August.

The CMES seminar program for the spring is nearly set. First out in the new year is a public lecture on 17 January 13-15 with senior Middle East correspondent Cecilia Uddén, Radio Sweden, who is reporting on the Israel-Hamas war.

For the latest CMES news, stay tuned on our website and by subscribing to the Newsletter!

Wishing you all Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Karin Aggestam

CMES Director and MECW Coordinator

Latest Research News

Six people sitting behind a table. There are microphones on the table for each speaker.

Left to right: Karin Aggestam, Lisa Strömbom, Nina Gren, Markus Gunneflo, Nadim Houry, Dalia Dassa Kaye and Anne Lene Stein. Photo: Linda Eitrem Holmgren

CMES Public Panel on the Israel-Hamas War

On December 15, CMES organised a public panel discussion on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. An introductory speech was given by Vice Chancellor Erik Renström and the panel was chaired by CMES Director Karin Aggestam. Nina Gren (CMES Researcher and Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, Lund University), Markus Gunneflo (Associate Professor in International Law, Lund University), Nadim Houry (Executive Director, Arab Reform Initiative), Dalia Dassa Kaye (Visiting Fulbright Schuman Scholar at CMES and Senior Fellow, UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations), Anne Lene Stein (Doctoral Student in Political Science, Lund University) and Lisa Strömbom (CMES Researcher and Associate Professor in Political Science, Lund University) provided different perspectives on the war.

A photo of the CMES building next to a tree with pink flowers.

Photo: Linda Eitrem Holmgren

Internships at CMES for LU Students in 2024

CMES will offer several part-time internships during the spring of 2024. The internships are exclusively offered for Lund University students in research projects about the Middle East run at CMES: Beyond Sacred/Secular Cities; Dust-Storms; Being Young in Conflict; and ECO-Syria.

The last day to apply is 19 January 2024.

Photo: Katrin Eitrem Holmgren

Study Arabic at CMES in 2024

The courses are exclusively offered for Lund University students and staff interested in working and conducting research in Arabic speaking countries. CMES will offer three courses during the spring semester: Modern Standard Arabic for Beginners (A1) Part II; Modern Standard Arabic for Beginners (A2) Part II; and Advanced Modern Standard Arabic Part II.

The last day to apply is 19 January 2024.

A map of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Map from Wikimedia Commons

Media Interviews and Articles by CMES Researchers on the Israel-Hamas War

Read and listen to CMES researchers' media comments and analysis on the war between Israel and Hamas in newspapers, magazines, TV, online discussions, podcasts and radio. See also articles written by CMES researchers below under "Recent Publications".

Upcoming Events

January 17: CMES Public Seminar with Senior Middle East Correspondent Cecilia Uddén, Radio Sweden, On the Israel-Hamas War

Public seminar with senior Middle East Correspondent Cecilia Uddén, Radio Sweden, on the Israel-Hamas war. Co-organised by CMES, the Graduate School and the Deparment of Political Science. Location TBC, 13:15-15:00

Recent Publications

Cover of the report: "Rethinking Policy and Practice of Gender in Peacemaking: The Quest for Innovation in a Polarised Global World"

Policy-Report on Rethinking Policy and Practice of Gender in Peacemaking

"There Is No Military Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"

Authors: Karin Aggestam and Dalia Dassa Kaye

The journal cover of "Computers and electronics in agriculture"

"Large discrepancy between future demand and supply of agricultural water in northwestern Iran; evidence from WEAP-MODFLOW-machine learning under the CMIP6 scenario"

Authors: Ronny Berndtsson, Mostafa Rahimi Jamnani, Zahra Kayhomayoon, Naser Arya Azar, Sami Ghordoyee Milan and Sajad Najafi Marghmaleki

"The Israel-Hamas War Has Torpedoed Biden’s Middle East Agenda"

Authors: Dalia Dassa Kaye

Cover of the Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies

"Block-scale use of bioretention cells to restore the urban water balance: A case study in Tehran metropolis"

Authors: Ronny Berndtsson, Milad Mehri, S. Mehdy Hashemy Shahdany, Saman Javadi and Maryam Movahedinia

Looking for an Expert on the Middle East and North Africa?

CMES researchers conduct research on a range of themes related to countries in the MENA region: democratization, migration and sustainable socio-economic development; environment and sustainable development; religion, identity and culture; and security and sustainable peace. To find out more, please visit our website's list of experts.

Find Out More About Middle East Research at Lund University

Lund University conducts Middle Eastern research of international quality and with a societal relevance across and between faculties. To find out more about the Middle East research being conducted at LU in Science, Medicine, Engineering, Humanities and Theology, and Social Sciences, please visit our website.

CMES on Social Media

About This Newsletter

This is a newsletter from the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University. With the objective to provide an overview Middle Eastern studies undertaken at Lund University, this newsletter is intended to give updates on research, events, and other related news. It is also intended to form a window towards the society, showcasing important Middle Eastern research conducted at Lund University.

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