The Unesco and Social Sciences in the Middle East (1950s-1960s)

Since its 5th session in 1950, UNESCO organized a series of meetings and missions aimed at gaining a better understanding of the state of social science teaching in different regions of the world and promoting its development. In the Middle East, a regional meeting was held in Damascus from August 23 to 30, 1954, and itw as attended by representatives from Egypt, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. Following this meeting, several missions were organized to some of these countries, as well as to Morocco and Algeria, for example, between the late 1950s and early 1960s, to take stock of the development of the social sciences and propose recommendations for improving teaching and research. UNESCO's archives allow us to delineate the objectives of this policy and shed some light on the role - and limits - of UNESCO in the development of the social sciences in Arab countries.