Original Perspectives on the Middle East
About us
We are an independent research forum which aims to explore a range of topical issues concerning the Middle East. At the heart of our approach is the desire to understand what future role the Middle East will play in the world, taking into account both the historical and contemporary contexts.
We are especially interested in how different Middle Eastern institutions – such as governments, companies, NGOs, or specific communities – interact with the rest of the world. Part of our work deals with traditional foreign policy studies, but we are also keen to explore developments in non-political arenas, such as cultural, religious or educational relationships. Relations between the Middle East and, in particular, the West have often been the source of profound misunderstanding in the modern age and we view any discussion on how to frame this interaction in a broader context as welcome.
Our aim
Middle East Futures Network exists purely to contribute to the complex debate over the future of the Middle East. We have no political affiliation or bias whatsoever and no pre-conceived agenda. We aspire to publish a range of work in different formats which challenges conventional thinking, represents a broad body of opinion, and moves the debate forward.
How we work
This website serves as a forum where the public can access the latest thinking on topics of current and historical interest. On our analysis page, visitors will be able to read essay-style pieces on a broad range of topics. All the analysis we present here is in the style of a newspaper leader column or an Economist article: original, direct, and accessible.
Where we are able to offer specialist insight, we are willing to contribute content to other think-tanks working on the region.
Director
Middle East Futures Network is directed by John Burman, who has a long-standing personal interest in the Middle East and its interaction with the West. John was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford (MA in Arabic and Persian) and Queens’ College, Cambridge (MPhil and PhD in Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies), where his doctoral work focused on British diplomatic representation in the Ottoman Empire immediately prior to the First World War. He is the author of Britain’s Relations with the Ottoman Empire during the Embassy of Sir Nicholas O’Conor to the Porte, 1898-1908 (Istanbul: Isis Press, 2010) as well as a number of peer-reviewed articles published in scholarly journals.