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On 31 August, the new MECW project "ECO-Syria: Exploring Conflict-Environment Interactions for Sustainable Development and Conservation" was launched at CMES. The new research project will run from 2023 to 2026 within the Strategic Research Area "The Middle East in the Contemporary World" (MECW) at CMES. Over a decade has passed since the onset of the Syrian conflict, which continues to have dire

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/launch-new-mecw-project-eco-syria - 2025-12-17

New CMES Newsletter about upcoming events and recent research activities and publications. The CMES Newsletter provides an up-to-date overview of Middle Eastern research, activities and events at Lund University and beyond. The Newsletter includes a message from the Director, latest research news, upcoming events and recent publications by CMES scholars. Read the latest issue of the Newsletter Sub

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/read-latest-cmes-newsletter-37 - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Lina Eklund has been interviewed in Swedish online journal Kvartal about climate and migration from Syria. The article "Flydde Syrienflyktingar från klimatet?" (English translation: "Did Syrian Refugees Flee the Climate?"), written by Henrik Höjer, was published online on 10 August 2023 in Kvartal. Below are som excerpts from the article translated into English. In the article, Lin

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/climate-and-migration-syria - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Oliver Scharbrodt has been interviewed in Swedish journal Dagen about the Muslim minority in Sweden, protests and inclusive space. The article "Islamolog: Korankrisen är Sveriges 'Satansverserna'" (English translation: "Islamologist: The Qur'an Crisis is Sweden's 'The Satanic Verses'"), written by Jonathan Newton, was published online on 31 July 2023 in Dagen. Below are som excerpt

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/muslims-sweden-protests-and-inclusivity - 2025-12-17

CMES Deputy Director Ronny Berndtsson has co-authored an article on predicting hydropower production through machine learning in Iran published in the journal Applied Water Science. CMES Deputy Director Ronny Berndtsson has co-authored the article "Application of soft computing and evolutionary algorithms to estimate hydropower potential in multi-purpose reservoirs" together with Zahra Kayhomayoon

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/machine-learning-and-hydropower-production-iran - 2025-12-17

CMES Visiting Olof Palme Professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor has published an interview with Marwan Muasher in the journal Israel Affairs. Abstract This interview is part of a major research project that is based on interviews and discussions with influential decision-makers, facilitators, mediators and negotiators who were involved in Arab-Israeli peace negotiations over the past three decades, as we

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/arab-world-palestinian-israeli-conflict - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Oliver Scharbrodt has been interviewed by Radio Sweden about the recent Qur'an burnings in Sweden. Oliver Scharbrodt was interviewed for a segment on the Qur'an burnings on 4 July 2023 by Maya Naylor (Radio Sweden). Below are some excerpts from the interview. Listen to the recording (in English) Oliver Scharbrodt discusses how the Swedish government should reach out to Muslim leade

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/swedish-government-muslim-minority-and-quran-burnings - 2025-12-17

CMES Deputy Director Ronny Berndtsson has co-authored an article on GIS-based groundwater vulnerability assessment in Iran published in the journal Water. CMES Deputy Director Ronny Berndtsson has co-authored the article "Groundwater Vulnerability to Nitrate Contamination from Fertilizers Using Modified DRASTIC Frameworks" together with Maryam Torkashvand (Islamic Azad University), Aminreza Neshat

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/groundwater-vulnerability-assessment-iran - 2025-12-17

CMES Visiting Professor Dalia Dassa Kaye has authored an article on the Israeli-Saudi deal and the United States published in Foreign Affairs Magazine. The United States appears to be seriously probing a Middle East deal that would normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. According to the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and other reporting, U.S. President Joe Biden harbors amb

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/case-against-israeli-saudi-deal - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Maria Småberg has authored the article "Witness Reporting as Resistance and Recovery–The Swedish Missionary Alma Johansson and the 1915 Armenian Genocide", published in the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Abstract Western missionaries became important eyewitnesses of the 1915 Armenian genocide, and many reported on the events. This article analyses witness reporting from

