Trump’s Family Business Deals Risk Further Undermining the Credibility of US Middle East Policy
President Trump’s family businesses are once again in the spotlight as a new financial disclosure showed they earned $2 billion in income in 2025 — a dramatic increase on the year before, with much of it coming from Gulf entities, raising emoluments concerns. Mounting perceptions of corruption, combined with unresolved crises in Iran and Israel-Palestine, are eroding trust among key partners in the Middle East. With the 2026 midterms approaching, these entanglements could represent a major political vulnerability and further undermine America’s already-strained standing in the region.
After the US-Israel-Iran war — and the strikes that followed the cease-fire — the Gulf states find themselves dangerously exposed. Host Alistair Taylor is joined by MEI Associate Fellow Gregory Gause to discuss the war’s impact on the Gulf, their partnership with the United States, and whether the turmoil of recent months will push Gulf leaders to reassess their alliances and international engagement.
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.
تقدم هذه الوثيقة المعلوماتية لمحة عامة عن كيفية التوصل إلى اتفاقيات أبراهام، والمصالح الأمريكية المعنية، وعواقبها الاقتصادية والاستراتيجية، وآفاق التوسع في المستقبل.
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.
مع دخول نزاع الصحراء الغربية عقده الخامس، لا يزال النزاع الإقليمي دون حل وغير معروف إلى حد كبير. تحلل إنتصار فقير من معهد الشرق الأوسط (MEI) التاريخ المعقد للصحراء الغربية والمطالبات المتنافسة من قبل المغرب والجمهورية العربية الصحراوية الديمقراطية. وتبحث في التطورات الأخيرة، مثل اعتراف الرئيس ترامب بسيادة المغرب على الإقليم وانهيار وقف إطلاق النار الذي دام 30 عامًا، بالإضافة إلى الأسئلة الجوهرية التي لا تزال دون إجابة بعد نصف قرن.
المدونات الصوتية
التركيز على الشرق الأوسط
البودكاست الأسبوعي الرائد لمعهد الشرق الأوسط حول السياسة الخارجية الأمريكية والقضايا السياسية والاجتماعية المعاصرة في الشرق الأوسط.
Panel IV: Engaging the International CommunityModerated by Michael Hanna, The Century Foundation Jason Brownlee, University of Texas at AustinAmy Hawthorne, Atlantic CouncilMohamed Elmenshawy, Middle East InstituteAbdel Monem Said, al Masry al YoumClosing remarks by Kate Seelye, The Middle East Institute.
Panel IV: Engaging the International CommunityModerated by Michael Hanna, The Century Foundation Jason Brownlee, University of Texas at AustinAmy Hawthorne, Atlantic CouncilMohamed Elmenshawy, Middle East InstituteAbdel Monem Said, al Masry al YoumClosing remarks by Kate Seelye, The Middle East Institute.
Moderator: Robin Wright, USIP-Wilson Center Distinguished ScholarHossam Bahgat, Egyptian Initiative for Personal RightsMirette Mabrouk, Atlantic Council Jawad Nabulsi, al Nebny Foundation Diane Singerman, American University
Moderator: Robin Wright, USIP-Wilson Center Distinguished ScholarHossam Bahgat, Egyptian Initiative for Personal RightsMirette Mabrouk, Atlantic Council Jawad Nabulsi, al Nebny Foundation Diane Singerman, American University
Moderator: Robin Wright, USIP-Wilson Center Distinguished ScholarHossam Bahgat, Egyptian Initiative for Personal RightsMirette Mabrouk, Atlantic Council Jawad Nabulsi, al Nebny Foundation Diane Singerman, American University
Moderator: Robin Wright, USIP-Wilson Center Distinguished ScholarHossam Bahgat, Egyptian Initiative for Personal RightsMirette Mabrouk, Atlantic Council Jawad Nabulsi, al Nebny Foundation Diane Singerman, American University
Moderator: Robin Wright, USIP-Wilson Center Distinguished ScholarHossam Bahgat, Egyptian Initiative for Personal RightsMirette Mabrouk, Atlantic Council Jawad Nabulsi, al Nebny Foundation Diane Singerman, American University
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation 11:00am-12:30pmModerator: Thomas Friedman, New York TimesNader Bakkar—co-founder, al Nour PartyDina Guirguis—Tahrir Institute for Middle East PolicyWael Haddara—former senior advisor to Mohamed MorsiHani Sarie Eldin—al Dostour Party
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation 11:00am-12:30pmModerator: Thomas Friedman, New York TimesNader Bakkar—co-founder, al Nour PartyDina Guirguis—Tahrir Institute for Middle East PolicyWael Haddara—former senior advisor to Mohamed MorsiHani Sarie Eldin—al Dostour Party
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation 11:00am-12:30pmModerator: Thomas Friedman, New York TimesNader Bakkar—co-founder, al Nour PartyDina Guirguis—Tahrir Institute for Middle East PolicyWael Haddara—former senior advisor to Mohamed MorsiHani Sarie Eldin—al Dostour Party
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation 11:00am-12:30pmModerator: Thomas Friedman, New York TimesNader Bakkar—co-founder, al Nour PartyDina Guirguis—Tahrir Institute for Middle East PolicyWael Haddara—former senior advisor to Mohamed MorsiHani Sarie Eldin—al Dostour Party
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation
Panel II: Working Toward a National Reconciliation 11:00am-12:30pmModerator: Thomas Friedman, New York TimesNader Bakkar—co-founder, al Nour PartyDina Guirguis—Tahrir Institute for Middle East PolicyWael Haddara—former senior advisor to Mohamed MorsiHani Sarie Eldin—al Dostour Party
Panel I: Forging A Viable Political PathModerator: David Rothkopf, Foreign PolicyKhalil al Anani, Middle East Institute Graeme Bannerman, Middle East instituteKarim Haggag, National Defense UniversityTarek Masoud, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Panel I: Forging A Viable Political PathModerator: David Rothkopf, Foreign PolicyKhalil al Anani, Middle East Institute Graeme Bannerman, Middle East instituteKarim Haggag, National Defense UniversityTarek Masoud, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
Panel I: Forging A Viable Political PathModerator: David Rothkopf, Foreign PolicyKhalil al Anani, Middle East Institute Graeme Bannerman, Middle East instituteKarim Haggag, National Defense UniversityTarek Masoud, Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government
تُعد المجلة الرئيسية لمعهد الشرق الأوسط أقدم مطبوعة محكّمة مكرّسة لدراسة الشرق الأوسط الحديث، وتغطي المجلة الرئيسية في المعهد السياسة والمجتمع والثقافة في المنطقة.
