In 2022, we moved from strength 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
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 publicly 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
Dr Arif Saba has completed his PhD and has been awarded his doctoral certificate. We are very proud of Dr Arif Saba for this remarkable achievement. Many congratulations to Arif!
Amin Naeni published an opinion article in The Conversation. It can be found here
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 conflict. By studying Islamist and Hindutva civilisations mobilisations, their reach into their emigrants via digital technologies, and their impact on Turkish and Indian groups in Australia, the project aims to assist policymakers and community groups by generating conceptual frameworks, benchmarking data, and recommendations for making policies to deal with this phenomenon’s negative effects and for developing intervention strategies.
Congratulations to Prof Benjamin Isakhan for being named Australia’s Leading Researcher in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in the The Australian annual research report.
MESF Ranked as The Top Institution For Middle East And Islamic Studies Research In Australia In 2022 again
Congratulations to Dr Zahid Shahab’s well_ deserved promotion To Senior Research Fellow.
Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh spoke at the Australian Institute of International Affairs Victoria (AIIA) in a webinar in partnership with MESF at 6:00 pm 8th of November. More info here
Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh published an opinion article in Democracy Paradox. It can be found here
The Islamisation of the State in Turkey
Prof Ihsan Yilmaz is the editor of this new book published by Palgarave Macmillan. Find the book here.
The GPE is a landmark global initiative to map humanitarian research and innovations and investment priorities to improve impact. MESF’s Dr Marian Abouzeid is the Deputy Lead for the mapping component. Find more information here.