As a result of the Iran war, Turkish thinking about nuclear weapons appears to be shifting. Iran’s emergent ability to threaten regional states (and possible determination to acquire a nuclear weapon itself), growing concern about Israeli aggressiveness, doubts about US security guarantees, and greater Saudi nuclear autonomy are all pushing Ankara to consider a future nuclear option.
In less than two decades, a string of offshore discoveries has turned the Eastern Mediterranean into a significant gas-producing region, making Israel an exporter, twice lifting Egypt into the ranks of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters, and giving Cyprus finds it has yet to bring to market. This backgrounder explores the potential and challenges of exploiting and managing LNG resources in the region.
The Mecca Joint Défense Agreement: A New Geometry of Middle Eastern Power?
On August 7, 2026, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed the Mecca Joint Défense Agreement, a collective-defense pact widely compared to NATO’s Article 5. This essay argues that the comparison is misleading. Mecca borrows NATO’s language of solidarity without yet possessing NATO’s institutional machinery, and the Houthi offensive against Saudi Arabia in September 2026 provided an early and revealing test of what the agreement actually means in practice. Neither Pakistan nor Turkey automatically entered the fight on Saudi Arabia’s behalf, and Washington, despite an initial reluctance to strike directly, remained indispensable through intelligence support and a major proposed F-35 sale. Drawing on realist alliance theory — Hans Morgenthau, Kenneth Waltz, Stephen Walt, Glenn Snyder, and Steven David — and on the precedent of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), the essay contends that the Middle East is not dividing into rival blocs but moving from hierarchy toward a looser, overlapping geometry of hedged partnerships, in which American exclusivity is eroding considerably faster than American primacy.
Panel 3: Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Deal Finally Possible? – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 3: Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Deal Finally Possible?Ayse Betül Çelik, Sabanci UniversityChristopher Harmon, Marine Corps UniversityAliza Marcus, Author and JournalistModerator: Anna Gawel, Washington DiplomatJune 14, 2013 2:00pm-3:15pm
Panel 3: Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Deal Finally Possible? – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 3: Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Deal Finally Possible?Ayse Betül Çelik, Sabanci UniversityChristopher Harmon, Marine Corps UniversityAliza Marcus, Author and JournalistModerator: Anna Gawel, Washington DiplomatJune 14, 2013 2:00pm-3:15pm
Panel 3: Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Deal Finally Possible? – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 3: Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Deal Finally Possible?Ayse Betül Çelik, Sabanci UniversityChristopher Harmon, Marine Corps UniversityAliza Marcus, Author and JournalistModerator: Anna Gawel, Washington DiplomatJune 14, 2013 2:00pm-3:15pm
Panel 3: Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Deal Finally Possible? – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 3: Is a Turkey-PKK Peace Deal Finally Possible?Ayse Betül Çelik, Sabanci UniversityChristopher Harmon, Marine Corps UniversityAliza Marcus, Author and JournalistModerator: Anna Gawel, Washington DiplomatJune 14, 2013 2:00pm-3:15pm
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyKeynote Address:Besir Atalay, Deputy Prime Minister of TurkeyJune 14, 2013 1:00pm-1:45 pmNote: The first audio file is the full keynote address, the second audio file is the keynote with English tranlation (file is missing the first 8 minutes of the speech).
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyKeynote Address:Besir Atalay, Deputy Prime Minister of TurkeyJune 14, 2013 1:00pm-1:45 pmNote: The first audio file is the full keynote address, the second audio file is the keynote with English tranlation (file is missing the first 8 minutes of the speech).
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyKeynote Address:Besir Atalay, Deputy Prime Minister of TurkeyJune 14, 2013 1:00pm-1:45 pmNote: The first audio file is the full keynote address, the second audio file is the keynote with English tranlation (file is missing the first 8 minutes of the speech).
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyKeynote Address:Besir Atalay, Deputy Prime Minister of TurkeyJune 14, 2013 1:00pm-1:45 pmNote: The first audio file is the full keynote address, the second audio file is the keynote with English tranlation (file is missing the first 8 minutes of the speech).
Panel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional System – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional SystemBülent Aras, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchŞaban Kardaş, TOBB University of Economics and TechnologyMesut Özcan, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchModerator: Tolga Tanış, HürriyetJune 14, 2013 12:00pm-1:00pm
Panel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional System – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional SystemBülent Aras, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchŞaban Kardaş, TOBB University of Economics and TechnologyMesut Özcan, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchModerator: Tolga Tanış, HürriyetJune 14, 2013 12:00pm-1:00pm
Panel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional System – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional SystemBülent Aras, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchŞaban Kardaş, TOBB University of Economics and TechnologyMesut Özcan, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchModerator: Tolga Tanış, HürriyetJune 14, 2013 12:00pm-1:00pm
Panel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional System – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional SystemBülent Aras, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchŞaban Kardaş, TOBB University of Economics and TechnologyMesut Özcan, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchModerator: Tolga Tanış, HürriyetJune 14, 2013 12:00pm-1:00pm
Panel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional System – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 2: Debating Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing Global and Regional SystemBülent Aras, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchŞaban Kardaş, TOBB University of Economics and TechnologyMesut Özcan, Turkish Foreign Ministry`s Center for Strategic ResearchModerator: Tolga Tanış, HürriyetJune 14, 2013 12:00pm-1:00pm
Panel 1: Crisis in Syria: Can Turkey Rise to the Challenge? – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 1: Crisis in Syria: Can Turkey Rise to the Challenge?Volkan Bozkir, Grand National Assembly of TurkeySteve Heydemann, United States Institute of PeaceAnne Richard, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of StateModerator: Robert Worth, New York TimesJune 14, 2013, 10:00am-11:30 am
Panel 1: Crisis in Syria: Can Turkey Rise to the Challenge? – MEI's 4th Annual Conference on Turkey
The Middle East Institute Center for Turkish Studies’ Fourth Annual Conference on TurkeyPanel 1: Crisis in Syria: Can Turkey Rise to the Challenge?Volkan Bozkir, Grand National Assembly of TurkeySteve Heydemann, United States Institute of PeaceAnne Richard, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of StateModerator: Robert Worth, New York TimesJune 14, 2013, 10:00am-11:30 am
