The Middle East Directions Roundtables aim to provide a forum to discuss and debate key issues and developments in the MENA region.

The open, informal brainstorming sessions encourage collaboration and sharing of different perspectives, with a view to building a deeper understanding of the selected topic and dynamic in the region. The discussions also aim to reflect on future scenarios and provide possible policy recommendations.

• What future for Salafi -Jihadism in Morocco? (24/03/2021)
• Managing the Risk of a Military Collision in the Persian Gulf: Where to Start? (02/02/2021)
• Will the Biden Administration Change the US Policy toward Syria? (27/01/2021)
• Salafism: Challenged by Radicalisation? (15/12/2020)
• US Elections 2020: Towards a Shift in the US-Iran relations and a New Middle East regional order? (14/12/2020)
• After the Peace Agreement (10/11/2020)
• The first anniversary of the Iraqi uprising: What has changed in Iraq since October 2019? (12/10/2020)
• How Has the MENA Region faced the Covid-19 Challenge? (06/07/2020, online))
• Covid-19 and the MENA Conflicts. How Has the Pandemic Affected Conflict Dynamics in Syria and Libya? How Has It Impacted the Tensions Between Iran and the Gulf? (29/06/2020, online)
• The Promise and Peril of Online Activism During the Covid19 Pandemic (04/06/2020, online)
• Transparency for a Time of Crisis and Long-term Growth in the Middle East and North Africa (29/05/2020)
• The American-Israeli deal of the century: a plan for peace or capitulation? (17/02/2020)
• The Politics of Democracy: A Trans-regional Perspective on the Arab Uprisings and the EU’s Failed Response (12/02/2020)
• Political Economies of the Middle East and North Africa (13/01/2020)
• Libya’s Endless War: Tripoli’s Battlefield and its Impact on the South (3/12/2019)
• Shifting the Balance of Power in North-East Syria (28/11/2019)
• Revolution in Lebanon: An end to Identity Politics? (26/11/2019)
• An Iranian Perspective on the Kurdish Crisis: Implications and Future Directions (15/11/2019)
• Arendt, Fanon and Political Violence in Islam (14/10/2019)
• Deconstructing the Abu Dhabi declaration: Actors, ideas and interests (05/06/2019)
• From Political Engagement to Political Demonisation: US-Iran Policy 2013-2019 (04/06/2019)
• Democracy and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: The SDG16 on peace, justice and accountable institutions (30/05/2019)
• The Politics of Religious Reforms in MBS’s Saudi Arabia (30/04/2019)
• Democrat Today, Authoritarian Tomorrow: The Effect of Anti-Democratic Reversals on Democratic Attitudes (08/04/2019)
• Remembrance of things past? Heritage, politics and the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa (22/3/2019)
• The reconstitution of religious authority in post-2003 Iraq (25/2/2019)
• Why aren’t more Islamists taking up arms in Tunisia and Egypt?, Presentation by Georges Fahmi (28/01/2019)
• Conversions to Islam in the West – and conversion of the West to Islam? (12/12/2018)
• Excluded generations and non-inclusive nations: a demographic approach of crises in the Arab world (30/11/2018)
• The new Syria: Land confiscations and the right to return for refugees (22/10/2018)
• Religious Minorities and Support to Authoritarian Regimes in the Middle East (13/6/2018)
• Post-IS Elections in Iraq: An Assessment (23/5/2018)
• Egyptian Presidential Elections: Implications on the Regime and the Opposition (8/2/2018)
• Political Turmoil in Saudi Arabia: Implications for the Region (12/12/2017)