The year 2025 was calm, and FIME was able to carry out its activities in line with its annual plan.
During the year, the institute welcomed two new researchers, osteoarchaeologist Nina Maaranen and docent of the ancient Near East Joanna Töyräänvuori. Sana Tannoury-Karam continued after her term as a resident scholar as FIME’s first non-resident scholar. Sylvia Akar began her role as the institute’s representative in Cairo.
The institute’s director, Susanne Dahlgren, together with Mikko Lohikoski, published the non-fiction book Muuttuva Lähi-itä maailmanjärjestyksen murtuessa. The book attracted wide interest in Finland and was in high demand in libraries. Foundation researcher Antti Tarvainen continued his research and completed his doctoral dissertation on the startup sector in Israel and Palestine. He also organized an online course titled “Global Palestine: Tracing the Shifting Horizons of Violence and Power.”
The Badaro Talks series, launched two years ago, has become an established and popular forum in Beirut. In addition, the director and the resident scholar each organized their own international workshops. In the autumn, two student courses were held, one in the United Arab Emirates and another in Turkey. FIME also published its third open online course, “Nuolenpäiden aika: tutustu muinaiseen Lähi-itään”.
Safa Al-Khalidi, who started as a research assistant in the foundation’s office in the autumn, organized Arabic language café in cooperation with Oodi. The foundation’s grants enabled four researchers and students to spend approximately six months in the Middle East, supported two months of full-time doctoral research, and funded three master’s theses.
FIME’s staff actively provided information to Finnish media and commented on developments in the Middle East. The institute or its experts appeared in the media 78 times during the year. The war in Gaza and Iran attracted the most attention, but there was also interest in the empires of the ancient Near East. FIME continued publishing the Lähi-itä NYT blog and podcast and produced a video for media professionals titled “Kuinka uutisoida Israel-Palestiinasta?”.
There were also reasons to celebrate during the year. In the spring, we celebrated long-serving administrative secretary Manal Chatila’s 50th birthday. In the summer, the annual concert was held at the Al-Bustan concert hall, featuring cellist Martta Magdalena Valkeus and pianist Hanna-Mari Zinovjev. In the autumn, the institute received notable recognition when the Student Union of the University of Helsinki awarded it for producing research-based knowledge on the timely issue of Israel and Palestine.
Read the Annual Report here
