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CMES researcher Adam Almqvist, has recently published an article in The Journal of Comparative Politics. Read the full article here. External link.AbstractAutocracies have increasingly begun to clothe themselves in the guise of hybrid, semi-official institutions that exhibit a degree of autonomy from the state, such as Government-Organized NGOs (GONGOs), “zombie” election observers, regime-run thi

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/gongos-zombies-and-astroturfers-rethinking-hybrid-institutions-autocracies-through-case-jordanian - 2026-05-21

Yesterday afternoon, CMES researcher PhD candidate Joel W. Abdelmoez marked a major milestone in his academic journey by performing the traditional ritual known as "spikning"—the nailing of a dissertation. The ceremony takes place on the ground floor of Eden, and colleagues and friends gathered to witness the event. Following the ceremony, guests enjoy refreshments in the Political Science departm

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/joel-abdelmoez-nails-his-phd-dissertation-feminist-activism-and-solidarities-egypt-and-tunisia - 2026-05-21

On November 20, the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at Lund University hosted a highly topical seminar titled “It’s Time to Think About the Future of Palestine-Israel.” The event brought together over 50 participants and featured two distinguished speakers: Professor Haim Yacobi and Dr Rami Nasrallah, from University College London. “We are living in very challenging times, but t

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/cmes-seminar-explores-shared-homeland-paradigm-palestine-israel - 2026-05-21

CMES is proud to announce that CMES researcher, Rami Zalfou, PhD Candidate in Economic History, has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at Lund University. The defense took place on December 1, 2025.Rami’s dissertation, titled:Borders and Pathways. Essays on Syrian Economic Development and Migrant Integration, explores economic development patterns, conflict, and demographic changes in

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/rami-zalfou-successfully-defends-his-phd-thesis-syrian-economic-development-and-migrant-integration - 2026-05-21

The ECO-Syria research team at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), Lund University, held its second and final workshop on 15–16 September 2025.Titled “ECO-Syria: Exploring Conflict–Environment Interactions for Sustainable Development and Conservation,” the event was part of the ECO-Syria research project funded by the Strategic Research Area Middle East in the Contemporary World

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/eco-syria-workshop-report-now-available-arabic-and-kurdish - 2026-05-21

New article from CMES. Title: Improving the performance of daily pan evaporation (Evp) prediction using the ensemble empirical mode decomposition combined with deep learning modelsRead the article here (external link)AbstractThis study presents a novel approach for the prediction of daily pan evaporation (Evp) based on identifying an optimal combination of model inputs. The Kardeh Dam catchment ar

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/improving-performance-daily-pan-evaporation-evp-prediction - 2026-05-21

Harvesting wind, stirring sands: the expansion of renewable energy frontiers, local resistance, and the European academic gaze on green extractivism in West Asia and North Africa (WANA) 11-12 December 2025, LundThe rapid expansion of wind and solar infrastructure in the West Asia and North Africa (WANA), framed as part of sustainability and green energy transitions, raises urgent questions about l

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/international-workshop-green-extractivism - 2026-05-21

Read full article here. (External link)ABSTRACTThe 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza brought the humanitarian response into the spotlight, alongside the international community’s inability to deal with political obstacles in the humanitarian response. However, humanitarian interventions in the Gaza Strip and their effectiveness have long been debated by scholars and practitio

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/humanitarian-exceptionalism-and-fluctuating-solidarity-gulf-states-aid-gaza - 2026-05-21

CMES director, Karin Aggestam has edited the book Israel: Democratic Backsliding and Elusive Peace. Bringing together scholars in the field, the book offers original analyses organised around three intersecting themes: contestation over Israel’s national identity, patterns of democratic backsliding, and the enduring impact of the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which renders peace elusive

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/new-book-democratic-backsliding-israeli-politics-and-protracted-conflict - 2026-05-21

Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) is proud to announce that researcher, Joel W. Abdelmoez, PhD Candidate in Political Science, has successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at Lund University. The defense took place on December 19, 2025, at the Department of Political Science.Joel Abdelmoez investigates the conditions and tensions inherent in forging transnational feminist so

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/joel-w-abdelmoez-successfully-defends-his-phd-thesis-feminist-activism-and-solidarities-egypt-and - 2026-05-21

The CMES Yearbooks summarize the Centre's activities during the year. Read about:Research projectsResearch seminarsPublic lectures and eventsPolicy-dialogues, workshops, and conferencesCMES Regional OutlookTeaching and Arabic studies at CMESCMES in media and on digital platformsThe ConversationSelected publicationsRead and download the 2024 CMES Yearbook here.

