The EU-Middle East Forum (EUMEF) succeeded the International Forum on Strategic Thinking and narrowed down the previously global perspective of the project to the MENA region and Europe.
Between 2011 and early 2017, the EU-Middle East Forum (EUMEF) served as a platform for professional exchange, capacity building, cooperation, networking, and intercultural dialogue for young entry-level and mid-level experts from North Africa, Turkey, and Europe. Its extensive alumni network encompasses some five hundred experts from the MENA region as well as Europe.
Until 2015 the forum placed its focus on the transformation processes and developments in North Africa – and on German and European policies connected to them, with attention given to socioeconomic and socio-political issues as well as security matters. The forum was geared toward young and mid-level experts from civil society, academia, the economic and political domains, and the media, with articipants predominantly from Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco as well as from Germany and other European countries.
Until 2015, EUMEF offered annual International Summer School sessions as well as two New Faces Conferences per year. In addition, the program hosted alumni conferences in Berlin for former participants of the Summer Schools and New Faces. These took place every two years.
From 2015 until early 2017, the forum also organized a series of Foreign Policy Workshops and Capacity-Building Workshops. These consisted of presentations by participants and experts, who discussed and analyzed an economic, political, social, or security-related issue.
The Capacity-Building Workshops aimed to equip employees of think tanks or similar academic institutions with the necessary tools and qualifications to further improve their work. For this purpose, the forum offered a range of modules such as scenario workshops.
At the end of both workshop formats, policy briefs were produced so that outcomes could be shared with the wider public. This allowed participants to practice their writing and publishing skills.
Early in 2017, EUMEF organized a study tour in Germany for twenty forum alumni, offering participants the opportunity to gain insight into German think tanks and their work. This provided them with new inspiration for their own work and projects.
New Faces Conferences
Up until 2015, EUMEF organized two to three New Faces Conferences per year.
- New Faces Conference “Transition in Egypt and Tunisia through the Prism of Gender Equality” (Cairo, February 2012)
- New Faces Conference “Socio-Economic Malaise as a Security Threat – Which Model and Reforms for Egypt?” (Cairo, July 2012)
- New Faces Conference “Pluralism in Egypt and Tunisia – How the Political Opening is Changing Islamist Forces” (Cairo, October 2012)
- New Faces Conference “Education and Democracy in North Africa – Current Challenges and Visions for the Future” (Tunis, June 2013)
- New Faces Conference “Critical Voices, Not Welcome? Media, Politics, and Freedom of Expression in North Africa” (Rabat, November 2013)
- New Faces Conference “Citizenship and Political Participation in the Mediterranean Region” (Istanbul, March 2014)
- New Faces Conference “Moving People – Implications of Migration for Societies and States in North Africa” (Tunis, June 2014)
Alumni Conferences
Up until 2015, EUMEF hosted biannual alumni conferences in Berlin for former participants of the Forum’s International Summer Schools and New Faces Conferences.
- Alumni Conference “The Changing Face of the Middle East” (Berlin, November 2012)
- Alumni Conference “The MENA Region in Turmoil – Causes and Ways out of the Crises” (Berlin, November 2014)
International Summer Schools
Up until 2015, EUMEF organized one International Summer School per year.
- International Summer School “Democracy and Security Revisited – Transformations in Egypt and Tunisia and EU Re- (Dis-) Orientation” (Berlin, July 2011)
- International Summer School “Transforming to Where? The Cases of Egypt and Tunisia” (Berlin, September 2012)
- International Summer School “The Transformations in North Africa and their Geopolitical Implications” (Berlin, August 2013)
- International Summer School “Constructive versus Destructive Engagement – Drivers and Implications of External Actors’ Policies for North Africa” (Berlin, August 2014)