Our history
Founded in 1989, The National Center for Middle East Studies emerged as an independent think tank that includes a number of experts, consultants and opinion makers in Egypt. Since its establishment, NCMES has gathered extensive and diverse experiences from dignitaries and statesmen, who also contributed to the founding of the center, such as the former National Security Advisor and the former head of the General Intelligence Service, Advisor Hafez Ismail, the former Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Orabi, and a number of businessmen and financiers.
Numerous prominent diplomatic, military, and scientific figures succeeded in heading NCMES, as it was headed by Ambassador Salah Bassiouni, the last Egyptian ambassador to the Soviet Union, followed by Major General Ahmed Fakhr, who served as an advisor to Nasser Higher Military Academy (Military Academy for Postgraduate and Strategic Studies), then Ambassador Hassan Issa, Major General Mohamed Nabhan Swailem, followed by Major General Dr. Mohamed Shafiq, then Major General Dr. Mohamed Megahed Al-Zayat, and Major General Dr. Ahmed Al-Sherbini. Currently, Major General Dr. Khaled El-Khamry, the former head of the Research Development Center at the National Defense Council, heads NCMES.
Since its establishment in 1989, the Center’s researchers have participated in dozens of events and activities, and it has effectively succeeded in collaborating with Egyptian state institutions. The Center has also hosted many meetings and conferences from countries such as the United States, Russia, China, Israel, France, Turkey, and others. Furthermore, NCMES participated in the network of international research centers in the United States, and was able to engage in international paths regarding the peace process between the Arabs and Israel, along with a number of Arab–American events.
Therefore, the National Center for Middle East Studies remains one of the earliest research centers in Egypt, and one of the brightest and important beacons on the map of Arab and regional research centers.
Our Objectives
NCMES aims to achieve its goals through a number of specialized units, which operate in multiple fields according to the Center’s interests, priorities, and determinants, which are constantly formulated through a disciplined research plan, in addition to the topics that impose themselves as priorities to the Egyptian state and in its Arab, regional, and international scope.
The NCMES’s interests center upon operating through multiple paths, most importantly research according to a multi-vision academic method and through a comprehensive approach in disparate fields of non-standard research work, which has reserved an advanced place for the center in the field of research at the Egyptian and Arab levels throughout its 35-year history.
Our mission, goals, and priorities are reflected in our publications, as the center issues “Middle East Papers,” a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal, aside from two irregular publications, “Middle Eastern Files” and “Political Pamphlets.”
The National Center for Middle East Studies operates according to a “specific research force”, and in accordance with a precise structure based on various units and specialized programs, including: the International Studies Unit, Arabic and Regional Studies Unit, Specific Studies Unit, Economic Studies Unit, State and Society Issues Unit, and the Field Research and Public Opinion Measurement Unit.
All of this has contributed to the center having a concrete foundation and an advanced working agenda that takes into account all current developments, while firmly employing research capabilities.