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.
In the wake of Pakistan’s recently concluded elections, this panel will offer insight and analysis into what the results are likely to mean for the future of the country and region. The speakers will reflect on the possible composition of a new government and the implications of the election for the future of Pakistan’s democratic system.
In the wake of Pakistan’s recently concluded elections, this panel will offer insight and analysis into what the results are likely to mean for the future of the country and region. The speakers will reflect on the possible composition of a new government and the implications of the election for the future of Pakistan’s democratic system.
In the wake of Pakistan’s recently concluded elections, this panel will offer insight and analysis into what the results are likely to mean for the future of the country and region. The speakers will reflect on the possible composition of a new government and the implications of the election for the future of Pakistan’s democratic system.
In the wake of Pakistan’s recently concluded elections, this panel will offer insight and analysis into what the results are likely to mean for the future of the country and region. The speakers will reflect on the possible composition of a new government and the implications of the election for the future of Pakistan’s democratic system.
In the wake of Pakistan’s recently concluded elections, this panel will offer insight and analysis into what the results are likely to mean for the future of the country and region. The speakers will reflect on the possible composition of a new government and the implications of the election for the future of Pakistan’s democratic system.
The main streets of Manshiyat Abdel Moneim Riad, a choked grid of hastily constructed apartment blocks spreading out from a power station at Cairo’s northern edge, are organized according to a simple principle: shops and cafes on the edge, mounds of waste, animals, and rough teenagers from the narrow tributary streets in the middle. Rickshaws and trucks battle for position and skirt potholes in between. Men in search of a bit of air brush away flies at sidewalk cafes and survey the scene with contempt.
Mahathir and his country’s reputation in the Middle East point to the wider global importance of Malaysia’s 13th general election and the potential for the diverse country to serve as a model for nations like Egypt, which have struggled after Arab Spring revolutions with key existential questions: determining the proper place of religion and women in public life, the role of the state in the economy, and national identity. Indeed, it remains unclear what the place of non-Muslims and secular-oriented populations will be in nations governed by parties that are committed to building states and societies defined principally in Islamic terms.
Beijing Hosts Simultaneous Visits of Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu: What, if Any, Significance?
DR. ROBERT BIANCHI INTERVIEWED
In The Guardian, May 8, 2013
“China welcomes Binyamin Netanyahu—Visits from Israeli prime minister and president prompt speculation about China’s possible role as a Middle East mediator.”
Go West at What Cost? China’s Pivot on Middle East Studies
“… China’s move to gain a foothold in Middle East diplomacy, might not be such a bad thing … But the consequences for China moving closer to U.S. and Israel on Middle East policy could also mean alienating its partners in Muslim societies in the region.” [May 10, 2013] Read this article …
China’s Iraq Oil Strategy Comes Into Sharper Focus
“…Despite the inherent risks in dealing with complex and unstable markets such as Iraq, Chinese investors have been gaining a foothold in the country’s energy sector and in doing so have begun to face a unique set of challenges. In addition to having to navigate a tumultuous political and security environment, China is engaging a country that for a long period of time remained effectively under U.S. military occupation even as the central Iraqi government operated under a framework of limited sovereignty …
This article was originally published on Salon.com on May 10, 2013
Watching Syria is like looking through a kaleidoscope. The picture seems to change dramatically in response to the slightest jolt, but the components remain the same. The past week has seen lots of jolts, but no real change in the elements that make up the sad picture.
تُعد المجلة الرئيسية لمعهد الشرق الأوسط أقدم مطبوعة محكّمة مكرّسة لدراسة الشرق الأوسط الحديث، وتغطي المجلة الرئيسية في المعهد السياسة والمجتمع والثقافة في المنطقة.
