Iraqi feminist activist Yanar Mohammed was shot and killed outside her home in Baghdad by unidentified gunmen the day before Iraqi Women’s Day. For the blog, @alktaif.bsky.social & @haydersh.bsky.social remember Yanar blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2026/03/...

Politics in the Middle East have shifted: alongside global powers, states like Turkey, Iran & influential non‑state actors now shape outcomes. Sustainable political change requires frameworks that involve all key actors in the region’s future, writes Marianna Charountaki @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social

The #CallforPapers for the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO) Congress 2026 is open! Highlights include a conference keynote by Prof Abdel Razzaq Takriti and a featured panel on #AcademicFreedom and #MiddleEastStudies. 🗓️22 March 2026 ➡️ davo1.de/en/en-call-f...

Episode 2 of our new season of Instant Coffee is now live 🎧 Manar Alzraiy, a Palestinian education professional dedicated to resilience and equity in crisis-affected schools, brings together her colleagues to talk about keeping education going in Gaza. Listen here: https://ow.ly/EyRS50Ypz3L

Another brilliant and timely panel at @lsegender.bsky.social with three fantastic thinkers, taking place on 18 March 2026 at 5.30 PM: Gender and Conflict: Kurdish Narratives Co-hosted with @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social You can register here to attend: www.tickettailor.com/events/lsede...

LSE's @omarghazzi.bsky.social quoted in this @nytimes.com piece on how the UAE's leadership is attempting to project calm through the current crisis, via social media www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/w...

#events | BRISMES invites you to its next webinar “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Roundtable on War, Repression, #Iran and International Solidarity.” 🗓️ 12 March | 15:00 | Online Fee and open to all but registration essential: shorturl.at/wzYy6

How can we keep education going in Gaza? In the second episode of our podcast collaboration with @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social, AFSEE Fellow Manar Alzraiy and colleagues discuss what is needed to rebuild education in Gaza both physically and intellectually. 🎧 Listen to the episode: buff.ly/tMKuMe8

We are pleased to announce the winners of the LSE Master's Dissertation Prize: Razan Elshazali (1st Prize) & Sally Itani (2nd Prize) 🎉 Learn more about our 2025 prizewinners: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middleeastcentre/about/dissertation-prizes/masters-dissertation-prize-2025

📣 The LSE Middle East Centre 2025 Annual Report is now available to read online. Read about the Centre's highlights, research and activities over the past year and a half: https://www.lse.ac.uk/asset-library/Middle-East-Centre/Documents/AnnualReport2025.pdf

Happening today!

We are excited to be joined by Professor Mona Fawaz this evening as she delivers our Annual CITY Lecture. Her talk interrogates the normative foundations of progressive planning in the context of the 2020 Port explosion in #Beirut.

🚨 Applications for our 2025-2026 Nonresident Fellowships close today at 11:59 PM EST! If you are an early or mid-career advocate keen on engaging in the MENA policy space, apply today and don't miss this unique one-year opportunity: timep.org/2026/02/02/o...

Last month, we hosted the launch of Malika Zeghal's book, The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East, with @lseechist.bsky.social. Missed it? You can watch the discussion here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=keMk... @shertog.bsky.social @msaleh-econhistory.bsky.social

Tune in to the first episode of our new season of Instant Coffee podcast! Hamidreza Vasheghanifarahani (@afsee-lse.bsky.social) speaks with Azadeh Sobout and Rindala about how transnational solidarity networks can strengthen social change efforts. 🎧 Listen here: soundcloud.com/lsemiddleeas...

Join us on Tuesday March 3rd for the launch of @kbclarke.bsky.social's 'Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed', published by @universitypress.cambridge.org. Find out more and register to attend: www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-...

The draft programme for the upcoming @britishacademy.bsky.social conference, 'Algeria: Historical Struggles and Imagined Utopias' (May 28-29), is now live! View the draft programme: www.lse.ac.uk/asset-librar... Register to attend the conference: www.lse.ac.uk/middleeastce...

