The London School of Economics has cancelled a conference on the Arab Spring in the United Arab Emirates.

The conference, scheduled to take place on February 24th, aimed to examine the causes of the Arab Spring, and its impact in the Middle East and beyond.

However, the London School of Economics cited concerns about restrictions imposed on the intellectual content of conference, which a LSE spokesperson stated “threatened academic freedom.” 

The LSE did not wish to disclose who had placed restrictions on the conference, but according to sources from the BBC, pressure had come from “very senior” UAE government officials.

Sources have also reported that a senior LSE academic was detained at Dubai International Airport and barred entry to the country on Friday February 22nd, following the cancellation of the conference.

Dr Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, who is the co-director of the Kuwait programme at LSE, was due to speak on at the conference on “The Middle East: Transition in the Arab World.” However, Ulrichsen said that immigration authorities separated him from his colleagues at the airport, before confiscating his passport and denying him entry, sending him back to London.

Ulrichsen has written critically about the action taken by Bahrain’s government following mass protests that erupted in early 2011, and had been scheduled to speak at the forum on the international implications of protests in Bahrain, the UAE’s Gulf ally.

Prior to his detainment, Ulrichsen stated that UAE authorities had “made it very clear” that the conference organisers should ensure any discussion of Bahrain was cut from the programme.

The LSE stated they were aware of Ulrichsen’s situation, but did not elaborate further.

No UAE official has been available to reach for comment.

However the UAE has not seen the same unrest that has ousted autocratic rulers in other regions in the Middle East, and many diplomats say the UAE government is keen to prevent instability spreading to its country. As a result, the Gulf state has placed limits on foreign research groups in the past two years.

To date, the London School of Economics has received £5.6million from the Emirates Foundation, an independent, philanthropic organisation set up by the Abu Dhabi Government to facilitate public-private funded initiatives to improve the welfare of people across the UAE. The institution denied that the foundation was involved in placing restrictions on the conference.