From political upheaval and security threats to new economic powers emerging, the roundtable series examines a region in flux.
By Eve Lacroix (Senior Communications Officer), Published
City St George’s, University of London is running the Ambassadors Forum Series on the Eastern Mediterranean, building a dialogue between academics and policymakers about a region in flux.
Hosted by the School of Policy & Global Affairs, the project is a series of four roundtable sessions with key diplomats to discuss the political, security and economic changes within the region.
From the 7 October 2023 attacks and the war in Israel and Gaza, to Assad’s regime in Syria being toppled and Hezbollah being weakened, the region’s political and security landscape has shifted dramatically over the past few years, prompting humanitarian crises across the region.
Approaches to security are contrasting, notably between Israel and Turkey and their respective diplomatic relations with Gaza, Syria, Greece and Cyprus.
New repositories of gas discovered in the territorial waters of Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip have opened questions around ownership and economic power.
The war that began on Saturday 28 February, with the launch of the Israel-US attacks on Iran, which has responded by attacking several states throughout the Middle East, has drawn in several Middle Eastern states including countries located in the east Mediterranean basin such as Cyprus and Lebanon.
The project was launched by Amnon Aran, Professor of International Politics; Georgios Giannakopoulos, Senior Lecturer in Modern History; and Mustafa Kutlay, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics, who all sit within the School’s Department of International Politics.
The series is a collaboration with the Cambridge Middle East and North Africa Forum (MENAF), a well-established thinktank that carries out policy research and hosts conferences and keynote events on the MENA region.
The project connects MENAF’s policy circle with the Department of International Politics’ academic expertise in international history and politics.
To launch the event series, City St George’s colleagues received funding from the Social Voucher Impact scheme.
The first session was hosted by Dr Giannakopoulos and saw His Excellency Yannis Tsaousis, the Greek Ambassador to the UK, visit City St George’s in January 2026 to explore the Greek perspective.
He discussed Greece’s economy, its growing defence capabilities, its strengthening diplomatic relationships with the MENA region, and the balance it aims to strike in relation to migration, security and human rights protections.
Attendees were a mix of policymakers, including officials from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), thinktank employees, politicians, journalists and academics. The roundtable talk was followed by a networking luncheon.
The second session was hosted by Dr Kutlay, and welcomed His Excellency Osman Koray Ertaş, the Turkish Ambassador to the United Kingdom, on Wednesday 11 March 2026.
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