Levant Letters

The Levant Letters are popular scholarly writings on the Middle East published six times a year by the Finnish Institute in the Middle East on its website. The objective and purpose of these writings is to dig underneath the layers of politics, history, culture, arts and languages of the Middle East and offer readers analysed, digested and well-thought views. Writings bring forth subjects of the past and present – all the subjects that are under the mandate of the Finnish Institute in the Middle East. The writings are united by their actuality and academic relevance. Overarching objective is to strengthen interest in, enhance understanding and deepen knowledge of the Middle East. The Finnish issues of Levant Letters can be found on the institutes Finnish webpage.

The series was discontinued in 2019. The institute publishes another blog series in Finnish, Lähi-itä NYT.

Seeking better life: Palestinian refugees’ narratives on emigration

And human rights [in Europe]. Here, you don’t have human rights here. (H, al-Bass camp) In Europe everything is good. […]

30.1.2018

Islam Unfettered, Control Retained: The 2012 Educational Reform in Turkey

Reforms in 2012 extended the role of Islam in Turkey’s educational system, but the state’s control over religion was […]

7.2.2016

Justice Agenda in the MENA Regime Change

The MENA is in a flux of regime changes. The Justice deficit is both a driver of change and […]

18.2.2013

Military Orientalism: Observing the East at War

“The Oriental tradition, however, had not been eliminated…On September 11, 2001 it returned in an absolutely traditional form. Arabs, […]

25.3.2012

Women’s NGOs and the rise of political Islam in Morocco

Morocco experienced the Arab Spring relatively peacefully and without major violence. Large demonstrations began in February 2011 after the […]

28.1.2012

The Dilemma on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was established by the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1757 (2007) to investigate […]

28.2.2011

The Reverse Side of Globalisation? Thoughts About the Revolutionary Movements in Arabic Countries

During the past months, several Arab countries have experienced revolutionary movements. These events, which sometimes seem chaotic when viewed […]

28.1.2011