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.
This Opinion was first published in The National Interest on July 12, 2012
After an eighteen-month free fall, there is tangible improvement in the tumultuous U.S.-Pakistan relationship and an opportunity to leverage these gains for a durable peace in Afghanistan. Backtracking from a messy divorce, both Washington and Islamabad have forsaken their previous approaches of unrelenting maximalism, each making necessary compromises to make the partnership work.
This Opinion first appeared in Foreign Policy’s “Middle East Channel” on July 17, 2012
Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, a self-proclaimed religious authority with a bushy long beard, is no stranger on the Lebanese scene. His latest incarnation, from his mosque in the coastal town of Sidon, is as a firebrand political Salafist whose objectives transcend the confines of Lebanon.
The appointment of a political figure as ambassador often signals the level of importance attached to bilateral relations, more so if the person in question was a career military officer and current cabinet minister. This was the case in February 2012 when Israel named Matan Vilnai as its next ambassador to China. Beijing was more than happy to accept the appointment of then-Israeli Minister of Home Front Defense, seeing it as a signal for further improvement.
Turkey’s growing links with the Arab world are evolving on multiple levels and reflect key shifts in the diplomacy, economy, and society of much of the Middle East. They also reflect Turkey’s desire to utilize its close links to Western nations, its neighbors, and other nations to expand its economy and to have greater influence in global politics.
The Middle East Institute is pleased to host Nathan Brown, Khaled Elgindy, and Hafez Al Mirazi for a conversation about recent political developments in Egypt. As the first ever Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate prepares to take office, a larger standoff looms between the SCAF and the Brotherhood over the future of the recently dissolved Parliament and the question of the constitution. Brown, Elgindy and Al Mirazi will examine these and other challenges facing Egypt on its rocky transition toward democracy.
After the Summit: Assessing Iraq's Relations with its Arab Neighbors
MEI Podcast, 12 July, 2012After the Summit: Assessing Iraq’s Relations with its Arab NeighborsJohn Desrocher, Gregory Gause, Ken Pollack, Amb. Samir Sumaida’ie, Phebe Marr
تُعد المجلة الرئيسية لمعهد الشرق الأوسط أقدم مطبوعة محكّمة مكرّسة لدراسة الشرق الأوسط الحديث، وتغطي المجلة الرئيسية في المعهد السياسة والمجتمع والثقافة في المنطقة.
