International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES)

Based in Ljubljana, the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) is a centre for inter-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-racial studies which gathers and selects various information and sources on the world's key conflict areas.

IFIMES focuses its work on the Middle East (Gulf countries) and South Eastern Europe, where tensions in the relations among different entities have a religious, ethnic, multinational, and racial basis. Associates of the institute are respected experts and scientists who introduce younger colleagues to their work with the aim of additional education and promotion of knowledge and science. In 2010 IFIMES bestowed the Minister of Foreign Affairs Samuel Žbogar an award for "Positive personality of 2009 in the field of foreign policy".

Activities and research

IFIMES organises seminars, symposia, conferences, and round tables involving participants from various interest groups (scientists, politicians, managers, representatives of religious institutions, journalists, artists and others) and presents the results of its work and achievements through its publications, also targeting leading international media.

Among the institute's most popular research papers have been The Creeping Crisis: The Serbian Government's Plan for Kosovo (2008) and The Reform of the Law of Obligations in Kosovo (2007). The institute also engages in the field of culture. In 2005, for example, it published Mitja Velikonja's study on "Balkan Culture" in Slovenia after 1991. Recently it co-organised the Literature and Diplomacy – The Bridge between the EU and the West Balkans? discussion and other literary events.

International cooperation

IFIMES is a partner of the World Security Network and Globalvision News Network (both based in New York) and Mejdunarodniyi obchestveniyi fond Eksperimentalniyi tvorcheskiyi centr, Kurginyana Center (Moscow).

External links

International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies website