Author Timo R. Stewart has received the Union of Research Professionals’ Academic of the Year 2025 Award for fostering research-based knowledge in the public discourse about the Middle East.
Author and PhD Timo R. Stewart has been awarded the Union of Research Professionals’ Academic of the Year 2025 Award. Stewart is a Doctor in Political Science, and a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, specialized in the Middle East. His latest work, the non-fiction book also Palestine and Israel. A History in Maps focuses on the ongoing conflict and the history of the area.
The Research Professionals’ Union has stated: “Stewart has strengthened the role of science in public discourse and promoted the use of research-based knowledge in societal decision-making. He has brought his expertise forward in a consistent and understandable manner, dissecting the current state of the Israel-Palestine conflict, its historical background and potential solutions. Stewart’s statements have offered the Finnish audience research-based viewpoints in a situation where finding common ground has been challenging even for the Finnish Government.”
You can read the whole feature, including statements from the president of the Union, in English here.
In Palestine and Israel. A History in Maps two-times Finlandia nominee and PhD Timo Stewart uses a simple yet efficient structure to tackle a complex issue: over the course of the book, he analyzes 25 maps of the geographical area that encompasses Palestine and Israel, encouraging a critical approach to maps and historiography. Who drew these maps, and with what purpose? Maps are a tool to understand the world, but also a tool of political power and history-making: our ideas of the world and national borders are far from being eternal and set in stone, and exploring their changes and development results in an unusual yet engaging way to approach history with more than skin-deep knowledge. The takeaway is an increased critical eye that can be turned to the different ways conflicts and politics shape the world we live in, in the Middle East and everywhere. In Finland, the book is published by Gummerus.
Warm congratulations to the author, and don’t miss out on this title!