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/cmes-yearbook-2025-now-available-read-and-download - 2026-05-21

Read the director’s message, explore the latest research news, discover upcoming events, and browse our recent publications. Read full newsletter here!Season's greetings from the team at the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies!CMES organised several major events during the latter part of the autumn semester. A topical public seminar was co-organised with Peace and Conflict Studies, focusing

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/read-latest-cmes-newsletter-55-0 - 2026-05-21

New publication from CMES researcher Hossein Heshemi and Ronny Berndtsson. Read full article here. (External link)AbstractGroundwater in most parts of the world is an important source of agricultural water supply for food production. Soil salinization, however, threatens groundwater quality and may cause irreparable damage to agricultural land. A key to tackling this threat is to analyze the link

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/mitigation-groundwater-salinity-vulnerability-through-land-cultivation-scenarios - 2026-05-21

This article is over 5 years old, and the information may therefore be outdated. Yemen is home to religious and sectarian minorities who represent about 0.5% of the total population. In addition to Muslims, there is a minority of Jews, who’s presence has drastically shrunk over the years due to the multiple violations and displacement they were subjected to. Yemen also has a Bahai minority, who ar

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/book-minorities-yemen-reality-and-challenges - 2026-05-21

New publication in the journal Kritisk Etnografi from CMES researcher Nina Gren. Read article here.ABSTRACT: In this article we explore and compare three different cases of military occupation:  the Israeli occupation of Palestine; the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara; and the Russian  occupation of Georgian South Ossetia. Building on ethnographic fieldworks carried out in  2022 and 2023, we

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/occupied-intimacies-borderisation-palestine-georgia-and-western-sahara - 2026-05-21

Bringing together a wide and intellectually diverse audience, including Master's and doctoral students, early career and senior academics from multiple disciplines as well as practioners and scholars affiliated with Lund University, SOAS and Brunel University Lonodon, contributing to a rich and diverse academic dialogue. Participants came from interdisciplinary backgrounds including Middle Eastern

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/workshop-social-and-solidarity-economy-sse-jordan - 2026-05-21

This article is over 5 years old, and the information may therefore be outdated. Middle Eastern research news from Lund University. Words from the director: The covid-19 will transform the ways we work and socialize in a manner we can still not oversee. Already now most research and higher teaching are done by distance mode. Even so, many of the planned research activities and meetings during the

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/middle-east-forum-newsletter-9-march-2020 - 2026-05-21

CMES will offer several part-time internships for Lund University students during the spring of 2026. Application CLOESED.Are you a Lund University student with an interest in the Middle East region? The Centre for Advanced Middle East Studies (CMES) offers internships in several projects during the spring semester of 2026.Who We AreCMES supports, coordinates and expands interdisciplinary research

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/come-work-us-student-internships-cmes-spring-2026 - 2026-05-21

A full room and an engaged audience characterised the CMES seminar on governance and political authority in Yemen. Participants showed strong interest in the topic, and the presentation was followed by many questions and reflections from the audience. The seminar featured Maria Louise Clausen from the Danish Institute for International Studies. Her talk examined how governance structures formed du

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/seminar-centre-advanced-middle-east-studies-yemen-between-war-and-peace - 2026-05-21

New publication in the journal Water International from CMES researcher Filippo Verre, Ronny Berndtsson & Hossein Hashemi. Read full article hereABSTRACTThe GERD has been a focal point of hydropolitical tensions in the Nile River Basin, primarily involving Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt. This article examines Sudan’s unique position and role as a potential mediator in this tripartite dispute. Khartoum

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/sudans-internal-hesitance-over-gerd-policy-polarization-and-national-strategy - 2026-05-21