The Middle East Directions Programme at the Robert Schuman Centre (RSCAS), in collaboration with the Muslim World Working Group of the Department of Political and Social Sciences (SPS), welcomes Afshin Shahi (University of Bradford, EUI Visiting Fellow) to present Read More …

  Application closed   The Middle East Directions Programme in collaboration with the EUI’s School of Transnational Governance is organising the second edition of the MEDirections Summer School, taking place in Florence (Italy) on 9 – 11 July 2018. The Summer School on Post-Conflict Read More …

Despite being far from final political settlements, the scale and intensity of violence in war-torn countries seem to be somehow ebbing. With the repossession of Sirte and the reclamation of Mosul, Aleppo and Raqqa, the biggest of the battles are Read More …

Against a thematic backdrop provided by the recent publication of ‘Tribes and Global Jihadism’ (Hurst, 2017), edited by Virginie Collombier and Olivier Roy, MEDirections welcomes Dr. Yvan Guichaoua (Brussels School of International Studies, University of Kent) to give a lecture Read More …

The workshop takes the recent publication Tribes and Global Jihadism, edited by Virginie Collombier and Olivier Roy (Hurst, 2017) as a springboard for more broader discussions on the theme of tribes and jihadism after Islamic State. The workshop aims to Read More …

Book Presentation / Israel under Siege: The Politics of Insecurity and the Rise of the Israeli Neo-Revisionist Right  ‘Israel under Siege’ examines the emergence of Israel’s neo-revisionist consensus about security threats and regional order, which took hold of Israeli politics Read More …

The upcoming Egyptian presidential elections in March 2018 have been perceived by some political forces as an opportunity to change the path of the July 2013 regime from within, towards political opening. However, as the Egyptian regime has closed the Read More …

22 January 2018       Cappella, Villa Schifanoia – 16.00-18.00 The MEDirections programme organises a discussion with Robert Springborg to discuss his new book ‘Egypt’ (POLITY PRESS, 2017). The book offers a detailed account of the recent changes both Read More …

Conducting Social Science Research in Risky Environments This one-day workshop aims to discuss new trends in social science research carried out in risky contexts, the challenges posed to the safety and security of researchers and informants, as well as the Read More …

  Political turmoil in Saudi Arabia: Implications for the region MEDirections Round-Table The recent internal political developments in Saudi Arabia mark a new era, not only for Saudi Arabia, but also for the whole region. The foreign policy of the new Saudi Read More …