NEW EVENT! 🚨 This event explores how gender, culture, literature, and practices of writing shape Kurdish lifeworlds. The speakers will spark conversation about culture, literature and writing in times of conflict. www.lse.ac.uk/gender/event... @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social @hsw.bsky.social

This fantastic panel is happening this Friday at @lsegender.bsky.social ! It's free but you'll need to register: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/anti-lgbti...

In an age of rising populism, what kinds of environments foster a global identity? This paper presents findings from the first two years of a study tracking the development of cosmopolitan social attitudes at an elite university setting in the Middle East. https://ow.ly/b5x350Yie9r

ROSEMARY HOLLIS MEMORIAL LECTURE: 24 Feb, 6pm, B103 @citystgeorges.bsky.social: celebrate Rosy's legacy & sharp understanding of #middleeast #conflict #foreignpolicy #diplomacy #peace #israel #palestine with Prof.W.Pullan lecture #cities in #state #conflicts www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-eve...

Can skills training beat climate shocks? Iraqi women are leading the way. New evidence from Iraq shows that targeted training programs significantly boost climate‑displaced women’s economic confidence, social integration and political engagement @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social

Read our PhD candidate Chloé Raïd's new research article, "Middle East Studies Beyond the Middle East Archive – Promises, Predicaments and Practices of MENA research in Western Governmental Archives" in MELA Notes. 🔗 escholarship.org/uc/item/8r42... #AcademicSky #PoliSky

Can skills training beat climate shocks? An evidence-based study from Iraq demonstrates that capacity-building programs for climate-displaced women significantly enhance their community integration and civic participation. Read the blog: https://ow.ly/LJch50YhCuA

We’re back with a fourth season of Instant Coffee! In collaboration with Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE), we've curated five exciting episodes with Atlantic Fellows from the Middle East around sustainable strategies for social change. Listen here: https://ow.ly/c3qe50YhBYO

What does it take to effect meaningful change in our communities? Through our collaboration with @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social's Instant Coffee podcast, five AFSEE Fellows co-curated episodes highlighting the people & ideas shaping movements & change in the Middle East. ℹ️Learn more: buff.ly/75asaP5

🚨 Job opportunity! Join BRISMES as a part-time Conference Assistant for our 2026 Annual Conference at @soasuni.bsky.social. 🗓 Deadline: 15 March 2026 👉 brismes.ac.uk/news/job-opp... #JobsInAcademia #PhDjobs

Join us on Tuesday March 3rd for the launch of @kbclarke.bsky.social's 'Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed', published by @universitypress.cambridge.org. Find out more and register to attend: www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-...

Thank you to all chairs, speakers, participants and volunteers who made 'Reframing Iraq: Power, Politics, and Paths to Inclusion' a success. This conference marked the culmination of the 5-year PeaceRep Iraq programme, which has made diverse research and policy contributions.

⏳ 3 days to go! Join our panel on Reporting #Gaza, which examines how mainstream #media has covered the war & the ongoing dispossession & suffering of #Palestinians. @omarghazzi.bsky.social @desfreedman.bsky.social #LilianeLandor @myriageorgiou.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/lsem...

The playtext of The Beekeeper of Aleppo is now available for pre-order from #NickHern books. Save 20% when you order in advance! #TheBeekeeperOfAleppo #BeekeeperPlay www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/beekeeper-of...

Join #LSEHealth & @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social for a lecture on health care reform in the Middle East🏥 📅 17 Feb, 6pm |📍 Fawcett House, LSE LSE Health researchers Prof Alistair McGuire & George Wharton explore reforms in UAE & Saudi Arabia, drawing on PHSSR research. Register: bit.ly/4ctfyIn

Join us tonight for 'Fire in every direction' with Tareq Baconi. This talk will explore themes of political and queer awakening, drawing on personal experiences of displacement, belonging, and resistance. 🕡 6pm 📍 OLD.3.24, LSE Old Building 🔗 buff.ly/eJFXV1f #Sociology #HumanRights

In #Iraq, #women are losing water, livelihoods, and #cultural heritage. My study in the #Hawizeh Marshes finds that it is not a temporary #environmental crisis, but a systematic process driven by drainage, #oil expansion, and militarisation. Changes place the greatest burden on women. goo.su/XO4nhyn

Congratulations from everyone at the department to @hsw.bsky.social for publishing Creative Interventions for Social Justice! Open access here: uclpress.co.uk/book/creativ...

