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OUR PROGRESS
Founded in the summer of 2024, CIMEA has quickly grown into a national network committed to improving the quality of campus discourse on international affairs. In our first year, we’ve launched programming on campuses across the country, published student-led research, and connected students with the expertise and networks they need to make an impact. As we continue to grow, we remain focused on expanding our reach, building strong chapters, and providing the tools students need to explore, question, and lead.
"Leadership Rooted in Clarity, Empathy, and Education"
-Championing the free exchange of ideas on campuses across the United States to cultivate informed, empathetic, and nuanced leadership and understanding of Middle East and African affairs.
The Collegiate Institute for Middle East Affairs (CIMEA) is a national nonpartisan educational organization dedicated to advancing students’ understanding of the Middle East and Africa. We seek to empower the next generation of informed leaders to engage thoughtfully and constructively with complex international challenges. We recognize that the rising hostility and polarization that characterizes many student spaces today undermines the very purpose of higher education. Our work is guided by the conviction that campuses should be places of curiosity, dialogue, and mutual respect rather than conflict, silence, and polarization. We strive to meet students where they are and equip them with the tools and opportunities necessary to become the most informed, capable, and empathetic versions of themselves.
CIMEA serves as a meeting ground for students of all backgrounds to explore a wide range of topics concerning the Middle East and Africa. We are dedicated to the free exchange of ideas, and see meaningful participation in the exchange as our starting line. In this way, we believe the free exchange of ideas and the inclusion of diverse perspectives are essential to international affairs dialogue on campuses across the United States. By fostering open, informed debate and offering transformative opportunities for exposure and development, we cultivate leaders who are prepared to mediate complex global dialogue in their own communities and to lead the conversations that shape foreign policy tomorrow.
OUR MISSION
CIMEA is a network of students, experts, and institutions united by the belief that knowledge, empathy, and open dialogue are essential to leadership. While politically neutral, we take a principled stance on one thing: the recognition of human dignity. Across the Middle East and Africa, dehumanization fuels mistrust and division. We work to create spaces where that cycle is broken—where people with differing perspectives can engage one another honestly and respectfully.
On many campuses today, conversations about the Middle East and Africa are marked by tension, mistrust, or silence. Complex issues are too often reduced to slogans or political identities, making genuine dialogue nearly impossible. This climate limits students’ ability to develop nuanced perspectives and to practice the kind of constructive disagreement that is vital for democratic societies and international cooperation.
We address this challenge by fostering environments where difficult conversations can happen without fear or hostility. Our chapters host expert-led events, facilitate small-group learning on specialized topics, and encourage members to publish original work in The Needle, CIMEA’s student journal. These activities not only expand access to knowledge, but also build skills in critical thinking, policy analysis, and cross-cultural communication.
The conversations students have today will shape the decisions they make tomorrow—as diplomats, educators, policymakers, and community leaders—but their impact is not limited to the future. On campuses and in communities right now, students have the power to shift narratives, bridge divides, and model the kind of respectful, informed dialogue that strengthens democratic societies. By equipping students to approach global issues with empathy, intellectual rigor, and historical awareness, CIMEA is not only preparing the next generation of leaders but also empowering them to lead in the spaces they already inhabit. This dual focus—on both immediate and long-term impact—ensures our work contributes to a more peaceful, cooperative, and informed society today and in the years ahead.