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/witness-reporting-missionaries-and-armenian-genocide - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Svante Lundgren has been interviewed by Aftonbladet about the ongoing violent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. The article "Azerbajdzjan uppnådde målet på ett dygn – etnisk rensning" (English translation: "Azerbaijan Achieved the Goal in a Day - Ethnic Cleansing") is written by Joachim Kepner and was published in Aftonbladet on 20 September 2023. Below are som excerpts from the articl

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/azerbaijan-and-ethnic-cleansing-nagorno-karabakh - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Lina Eklund is hiring a post doc in Earth Observation for her project on Pyrogeography. The work will partly include research on vegetation fires in the Middle East, focusing on time series analysis and image classifications. Apply to the position by 15 October! Project Description Wildfire frequency and severity is expected to increase in the future due to anthropogenic climate ch

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/job-opening-post-doc-earth-observation - 2025-12-17

CMES Visiting Professor Dalia Dassa Kaye participated in a discussion about the normalization of relations between Saudia Arabia and Israel on PBS News Hour. The show aired on September 5, 2023 and addresses the changing diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The US is actively negotiating a normalization deal between the two countries. In the show, Nick Schifrin discussed the possi

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/normalization-israeli-saudi-relations - 2025-12-17

CMES director Karin Aggestam organised a policy-research dialogue in Prato, Italy, with Professor Jacqui True at Monash University. The participants included international peacemakers, scholars, and the former Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström who delivered a keynote address. The overarching aim of the policy-research dialogue was to rethink and generate new innovative ideas for policy and

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/policy-research-dialogue-inclusive-peacemaking - 2025-12-17

CMES supports writing retreats on Middle East research with the aim to finalise an article, book chapter, edited volume or a book for publication in peer-reviewed outlets. 2 writing retreats will be granted during the spring of 2024. CMES offers office space and modern research facilities in a stimulating work environment on historic premises. Administrative, practical and technical support is ava

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/now-open-cmes-call-2024-writing-retreats - 2025-12-17

Read the new CMES Newsletter about upcoming events and recent research activities and publications. The CMES Newsletter provides an up-to-date overview of Middle Eastern research, activities and events at Lund University and beyond. The Newsletter includes a message from the Director, latest research news, upcoming events and recent publications by CMES scholars. Read the latest issue of the CMES

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/read-latest-cmes-newsletter-38 - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Svante Lundgren has written an article about the ongoing crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh published in the journal the Conversation. The article "Nagorno-Karabakh: the world should have seen this crisis coming – and it’s not over yet" was published on September 29, 2023 and updated on October 2, 2023 by Svante Lundgren.  For the first time in two millennia, the region of Nagorno-Karabakh

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/crisis-nagorno-karabakh-its-not-over-yet - 2025-12-17

Join us on Monday 9 October for a panel discussion about the recent Qur'an burnings and freedom of expression in Sweden. Debatt i Lund: Is Sweden an Outlier or a Brave Defender of Freedom of Expression? What Do Academics Say? How sacred is freedom of speech in Sweden? Quran burnings have thrust Sweden onto the global stage. The acts have been condemned by both the Swedish government and the Muslim

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/debate-lund-quran-burnings-and-freedom-expression - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Svante Lundgren has written an op-ed article about the ongoing crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh published in Dagens Nyheter. The article "EU måste sluta köpa gas från Azerbajdzjan" (English translation: "The EU Must Stop Buying Gas from Azerbaijan") was published in Dagens Nyheter on October 4, 2023. Below are some excerpts in English. The ongoing ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh com

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/eu-must-stop-buying-gas-azerbaijan - 2025-12-17

CMES researcher Svante Lundgren has been interviewed on Assyria TV about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. The interview aired on 27 September 2023 on Assyria TV, which is an independent news organisation registered in Sweden. Below are some excerpts from the interview translated into English. The conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region is long and complicated. It is a classic territorial confl

https://www.cmes.lu.se/article/understanding-nagorno-karabakh - 2025-12-17