For a week in December each year, Oslo city invites the public to learn about and discuss important issues related to peace, democracy and human rights. The series of events are called Oslo Peace Days.

​PRIO will contribute to this year's Oslo Peace Days with four events, including the prestigious PRIO Annual Peace Address. 

​In a series of brief blog posts, researchers of the PRIO Middle East Centre offer their reflections on the unfolding Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The reflections cover historical and political background as well as current dynamics and future prospects. 

​In May, a new PRIO Middle East Centre project started. The project, entitled 'Reacting to COVID-19 Across the MENA region', aims to explore how Middle East states reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic and what these varied reactions say about the regimes in question, combining statistical analysis of regional patterns with five case studies: Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Israel, and Palestine. The case studies are published in the MidEast Policy Brief series, with an accompanying PRIO Paper presenting the statistical analysis.

​The MidEast Policy Brief series was launched in late 2019. The series aims to disseminate timely and relevant research to the wider public on topics relating to the MENA region, and provide research-based policy advice. Three policy briefs have been published in the series. The first assesses the viability of Kurdish and Palestinian quests for self-determination, the second lays out misconceptions about the Yemen War, while the third scrutinizes the foundations of the EU policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

​In the new PRIO Paper ‘The Shifting Turkish Agenda in Syria’s Evolving Conflict: Understanding the Drivers of Turkey’s Policy in Syria’, Pinar Tank critically examines the Turkish agenda in Syria, identifying Turkey’s domestic drivers and situating the country’s policies within an ever-changing regional and international context. The focus is particularly on how internal dynamics and nationalist politics are driving Turkish foreign policy in Syria. These domestic factors influence both Turkey’s relationship to the West and its more recent pivot towards Russia. 

​On the occasion of the Royal visit – by His Majesty King Harald V and Queen Sonja –  to Jordan 2-4 March, PRIO co-hosted the seminar 'Preserving Spaces for Dialogue in the Middle East' in collaboration with the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) at the University of Jordan. The seminar took place over two days and aimed at providing a space for academia and key stakeholders to meet. Attendees and participants from Norway included the King of Norway, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide, and Minister of Trade and Industry Iselin Nybø.