NUS Middle East Institute (MEI)

The Middle East Institute (MEI) was established in 2007 as an autonomous research organization within the National University of Singapore. Its mission is to generate scholarly and policy research on the broader Middle East (the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, Israel and Afghanistan). Its three broad research clusters are politics and security, economics and business, and culture and society.  It supports approximately 15 research positions, ranging from post-doctoral fellows to senior researchers. Its disciplinary representation includes anthropology, business, economics, history, international relations, Islamic studies, and political science.  Subjects of special interest include the Arab uprisings, the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf, the role of Turkey and Iran in regional affairs, Gulf oil, business and investment, contemporary Islamic movements and the growing interactions between the region and Singapore/Southeast Asia. Other topics include gender issues, human rights, environment, social movements, political Islam, military-strategic issues, and Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

Mission

The Institute is dedicated to the study of contemporary Middle East. It aims to produce timely, reliable and non-partisan analyses of issues and to disseminate such knowledge and insights to policymakers, the business community, academia, and civil society.The composition of the logo is a representation of a sunrise, with the three converging arcs representing the Institute’s three key areas of research and study—politics and security, economics and business, and culture and society.

Logo

The composition of the logo is a representation of a sunrise, with the three converging arcs representing the Institute’s three key areas of research and study—politics and security, economics and business, and culture and society.