The Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies is an interdisciplinary education and research organization founded in 2001, devoted to the regional study of the Eastern Mediterranean within greater Middle East. The Center is part of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, at Tufts University. Its aim is the study and understanding the heritage of the Eastern Mediterranean and the challenges it faces in the twenty-first century, being at the crossroads between the academic and policy world.ActivitiesThe founding director defined the goal of the center as the pursuit of a cross-regional and cross-cultural analysis, fostering the encounter of a diversity of viewpoints, with the belief that a broad diversity of views serves as an effective means of conflict resolution. The center aims to foster greater understanding of the Middle East to students, notably through studying relationships between the groups involved in Middle Eastern conflicts.Initially the regional focus was on Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria, and the neighboring countries of Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Turkey. Later on the focus was broadened to also include other countries in the greater Middle East and North Africa regions.