Attacked by All Sides Iraq’s New Government Faces Old Problems
After months of deadlock following the November 2025 elections, Iraq’s parliament approved a new government under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on May 14, 2026 — just as the country has become a battleground in the US-Israel-Iran war. Zaidi inherits a daunting brief: reviving a struggling economy, reining in armed factions, and steering Iraq through a perilous regional landscape. Dr. Renad Mansour, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme and director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House, joins host Alistair Taylor to discuss the war’s impact on Iraq — from Iran’s militia networks to the surge of attacks on the Kurdistan region — and how it’s reshaping Baghdad’s ties with Tehran and Washington.
The Houthis are a political-military faction and Zaydi religious movement founded in northwestern Yemen in the 1980s. A key member of Iran’s Axis of Resistance with links to other militant organizations in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the group has continued to pose a threat to Western interests on a global scale.
This backgrounder provides an overview of how the Abraham Accords came about, the US interests involved, their economic and strategic consequences, and the prospects for further enlargement going forward.
After a decade of post-Arab Spring isolation, Turkey’s leaders have recognized that their ambition to position the country as an agenda-setter on the world stage requires active engagement in all directions. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s consolidation of executive authority has centralized foreign policy decision-making and tied it to his domestic political priorities, transforming the country’s revisionist approach to one shaped primarily by personal and pragmatic interests.
As the Western Sahara conflict reaches its fifth decade, the territorial dispute remains unresolved and largely unknown. MEI’s Intissar Fakir unpacks the Western Sahara’s complex history and the rival claims by Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. She examines recent developments, such as President Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory and the collapse of a 30-year cease-fire, as well as the core questions that remain unanswered after half a century.
Podcasts
Middle East Focus
MEI’s flagship weekly podcast on US foreign policy and contemporary political and social issues in the Middle East.
MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis engages friends, colleagues, and policy experts in casual conversations on the most important happenings in the Middle East.
Why the latest escalation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is unlikely to lead to a repeat of last year’s Gaza war
While the events now taking place in Jerusalem and the West Bank are very similar to those of May 2021, the political contexts are different on all sides. Although Israel carried out an airstrike on April 18 following rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, the situation is unlikely to lead to a repeat of last year’s Gaza war.
Europe and the Middle East after Ukraine: A strategic reorientation
Contrary to the expectations of many, including Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not divided Europeans. Instead, Putin’s aggression has forged a remarkable consensus. The tectonic shift in Europeans’ worldview caused by the long-feared “war in the east” will have a major impact on security strategy and military investments. It will also have long-lasting consequences, including for Europe’s relations with the Middle East.
«داعش» يتعافى في سوريا… لكن الحاجة ماسة إلى الاستقرار
عندما لقي تنظيم داعش الإقليمي الهزيمة في سوريا قبل أكثر من ثلاث سنوات، احتفل العالم بإنجاز تاريخي. فعلى مدار خمس سنوات، حشد تحالف ضم أكثر من 80 دولة موارده المشتركة لدحر «داعش» في سوريا والعراق، والتصدي للجماعة الإرهابية على الإنترنت، ودحر شبكاتها المالية والشركات التابعة لها المكتشفة حديثاً في جميع أنحاء العالم.
Amb. Gerald Feierstein, Bilal Saab, and Karen Young join guest host Brian Katulis to discuss their recent MEI policy paper, US-Gulf Relations at the Crossroads: Time for a Recalibration, and why they believe now is not the time to disengage from the region.
What would an Arab-Israeli military alliance mean for Iran?
In recent remarks, the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi announced preparations for a potential upcoming military operation, foreshadowing a possible move against Iran. Kochavi’s announcement came shortly after Israel and the foreign ministers of four Arab nations — Morocco, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain — along with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, met at the Negev Summit in the Israeli desert to lay the foundation for a strategic military alliance to deter “Iran and its associated militias,” as Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid put it.
In a room at the old Mosul Museum, a young Moslawi singer closes his eyes in a moment of rapture. Singing next to the museum’s modernist 1974 incarnation still being restored after ISIS’s pillage of it treasures, his voice lifts the hearts of listeners.
What can the Syrian civil war tell us about the war in Ukraine?
The conflict in Syria may reveal what is likely to unfold as the war in Ukraine continues. The nature of the conflict, the presence of foreign fighters, and the refugee crisis that came to characterize the Syrian civil war may portend what is to come in Ukraine.
Iran-Africa relations under Raisi: Salvaging ties with the continent
Since the beginning of his presidency, Raisi has called for increasing cooperation with Africa. Contrary to popular perception, this is not part of a hegemonic project to further expand Iranian influence in Africa. Rather, it constitutes an effort to reset relations with the continent after his predecessor spent eight years neglecting it.
Host Alistair Taylor speaks with Khaled Elgindy and Lara Friedman about the release of their recently completed 2022 congressional briefing series on Israel and Palestine: Hot topics in Congress. The eight-part webinar series features an array of Palestinian and Israeli voices, weighing in on some of the most pressing and timely Israel/Palestine-related topics in Congress.
Understanding Algerian unemployment policies beyond rent redistribution
In February 2022, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced a new unemployment benefit for first-time jobseekers aged 19 to 40. On March 28, 580,000 young Algerians received their first $90 monthly payment. Though many young people have rushed to the offices of the National Employment Agency (ANEM) to register for the new benefit, potential problems have already cropped up.
The Yemen government reorganizes, but will it open the door to end the conflict?
At the conclusion of a week of Yemeni-Yemeni internal deliberations hosted by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh, the government of Abdo Rabo Mansour Hadi announced sweeping changes meant to clear away obstacles to cooperation among the anti-Houthi forces in the country and, perhaps, open the door to negotiations to end the civil war now in its eighth year.
تعكس المنشورات السياسية التي تحتفظ بها مكتبة عمان لحظة مفصلية في التاريخ اليمني، في الوقت الذي خضعت فيه اليمن لإصلاح اجتماعي وسياسي كبير ناتج عن الوحدة اليمنية في مايو ١٩٩٠، والتي وحدت شمال اليمن وجنوبه.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
