Research & Commentary Results

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Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will land in the U.S. on March 19 as part of a three week, multi-city tour. It’s his first extended foreign travel, which has already taken him to London, since being named Saudi heir apparent in June 2017.

Rex Tillerson’s unhappy tenure at State Department ends with a whimper – Gerald Feierstein        

Rex Tillerson was never an easy fit for the Trump administration. His management of the State Department was a source of constant frustration for the career staff as well as Capitol Hill. On policy issues, Tillerson hewed more closely than Trump to establishment Republican positions. Allied with Secretary of Defense Mattis and National Security Advisor McMaster, Tillerson often acted as an anchor against the president’s more aggressive impulses.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Gerald Feierstein, Alex Vatanka, Nathan Stock, and Randa Slim provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the Senate’s decision to pull out of Yemen, enduring Iran-Pakistan political strain, Egypt’s role in Palestinian reconciliation, and America’s dissolving influence in Syria.

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Turmoil in Aden over the past few weeks has underlined the existential crisis confronting Yemen. The alliances that have been at the center of the three-year-old civil war—the Hadi government and its Saudi-led coalition of supporters versus the Houthi alliance with former President Ali Abdullah Saleh—have fractured.

Yemen’s national emblem depicts a relief of the Marib Dam, Yemen’s greatest manmade feature—and a coffee plant, Yemen’s most storied natural resource. This is no coincidence. Coffee drinking, as we know it today, originated in Yemen in the 15th century when Sufis discovered red coffee berries in the country’s mountain highlands.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Marvin G. Weinbaum, Charles Lister, and Gerald Feierstein provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the placement of Pakistan on a global terrorist financing “gray list,” the ongoing assault on eastern Ghouta following a UNSC cease-fire resolution, and diplomatic efforts on the war in Yemen.

With the absence of multilateral diplomatic forums in the Middle East and the Trump administration scaling back on U.S. diplomatic outreach, the role of backdoor diplomatic channels, known as “Track II” dialogues, has seldom been more important. Randa Slim, director of MEI’s program on conflict management and Track II dialogues, and Robert Ford, former US ambassador to Syria, join Paul Salem to discuss the role of these dialogues in addressing issues ranging from the Syrian civil war to the conflict in Yemen and regional tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

India’s burgeoning economic relations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been accompanied by heightened security risks, including in the domain of terrorism. In light of these developments, this article addresses three questions: What is the nature and gravity of the transnational terrorist linkages that exist between India and Gulf Arab countries? What steps has India taken, in concert with its Gulf Arab partners, to counter the terrorist threat? And what more could be done to strengthen India-Gulf Arab counterterrorism (CT) cooperation?

Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen today fired another ballistic missile at Riyadh,

Emboldened by its recent gains in Syria and Iraq, Iranian military leaders are seeking to play a more aggressive role in other regional conflicts in order to “expand” Iranian influence and export the “Islamic Revolution.” In particular, latest statements by commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and commentaries in the Iranian media suggest that the I.R.G.C. is planning to further increase its support for its Houthi allies in Yemen.

Read the full analysis on the National Interest.

International markets for natural gas — fragmented regionally and with differing price-setting mechanisms — are undergoing profound changes. The foundation is being laid for the emergence of a more globally integrated gas market, and the rapid expansion of the seaborne liquified natural gas (LNG) trade, which has forged links between distant markets, is a major reason why. Qatar — an LNG powerhouse — has dominated the Asia Pacific market, the world’s largest LNG-importing region. However, the Asian market is in a state of flux, as is the entire global LNG sector. This article explores the major changes taking place in international LNG markets, with particular attention to how Qatar is being affected by, and is adapting to them.

The killing of former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh marks a major turning point in Yemen’s ongoing civil war. Nadwa Al-Dawsari (POMED) and Gerald Feierstein (MEI) join Paul Salem to discuss the immediate fallout and what lies ahead.

Iranian leaders celebrate the killing of Ali Abdullah Saleh and some media outlets express the hope that the former Yemeni president’s death will further empower the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Ali Akbar Salehi, a senior aide to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said Saleh got what he deserved. “The Yemeni people that are with the resistance front will ultimately emerge victorious similar to the people of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon,” he added.