Dima Alsajdeya has a PhD in political science, is a postdoctoral researcher (ACSS/Ifpo) and a research associate at the Contemporary History of the Arab World Chair at the Collège de France and the Centre Thucydide (Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas). In her thesis entitled La politique étrangère égyptienne sous Moubarak et la question israélo-palestinienne (1981-2011): au-delà d'un levier de puissance (dir. Henry Laurens and Julian Fernandez, 2023, Collège de France and Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas), she examined the role of the Israeli-Palestinian question as a foreign policy tool for the Egyptian regime during the presidency of H. Moubarak. Two main arguments are mobilized in this thesis: the Israeli-Palestinian question represents a generator of power for the Egyptian regime, in that it enables Egypt to be repositioned and maintained at the heart of power games in the region. It is a major source of strategic and diplomatic income, linked to the benefits and privileges granted to Egypt by its geostrategic location and its pioneering role in establishing a peace treaty with Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian question is also a destabilizing factor for the Egyptian regime, requiring a very particular form of essentially security-based diplomacy, particularly from the early 2000s and the outbreak of the second Intifada.
Her thesis was awarded two prizes in 2024: Prix de thèse de Panthéon-Assasuniversité and Prix de la thèse francophone awarded by the Regional Office of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) - Middle East.
Dima Alsajdeya is currently pursuing her post-doctoral research within the framework of the Arab Council for Social Sciences (ACSS) Fellowship Program for Young Researchers, and is hosted by the Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo). Her current work is an attempt to examine Palestinian power beyond the current regime of the Palestinian Authority and its institutions geographically located in Palestine. It focuses on the recompositions of Palestinian power in Lebanon, both on the local scene and in the development of relations with national and regional actors present in Lebanon. While attention is often focused on political negotiations and diplomatic initiatives originating in Cairo or Doha, there is an intersection located and anchored in Lebanon that makes Beirut one of the main centers of power for post-2021 Palestine, yet its role is largely downplayed.
Dima Alsajdeya has also been a lecturer at Sciences Po Paris since 2019, a member of the Cercle des chercheurs sur le Moyen-Orient (CCMO) and the Institut de recherche et d'études Méditerranée Moyen-Orient (iReMMO). Since 2016, she has been a member of the editorial board of the journal Confluences Méditerranée. Her latest publications include "La question palestinienne, une constante de la politique égyptienne postrévolutionnaire?"(Annuaire français des relations internationales, 2024); "Enquêter chez soi: ressources et dilemmes du terrain familier. Retours de Syrie et de Palestine" (co-authored with Aghiad Ghanem in Enquêter sur un terrain "sensible". Ficelles méthodologiques, positionnement et dilemmes, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 2024) and is currently working on a comprehensive book on the Palestinian question, to be published by Éditions Flammarion in 2025.
