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Jean-Pierre Cassarino holds a professorship at the Robert Schuman Center for Advanced Studies (RSCAS/European University Institute, Florence) where he directs the Return migration and Development Platform (http://rsc.eui.eu/RDP/). He is also research associate at the Tunis-based Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain (IRMC). Since the mid-1990s, he has published extensively on international migration, particularly on return migration and has carried out numerous field surveys investigating returnees’ manifold patterns of reintegration. Selected publications include: (ed.) Unbalanced Reciprocities: Cooperation on Readmission in the Euro-Mediterranean Area, The Middle East Institute Press, Washington, 2010; (ed.) “Conditions of Modern Return Migrants”, International Journal on Multicultural Societies, Vol. 10, Issue 2, UNESCO, Paris, 2008; (ed.) Return Migrants to the Maghreb Countries: Reintegration and development challenges, RSCAS, European University Institute, Florence, 2008; Tunisian New Entrepreneurs and their Past Experiences of Migration in Europe: Networks, Resource Mobilisation, and Hidden Disaffection. Ashgate Publishers, Aldershot, 2000. Email: [email protected]
The real threat from Iran: Tehran’s most dangerous option for responding to Israel
Last night, the government of Israel decided to roll the dice on a military solution to Iran’s decades-long pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. Given the remarkable capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces, the operation could do tremendous damage to the Iranian nuclear program. But then comes the hard part.
Lebanon at a Crossroads: Sovereignty, Hizballah's Disarmament, and the Road to Reform
MEI Senior Fellow Paul Salem joins the program to assess Lebanon’s rapidly shifting political landscape. With a new president and government promising to enact reforms and reassert sovereignty, Lebanon faces a daunting agenda: disarming Hizballah, rebuilding institutions, navigating regional diplomacy, and restoring the economy.
التداعيات المتتالية لخفض المساعدات الخارجية الأمريكية على الوصول إلى الغذاء والماء في شمال إفريقيا
عندما أصدرت إدارة الرئيس دونالد ترامب في أوائل عام 2025 الأمر التنفيذي رقم 14169، "إعادة تقييم وإعادة تنظيم المساعدات الخارجية للولايات المتحدة"، وطبقته، أدى ذلك فعليًا إلى وقف جميع المساعدات الخارجية الأمريكية تقريبًا. أوقف الأمر في المقام الأول صرف برامج المساعدات غير العسكرية، مما أدى إلى إنهاء مشاريع المساعدة والعقود والتوظيف الممولة من الولايات المتحدة في جميع أنحاء العالم. كان تأثير هذا الإلغاء المفاجئ للمساعدات الخارجية حادًا بشكل خاص على البرامج الإنسانية والإنمائية، مما أدى إلى شل البرامج التي تستهدف المساعدة الغذائية، والحصول على المياه النظيفة، والصحة العامة، والدعم الزراعي.
بناء الجيش السوري الجديد: الخطط المستقبلية والتحديات المقبلة
Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on Dec. 8, 2024, after the rebel military operation “Deterrence of Aggression” and the establishment of a transitional government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, quickly began working to form a unified national army, dismantle the existing factions, and centralize all weapons under the authority of the state in an effort to address one of the most pressing challenges facing his administration. While several initial moves have been completed, important steps in this complicated process are still pending. This article highlights the current developments surrounding the formation of the new army, including progress achieved to date and key challenges going forward.
America moves closer to the brink of maximum uncertainty at home and abroad
The spotlight in America this week is trained on the home front, with growing tensions inside the country over President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown and a showdown unfolding on the streets of Los Angeles. At times like these, the rest of the world has a way of intruding, sometimes unexpectedly, and Trump 2.0’s foreign policy is still struggling to produce a major positive outcome from its frenetic activity trying to end kinetic wars while prosecuting an unprecedented economic war with much of the rest of the world.
Don’t trust Erdogan’s "peace process" with the Kurds
After decades of repression, many of Turkey’s Kurds are hopeful that their long struggle for basic rights may finally be nearing a breakthrough. That hope is fueled by newly launched talks between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s nationalist coalition and the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. The talks have already produced the historic declaration by the PKK to disband and renounce armed struggle. Pro-Kurdish politicians have praised Erdogan’s efforts to pursue a peaceful solution.
طموحات المملكة العربية السعودية في مجال الذكاء الاصطناعي، وما يعنيه ذلك بالنسبة للولايات المتحدة
قبل يوم من هبوط طائرة الرئاسة الأمريكية في الرياض لبدء جولة الرئيس الأمريكي دونالد ترامب في ثلاث دول خليجية، أصدرت المملكة العربية السعودية إعلانًا مهمًا. كشفت المملكة، التي لطالما كانت مرادفاً للنفط، عن استثمار كبير في الذكاء الاصطناعي (AI) من خلال شركتها الجديدة HumAIn. هذا التحول، الذي تزامن بشكل واضح مع زيارة ترامب التي بدأت في 13 مايو، وتوقعاً لتوقيع العديد من الصفقات التقنية بين الشركات الأمريكية وشركات الخليج خلال الزيارة، أشار إلى تحول عميق في العلاقات الأمريكية السعودية - من تحالف تقليدي قائم على النفط مقابل الأمن إلى شراكة تركز على الذكاء الاصطناعي والبنية التحتية الرقمية.
What’s next for Gaza—and for Israel? In this episode of Middle East Focus, hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj sit down with Ghaith al-Omari, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former advisor to the Palestinian Authority, to unpack the urgent humanitarian crisis gripping Gaza, the impact of Israeli settlement expansion, and what these developments mean for the future of the region.
When U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly appointed special envoy to Syria, Thomas Barrack, paid his first visit to Damascus on May 29, he flew into the country on U.S. military helicopters from Jordan. He was accompanied by two State Department staff members but was most closely flanked by the U.S. military’s counter-Islamic State coalition leaders—Maj. Gen. Kevin Leahy and Brig. Gen. Michael Brooks.
A devastating crisis for Palestinians in Gaza worsens
What has been unfolding in the Gaza Strip for millions of Palestinians is the direct consequence of the failures of political leaders who are ignoring best practices for the delivery of aid to innocent people caught in the crosshairs of a complicated war. Without a major shift in the current approach, the already dire conditions are only likely to deteriorate further going forward.
