MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis engages friends, colleagues, and policy experts in casual conversations on the most important happenings in the Middle East.
Hafsa Halawa, Shahla Al-Kli, and Yesar Al-Maleki join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the challenges facing Iraq’s new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, from COVID-19 and the fall of oil prices, to long-standing issues in governance and foreign relations.
Iulia Joja and Bob Hamilton join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on economic migration, with a focus on migration trends in the Western Black Sea and South Caucasus.
Protest movements in Algeria, Iraq, and Lebanon during COVID-19
Vish Sakthivel, Hafsa Halawa, and Nour El-Achi join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on protest movements in Algeria, Iraq, and Lebanon. While each case is unique, all three movements are pushing for sweeping reforms of the corrupt political system, a change in the ruling elite, and improved state services.
Supporting refugee communities during the pandemic
Basma El Husseiny (Action for Hope) and Samar El Yassir (Anera) join guest host Lyne Sneige to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on refugee communities and the NGOs that work with them.
Gen. Joseph Votel on US military challenges in the Middle East
MEI Distinguished Senior Fellow Joseph Votel, a retired four-star general in the Army and former commander of U.S. Central Command, joins host Alistair Taylor to discuss the challenges facing American forces in the Middle East today, from COVID-19 and ISIS to the turbulent situations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
MEI senior fellows Mick Mulroy and Eric Oehlerich join host Alistair Taylor to discuss child soldiering, a growing global problem that has a disproportionate impact on the Middle East and Africa. Click here to read their new report, “Begin with the children: Child soldier numbers doubled in the Middle East in 2019.”
MEI’s Michael Sexton and Eliza Campbell join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the variety of new surveillance technologies deployed by governments in the region to track the spread of COVID-19, and the tension they are setting up between public health and privacy concerns in the long term.
Gonul Tol and Alex Vatanka join host Alistair Taylor to discuss how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting Iran, one of the first countries hit by the outbreak, and Turkey, where it arrived later but has since spread rapidly.
MEI’s Paul Salem, Khaled Elgindy, and Fatima Abo Alasrar join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the Middle East as nations scramble to contain the spread of COVID-19 and the massive humanitarian and economic toll it could take on already vulnerable populations.
How the region's art sector is adapting under COVID-19
Adila Laïdi-Hanieh (The Palestinian Museum), Saleh Barakat (Agial Gallery and Saleh Barakat Gallery), and Khaled Barakeh (Co-Culture) join guest host Lyne Sneige for a discussion of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the arts and culture sector across the Middle East, and how artists, galleries and museums are working to adapt during a global crisis.
Vanda Felbab-Brown, Michael Kugelman, and Marvin Weinbaum join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the recent US-Taliban agreement in Afghanistan, the political power struggle over the presidency, the challenges facing the intra-Afghan dialogue, and the effects of coronavirus.
Yasmine Farouk and Jean-Francois Seznec join guest host Gerald Feierstein to discuss the past week’s political and economic drama in Saudi Arabia following the detainment of several members of the Saudi royal family and the nation’s launch of an oil price war with Russia, which triggered a massive drop in global oil prices.
An airstrike last Thursday, which killed 33 Turkish soldiers and wounded 60 more, was a game-changing development in the Syrian conflict. In the days since, Turkey has unleashed a major military response, carrying out scores of drone attacks on Syrian Army units and facilities. All of this is taking place against the backdrop of a massive and growing humanitarian crisis, with nearly a million people fleeing toward the Turkish border. Charles Lister and Sasha Ghost-Siminoff join host Alistair Taylor to discuss how events are unfolding.
Amel Boubekeur, Robert S. Ford, and Dalia Ghanem join host Alistair Taylor to discuss the huge national protest movement, known in Arabic as “Hirak,” that has brought millions of Algerians to the streets over the past year. The movement has pushed for sweeping reforms of the political system and a change in the ruling elite, leading to the resignation of long-time President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in April 2019.
MEI scholar Przemysław Osiewicz joins host Alistair Taylor to discuss EU-Middle East relations and key policy issues, from Iran and Israel-Palestine to Libya and Syria.
