A bridge of civilizations

We are a network of think tanks striving for freedom and human flourishing in the Mediterranean.

The shores of the Mediterranean have historically been witness to the rise and fall of civilisations. It has seen wars being waged and empires come and go. But it has also been the meeting point for intercultural dialogue and the epicenter of philosophy. This sea is today a barrier preventing exchange. Let us restore it to what it once was: A bridge.

Research

Research project: Informal Migration in the Mediterranean (2024)

Research project that sheds light into one...

Activities

17 October 2024

Informal Migration in Morocco

9:30 – 10:00 Welcome and participant registration...

PAST ACTIVITIES

24 September 2024

Informal Migration in the Mediterranean

Presentation of the Mediterranean white paper on...

25 September 2024

Informal Migration in the Mediterranean

Presentation of Mediterranean Dialogue’s 2024 report on...

NETWORK

Morocco

Croatia

Portugal

Palestine

PEOPLE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Dr. Ramsi Jazmati

Chairman
Dr. Ramsi Jazmati Akili, is a non-resident fellow at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, Researcher in the Institute of culture and society and holds a PhD in Emirati Women Leadership in the department of Business and Humanism of the University of Navarra. He holds a master degree in Bioethics and an MBDU from ESADE business sdhool and a diploma in High Management from IESE business school. Additionally, he holds a specialization program in governance and cultural diplomacy from the Academy of Cultural diplomacy of Berlin Germany. He is deputy director in Choiseul Institute Spain, a think tank center with special emphasis on geo-economics and the impact of international relations in the Spanish economy. He is a member of the observatory of equity of women at the social promotion foundation in Madrid. He has held the position of Patron of the Board of Trustees in the Social Promotion Foundation. He was the Project Director of the agency for business competitiveness of the Regional Government of Catalonia in the Gulf Region, where he was responsible for expanding the presence of Catalan companies in the Gulf in order to attract capital and setting up institutional relation between the regional government of Catalonia and institutional identities in the gulf region. He is a speaker in international forums covering the leadership of Arab women, a visiting professor in different universities in Spain and has published different papers in the center of the strategic studies in Madrid. He is a regular columnist covering relations between Spain and the Arab world. He is fluent in Arabic, English and Spanish and his expertise is in Women’s Leadership, Cultural Diplomacy, and Geo-economics.

Juan Soto

President
He graduated in Business Administration and in Law from the University of Navarra, and in Political Science from UNED. He has an MA in Political and Legal Theory from University College London (UCL) and is currently doing his PhD in Political Science at St. Mary’s University, London. In 2015 he founded Fortius Consulting, a strategic consulting company focused on non-profits and which operates across Europe, America and Africa, and is specialised in think tanks. He has held different management positions, being executive director of Fundación Civismo (2018-2021) and international director of Fundación Disenso (2021-2023). He is a social entrepreneur and has founded numerous student and civic organisations, including Fortius Foundation and Principios of which he is president. He is also the chairman and founder of two think tank networks: Escuela Ibérica and Mediterranean Dialogue. He is a regular contributor in various Spanish newspapers and a number of journals, and is a guest lecturer at the University of Navarra since 2020.

Tasnim Idriss

Vice President
Lecturer of English at the University of Tunis El Manar and freelance translator/editor. She is also the former Associate Director of the Islam & Liberty Network, a Malaysia-based academic think tank focused on economic freedom, religious freedom and political freedom in Muslim-majority countries and beyond. She graduated from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Tunis in Anglo-American literature, civilization and linguistics and earned a teacher training degree and a research certificate from the same university. She also holds an MA in Cultural Studies from the University of Carthage, Tunisia, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Political Science from Istanbul Medeniyet university in Turkiye.  As the then Liaison Academic Officer of the Munathara Initiative, Tasnim helped organize the first  ever Tunisian and Arab legislative and presidential debates in 2019. She also served in polling stations in previous legislative, municipal and presidential Tunisian elections. Tasnim is part of several global networks and represented post-Revolution Tunisia through organizing and participating in several peace and leadership programmes across the world, mainly with the Initiatives of Change Foundation, the Atlas Network and Diplomacy by Networking. 

Loubna El Hassouni

Board Member
Ph.D. candidate in Fintech and Innovation at Mohammed V University, is a youth and civil society activist from Rabat, Morocco. She serves as the vice president of Eden Maroc Association, a youth organization with the aim to empower Moroccan youth through inclusive and sustainable projects and enhancing their skills in project management, critical thinking, debates, and advocacy. Within Eden she is also a project manager of a partnership project with the Danish Youth Council on sustainable development goals. Loubna represents Morocco as a Youth Delegate at the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum and serves as an Executive Board member in the Arab Group. Additionally, Loubna holds a position as a Youth Sounding Board member under the Arab Danish Partnership Program, collaborating with local partners to advocate for youth-centered activities.

Elyes Guermazi

Board member
Founder and Executive Director at the International Institute of Debate, a regional nonprofit that aims to empower young people through education and address key challenges that limit youth’s right to education. He has worked for over 5 years with AIESEC, a global youth organization, and has become an expert in debate training from the English Speaking Union. Elyes is the Communications Director of the African Youth Panel, part of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization network, and an Ashoka Fellow. Elyes’s vision is to engage every young citizen to be active in their society.

ADVISORY BOARD

TEAM

Dr. Dolores López

Senior Research Fellow
Dolores López has a degree in Geography and History (1991) and a PhD in Geography (1997) from our University and a Master of Science in Demography (1993) from the London School of Economics (LSE). She is a full professor of Human Geography at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, she teaches classes in different degrees at this center and at the Faculty of Law, as well as in the Master of Marriage and Family and the Master in Environmental Design and Management of Buildings. . Her research topics fall within family studies (women, fertility, conciliation, old age and youth), mortality and migration. She has carried out research stays at the LSE, the Office of Population Research (Princeton University), and the Center d’Estudis Demographics of the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Samanta Pečiulytė

Research Fellow
Social integrator and intercultural mediator with 2 years of experience working with migrants at the Center for Participation and Integration of Immigrants in Tetuán (Madrid) and a high school in the same neighborhood, both managed by the NGO CESAL. I assisted with various programs aimed at improving the social integration of young and adult migrants. Fluent in Lithuanian, Spanish and English. Intermediate in Russian, French, and Arabic.

A bridge of civilizations

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