SESAME – a synchrotron light source in the Middle East: an international research infrastructure in the making

SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) is an international research centre located in Jordan. The centre was established in the late 1990s with the intention to foster scientific cooperation in a region of the world that has been torn by persistent conflicts. The project is built on the idea that science can help to overcome barriers and cultural differences within the common ground of science and research. SESAME’s core ambition is to operate an international state-of-the-art synchrotron users’ facility in the north of Amman that is accessible to scientists from all of its member countries: Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Palestine, Turkey and Jordan. Accordingly, SESAME has been often praised as a paramount example of science diplomacy. Our intention for this report was to investigate a concrete international research infrastructure with a specific science diplomacy interest. What were the enabling conditions for such a project to come into being and what keeps SESAME running? What were the challenges and obstacles? How does the composition of member states play into that? How is SESAME related to (and embedded in) the global synchrotron community, academia, researchers and political actors in the region and the world? Did the science diplomacy ambition behind the project turn out to be successful and how does it affect SESAME's future?