Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies

Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
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Name	Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies
Formation	1959
Founder	Moshe Dayan
Headquarters	Tel Aviv University
Location	Tel Aviv
Leader title	Director

Contents

Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies is an academic research institute affiliated with Tel Aviv University that focuses on the modern and contemporary history, politics, and societies of Middle East and Africa. Founded in 1959 by Moshe Dayan, the center connects scholarship on Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Ethiopia, and Sudan with regional archives and diplomatic records. Its work engages historians, political scientists, and specialists studying events such as the Suez Crisis, Six-Day War, Yom Kippur War, Camp David Accords, and the Arab Spring.

History

The center was established in 1959 by Moshe Dayan at Tel Aviv University amid scholarly debates following the Suez Crisis and the consolidation of Israel's state institutions, attracting scholars who had worked on the Haganah, Palmach, and the early Israel Defense Forces. During the 1960s and 1970s it expanded archives related to the Mandate for Palestine, the UN Partition Plan for Palestine, and diplomatic correspondence involving United Kingdom, France, and United States officials, while researchers produced studies referencing the Balfour Declaration, the League of Nations, and the United Nations. In the 1980s and 1990s the center broadened to include contemporary studies on Iranian Revolution, Gulf War (1990–1991), and Oslo Accords, collaborating with institutions such as the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The George Washington University, and British Museum. In the 2000s and 2010s its programs responded to the Iraq War, the Syrian Civil War, and the Arab Spring, adding comparative projects on North Africa, Horn of Africa, and Sahel studies.

The center's mission links archival research, policy analysis, and teaching focused on regions including Levant, Maghreb, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea corridors, emphasizing sources from the Ottoman Empire, British Mandate for Palestine, and postcolonial administrations. Research programs address diplomacy and security questions drawing on case studies such as the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty, the Jordanian–Israeli peace treaty, and the Anschluss-era legacies (in comparative perspective), while comparative projects consider migration and border dynamics involving Eritrea, Somalia, and Yemen. The center supports thematic initiatives on energy and waterways referencing the Suez Canal, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Bab-el-Mandeb, and interdisciplinary collaborations involving scholars linked to Columbia University, University of Oxford, Harvard University, and Princeton University.

Organizational units include programs on Arabic language studies, modern Ottoman Empire studies, and contemporary Iranian politics alongside specialized units for African studies, Israeli history, and archival projects on the British Foreign Office and US State Department records. The center hosts visiting chairs and fellows from institutions such as King's College London, American University in Cairo, University of Paris, and University of Chicago, and maintains partnerships with museums and cultural repositories like the National Library of Israel and the Israel State Archives.

Scholarly output includes monographs, edited volumes, and occasional papers addressing topics from the Mandate for Palestine period to the Arab Spring, featuring contributors who have written on figures such as Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Hafez al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad, and Ruhollah Khomeini. The center organizes conferences and symposia with themes tied to landmark events like the Camp David Accords, the Oslo Accords, and the Iran–Iraq War, and convenes workshops that draw participants from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Chatham House, Brookings Institution, and regional universities.

The center maintains collaborative links with academic and policy institutions including Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Bar-Ilan University, American University, SOAS University of London, and international partners such as European Union research networks and United Nations agencies. Outreach efforts include public lectures, film screenings, and educational programs for schools and diplomats that engage narratives involving UNRWA, Red Cross, Amnesty International, and regional NGOs from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, and Kenya.