Languages: Arabic, French, Dutch, Spanish
Areas of Expertise: Middle East; Israel/Palestine; Mashreq region; conflict prevention/resolution; Islamic societies; identity politics
Hugh Lovatt is a policy fellow with the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. Since joining ECFR, Lovatt has focused extensively on EU policy towards the Middle East Peace Process (MEPP), domestic Palestinian politics, and Israeli regional policy.
Lovatt co-led a 2016 track-II initiative to draft an updated set of final status parameters, and has worked to advance the concept of EU Differentiation, which was enshrined in UN Security Council Resolution 2334. Lovatt also co-developed an innovative online project mapping Palestinian politics.
His most recent publications include Rethinking Oslo: How Europe can promote peace in Israel-Palestine (July 2017) and Gaza’s fragile calm: The search for lasting stability (November 2018). He is regularly interviewed or quoted in international media, including by AFP, Reuters, Newsweek, France24, and Al Jazeera.
Prior to this, Lovatt worked as a researcher for International Crisis Group and as a Schuman Fellow in the European Parliament focusing on Middle-East policy. He also worked for Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations as an Arabic translator.
Lovatt studied Arabic at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at Exeter University as well as at the Institut Français du Proche-Orient (IFPO) in Damascus. He then went on to earn an MA in Near and Middle Eastern Studies at the London School of Oriental and African Studies, where he majored in Anthropology. Lovatt is Chairman of the Brussels-based European Middle East Project (EuMEP).
Web Special
by René Wildangel & Tarek Megerisi & Julien Barnes-Dacey & Anthony Dworkin & Ellie Geranmayeh & Hugh Lovatt - 12th December, 2019
Turmoil in the Middle East and north Africa directly affects Europeans. Yet their influence in the region has never been weaker. This project maps Europe’s role across the Middle East and north Africa, making the case that Europeans can do more to leverage their influence in pursuit of core interests
Web Special
by Hugh Lovatt - 01st October, 2019
ECFR’s Differentiation Tracker provides a snapshot of third state relations with Israel – and the extent to which these contain a clearly defined territorial definition that explicitly excludes Israeli settlements constructed on occupied territory in line with UNSCR 2334.
Podcast de notre discussion du 19 juin « The future of Israeli-Palestinian conflict: towards annexation and illiberalism? » en présence de Yehuda Shaul, fondateur et directeur de l’ONG Breaking the Silence, et de Hugh Lovatt, chercheur au programme Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord (MENA) de l’ECFR.
.png "Pic: U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:President_Trump_visit_to_Israel_May_22-23,_2017_DSC_4027F_(34461668090).jpg - CC0 1.0 - https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/")
Hugh Lovatt - 05 June 2019
The United States is set to propose an economic plan for Israel-Palestine, spearheaded by Jared Kushner, on 25 and 26 June in Bahrain, where Gulf Arab states will discuss the troubled Palestinian economy.
Hugh Lovatt - 28 May 2019
A quarter of a century on from the Oslo Peace Accords, young Palestinian writers share their views on the future of the two-state solution
ECFR - 03 May 2019
ECFR’s New Battlelines Project maps Iran’s coalition of allies, regional influence and the counter-coalition that has formed to oppose them.
Hugh Lovatt - 04 April 2019
Amidst allegations of fraud and bribery, Israeli PM Netanyahu has called for a snap election on 9 April. In what direction could a new Israeli government take its foreign policy?
Policy Brief
by Hugh Lovatt - 08th November, 2018
by Hugh Lovatt - 21st December, 2017
How should the EU respond to the reality of the one-state reality taking hold in Israel-Palestine?
PDF
by Omar Dajani & Hugh Lovatt - 26th July, 2017
The Oslo Accords have provided political cover for Israel’s creeping occupation and eroded the possibility of Palestinian self-determination.
PDF
by Hugh Lovatt - 31st October, 2016
Renewed focus on differentiation one of few hopes for saving the two state solution.
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by Dennison et al. - 28th January, 2016
The sixth ECFR Foreign Policy Scorecard highlights the EU's diminishing ability to influence its neighbours, and the neighbourhood's growing impact on the EU.
