Occasionally, I moderate debates and seminars, often in English. Examples below.
Allt har en smak av aska
Ett samtal med Sveriges radios Mellanösternkorrespondent Cecilia Uddén med anledning av hennes nya bok, Allt har en smak av aska, inför en fullsatt lokal i ABF-huset, Stockholm.
Finding a way forward. Communities and Civil Society in the Israeli – Palestinian conflict
At Medelhavsmuseet (Museum of the Mediterranean) in Stockholm, on 3 June 2025, I had the honor to moderate a talk between three representatives of the Israeli-Jewish and Palestinian civil societies.
Topic: How can Israeli and Palestinian civil society be revived in order to find a new path towards peace? What can the European Union do to further the cause of peace at this fateful junction in the history of these societies and this conflict?
Speakers: Ayala Metzger (Peace-Advocate from the Hostage Movement, Tel Aviv)
Thabet Abu Rass (Political Analyst and a Board Member of the Van Leer Institute)
Ziv Stahl (Director of Yesh Din, Survivor of the 7 October massacre).
The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: Consequences of War and Prospects of Peace
A seminar at the Museum of the Mediterranean (Medelhavsmuseet) on December 3 2024, with three distinguished speakers: Hugh Lovatt, ECFR; Dimi Reider, editor in chief of The Lead and co-founder of +972 Magazine; Hebatalla Taha, Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) at Lund University, and with me as the moderator.
The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs
Had a talk on stage in Stockholm with the historian Marc David Baer, author of the masterpiece The Ottomans: Khans, Caesars and Caliphs. The occasion was the launch the Swedish translation of his book, Osmanska riket: Khaner, kejsare och kalifer (Natur & Kultur), translated by Erik MacQueen. My talk with Professor Baer is now available on Youtube. Click above!
Iran, kvinnorna och revolutionen
ABF Stockholm och Olof Palmes Internationella Center arrangerade ett seminarium den 26 januari 2023. Talare: Fataneh Farahani, professor i etnologi, Stockholms universitet
Elisabeth Löfgren, Svenska Pen, ordförande i Fängslade författares kommitté
Peimaneh Mollazehi, författare och människorättsaktivist född i Baluchistan i sydöstra Iran.
Jag modererade. Länk om seminariet här. Aktuellt i Politiken skrev om seminariet. Länk till artikeln här (endast för prenumeranter).
Strengthening justice and accountability within Syria
A seminar arranged by Kvinna to Kvinna Foundation and the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) on the occasion of the launch of a new ILAC report: Rule of Law Assessment Report Syria 2021. 7 December 2021, At Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm.
Turkey’s Neo-Ottomanist Moment: A Eurasian Odyssey?
How shall all the moves in Turkey 's foreign policy be understood? See the discussion with Cengiz Çandar, author of the newly released 'Turkey's Neo-Ottomanist Moment: A Eurasian Odyssey', and Aslı Aydintasbas from the European Council on Foreign Relations as discussant. And myself as moderator. A UI & SUITS event (Swedish Institute of International Affairs & Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies).
Exclusive dialoge and press conference with the Iranian human rights defender Narges Mohammadi
The prominent Iranian human rights defender Narges Mohammadi, who was released from jail in October, has just been sentenced to another 2,5 years in prison plus 80 whiplashes. Despite this threat, an although she has not seen her children since 2015, and in spite of already having suffered from what she describes as ‘white torture’ inside Iranian jails and interrogation centers, she remains unwavering in her call for an end to the death penalty and other human rights abuses in Iran. She made this clear in a press conference and dialogue that I moderated with her on Clubhouse – with well over 500 participants in various countries. The dialogue was co-hosted by Baran Publisher, PEN in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and Amnesty International in Sweden. 31 May 2021. Link to the Clubhouse invitation here.
Book launch of Turkey’s Mission Impossible: War and Peace with the Kurds by Cengiz Çandar
Recording of my talk with Cengiz Çandar at the studio of Stockholm University. Photo: Per Luthander
Turkey’s Mission Impossible: War and Peace with the Kurds (Lexington Books) is the opus magnum of the renowned Turkish journalist Cengiz Çandar. In our talk, Cengiz Çandar explains why he considers the Kurdish question to be ”the mother of all questions in Turkey” and how he came to be the special advisor to late President Turgut Özal in his attempt to make a historical rapprochement with the Kurds in the early 1990’s. Plus much more. The talk, co-hosted by Stockholm University Institute for Turkish Studies (SUITS) and the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI) can be seen via this link or on YouTube below. It is followed by a Q&A session.
Prize ceremony for the Israeli lawyer Gaby Lasky
Gaby Lasky during the prize ceremony in Stockholm. Foto: Joakim Wohlfeil
On August 6, 2019, the Israeli lawyer Gabi Lasky received a Human Rights Award in the memory of the Swedish lawyer Anna Dahlbäck, who passed away much too early. From our discussion it was clear that Gaby Lasky and Anna Dahlbäck had been soul mates, if they only had had the chance to get to know each other. Gaby Lasky described the shrinking democratic space in Israel/Palestine, and how defenders of human rights, like herself, are attacked and seen as traitors. Gaby Lasky also expressed her passionate and principled support for the universal human rights.