We’re pleased to announce that the draft programme for our upcoming Kurdish Studies Conference (29 April-1 May) is now live! Take a look at the packed programme across 3 days: https://ow.ly/1tT550YeZZF 👉 Register to attend the conference: https://ow.ly/T9OG50YeZZG

📢 Upcoming event 📍 Thu 19 Feb 6.30–8pm Reporting #Gaza: Coverage, Context & Consequences Join @omarghazzi.bsky.social, Des Freedman & Liliane Landor to discuss how mainstream media has covered the war on Gaza & the ongoing suffering of #Palestinians. 🎟️ Register: forms.office.com/e/EWr7xbnbA4

Thursday 19 Feb, 18:30: Join @omarghazzi.bsky.social , @desfreedman.bsky.social & @liliane11.bsky.social to discuss how the mainstream media has covered the war on Gaza and the ongoing dispossession and suffering of Palestinians forms.office.com/pages/respon...

🏢 How are the designs of some modern cities, built for cars not people, now affecting those who live there? Dr Alexandra Gomes of LSE Cities takes a look at how the Gulf Cities of #AbuDhabi and #Kuwait can be used as case studies for more sustainable urban design for people and planet.

Really looking forward to chairing this event! 🧿👇🏼

Don't miss out on this book launch taking place today!

Join us on 19 February for a panel discussion analysing and deconstructing notions of the family in the Middle East through a queer lens. Register here: www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-... @polly-withers.bsky.social @adelatolla.bsky.social @eliasjahshan.bsky.social @hsw.bsky.social

Hydraulic mission accomplished? Water infrastructure, policy and scarcity in Türkiye A public conversation hosted by Contemporary Turkish Studies at LSE and the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA), reflecting on today’s challenges of scarcity and climate change. 📅 10 Feb 2026 | 6.30pm 📍 LSE & online

My latest: US policy in Syria and what it really means for Kurds across the region. www-aljazeera-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.alja...

Upcoming Event | Health Care Reform in the Middle East: Applying Theory to Practice 🗓️ Tuesday 17 February ⏰ 6-7 pm 📍 LSE Register here: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/events/2026/health-care-reform-in-the-middle-east

📢Join us for the launch of Professor Paul Dixon’s new book, The Militarisation of British Democracy: The Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and the rise of authoritarianism. Find out more: www.lse.ac.uk/internationa... #AcademicSky #PoliSky

'Mrie demonstrates how authoritarianism and war are interwoven: violence, repression and concessions of conscience permeate everyday routines, shaping both identity and ethical decision-making.' - Jenifer Vaughan (Fenton) for the MEC blog Read the book review: https://ow.ly/97iB50Y5rjQ

LSE LIFE World Café: Decolonising knowledge and education 🌍 The first World Café of Winter Term will discuss how to decolonise knowledge and education through short presentations and informal roundtable conversations. 📌 Thursday 5 February | 6-8 pm | LSE Register here: https://ow.ly/NRA950Y82Vq

Professor Fawaz Gerges discusses US–Iran tensions and the risk of a potential #US attack in a new interview with Deutsche Welle. 🎥 Watch the full interview: youtu.be/UMQa-nyXOJ0?... @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social #AcademicSky #PoliSky #Iran

Register for our @lsects.bsky.social event co-hosted with the British Institute at Ankara: www.lse.ac.uk/contemporary... You can either join us on the #LSE campus or online. @lse-ei.bsky.social @lsemiddleeast.bsky.social @lseevents.bsky.social #LSETürkiye