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EPUB
Mobi
by Hugh Lovatt, Mattia Toaldo - 22nd July, 2015
The EU needs to act faster and further in ensuring that Israeli settlements in no way benefit from EU-Israel bilateral relations
PDF
EPUB
Mobi
Hugh Lovatt - 05 June 2019
The United States is set to propose an economic plan for Israel-Palestine, spearheaded by Jared Kushner, on 25 and 26 June in Bahrain, where Gulf Arab states will discuss the troubled Palestinian economy.
Hugh Lovatt - 28 May 2019
A quarter of a century on from the Oslo Peace Accords, young Palestinian writers share their views on the future of the two-state solution
Hugh Lovatt - 04 April 2019
Amidst allegations of fraud and bribery, Israeli PM Netanyahu has called for a snap election on 9 April. In what direction could a new Israeli government take its foreign policy?
Hugh Lovatt - 18 September 2018
ECFR’s two state parameters provide a framework through which the EU can step up its efforts to achieve the just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a two state solution
Hugh Lovatt - 15 May 2018
There is still the chance, just, to limit further instability and bloodshed in Israel-Palestine.
Hugh Lovatt - 12 December 2017
Trump’s Jerusalem announcement and Netanyahu’s visit have placed unprecedented strain on Europe’s Israel-Palestine policy.
Hugh Lovatt - 09 October 2017
Even if current steps do not immediately lead to full national reunification, they can still be an important opening that can provide at least partial relief for Gaza and stabilise the Palestinian political scene.
Saleh Hijazi & Hugh Lovatt - 07 September 2017
The EU needs to rein in the Palestinian Authority in the face of its crackdown, lest it undermines its own reputation as a defender of human rights.
Podcast de notre discussion du 19 juin « The future of Israeli-Palestinian conflict: towards annexation and illiberalism? » en présence de Yehuda Shaul, fondateur et directeur de l’ONG Breaking the Silence, et de Hugh Lovatt, chercheur au programme Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord (MENA) de l’ECFR.
ECFR - 03 May 2019
ECFR’s New Battlelines Project maps Iran’s coalition of allies, regional influence and the counter-coalition that has formed to oppose them.
Ruth Citrin speaks with Ellie Geranmayeh, Julien Barnes-Dacey and Hugh Lovatt, about the state of play in the MENA region and the considerations for Europeans after one year in office of US president Donald Trump. The Podcast was recorded on 16 January 2018.
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR Policy Fellows Hugh Lovatt, Ellie Geranmayeh and Julien Barnes-Dacey about reactions to Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the new divergence between Washington and Europe across the Middle East.
Bookshelf:
The Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks
Gaza: Preparing for Dawn by Donald Macintyre
No Knives in the Kitchen of this City: A Novel by Khaled Khalifa
Nouveau podcast de notre série sur les présidentielles de 2017 ayant pour objectif de traiter les thèmes d'actualité et de contribuer au débat dans la perspective des élections du printemps prochain.
Entretien en français de Hugh Lovatt, directeur du programme MENA de l'ECFR, par Manuel Lafont Rapnouil, directeur du bureau de Paris de l'ECFR, sur le processus de paix au Proche-Orient.
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR's Middle East and North Africa Progamme Director, Ruth Citrin, and ECFR Policy Fellows, Ellie Geranmayeh and Hugh Lovatt, on the cards that the EU can play if the U.S. walks away from the table.
The podcast was recorded on 13 January 2017.
Bookshelf:
Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See
Naguib Mahfouz, Children of the Alley: A Novel
Aeyal Gross, The Writing on the Wall: Rethinking the International Law of Occupation
Deutsche Asset Management, Backlash against globalization: Déjà vu?
Hugh Lovatt speaks to Fadi Quran, activist, senior campaigner for Avaaz, and according to the Time magazine "the new face of the Middle East".
ECFR's Hugh Lovatt and Mattia Toaldo speak to independent journalist and editor Noam Sheizaf, who has previously worked for a number of Israeli news outlets including Ynet.co.il and Maariv, and now writes regularly for +972 Magazine.
Hugh Lovatt quoted on the implications of the plans of folding the UK Department of International Development (DFID) into the country’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
Hugh Lovatt quoted on the charges filed against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Hugh Lovatt quoted on the filed charges against the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Hugh Lovatt being interviewed on the US new position to Israeli settlements.
Hugh Lovatt quoted on EU's reaction to the US' shift towards Israel and Palestine.
Hugh Lovatt quoted on the EU's reaction to the US shifts towards Israel and Palestine.
Hugh Lovatt quoted on the increasing divergence between Hamas and Islamic Jihad.