MESF 2022 Annual Report Released

In 2022, we moved from stength to strength. Deakin University was listed for a second time as Australia’s top institution for Middle East and Islamic Studies. We celebrate Dr Arif Saba receiving his PhD and Prof Ben Isakhan being named Australia’s Leading Researcher in Middle East and Islamic Studies. View online

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Yemen’s Houthi envoys arrive in Riyadh for ceasefire talks

A delegation from Yemen's Iran-backed rebel group, the Houthis, has arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks on ending the country's eight-year war. The Oman-mediated talks are the first publically announced visit by the Houthis to Saudi Arabia since the war broke out in 2015. Shahram Akbarzadeh from Deakin University unpacks what to expect from this meeting. View online

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Congratulations to Prof Ihsan Yilmaz on his new ARC success

The new ARC Discovery Project is titled: Civilisations Mobilisation, Digital Technologies and Social Cohesion, and is led by Professor Ihsan Yilmaz; Dr Priya Chacko and Dr Ana-Maria Bliuc. Project summary: Civilisational populist rulers polarise societies mainly along religious lines. They also interfere with their emigrants, mobilising supporters against other expatriates. This project aims to advance knowledge of authoritarian states’ transnational influence on social cohesion and inter-group