Advancing Thought Leadership for Alternative Security
Launching in Spring 2026
The PRISME ATLAS is a digital infrastructure for visibility and connection. It maps the diverse and growing community of researchers, practitioners, and policy voices working on inclusive and sustainable approaches to security in and with the Middle East and North Africa.
This is more than a directory. It’s a living archive of critical thinkers – and a tool to support new forms of collaboration, engagement, and knowledge exchange.
Why ATLAS?
Dominant security paradigms in the MENA region have too often centered arms transfers, military alliances, and coercive power. Changing this requires more than just new ideas – it requires making the people who generate those ideas more visible, more connected, and more heard.
ATLAS reflects PRISME’s commitment to broadening who is considered an expert, and whose perspectives shape security debates.
What you’ll find
Each ATLAS profile offers a concise introduction to the contributor’s background, areas of specialization, institutional affiliations, and selected publications. Contributors also indicate whether they are open to media engagement, mentoring, or collaboration. This living archive is designed to serve multiple purposes: it’s a reference tool for journalists, policymakers, and institutions seeking regionally grounded expertise; a networking space for scholars and activists looking for new interlocutors; and a knowledge map of the evolving contours of inclusive security thinking.
Who’s already involved?
The directory pre-inscription already includes:
64 experts
from diverse institutions across academia, think tanks and NGOs
from 24 countries
spanning the MENA, Europe and North America
How to join
We welcome submissions from people working on issues related to security and political agency in and with the Middle East – whether you’re a scholar, practitioner, civil society actor, or independent analyst. We are especially interested in highlighting voices that are underrepresented in mainstream policy and academic conversations.
How it works
ATLAS is being developed in close coordination with PRISME’s workshops, mentoring programs, and community-building efforts to reflect the initiative’s ethos of inclusion and mutual exchange. The platform will be fully searchable by region, topic, and language, and will grow as new contributors are added over time. It will highlight participants from the SALAM and SEED(s) programs, while remaining open to submissions from across the broader field. Scheduled to launch in 2026, ATLAS is both a dynamic archive and a practical tool for fostering visibility, connection, and cross-regional dialogue.
