Deadlock in Gaza and the West Bank at a Breaking Point
A year after world leaders gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh to mark the end of the war in Gaza, Israel controls about 70% of the Strip, Hamas retains its arms, and reconstruction has yet to begin. Meanwhile, in the West Bank, record settler violence and settlement expansion are colliding with a Palestinian Authority on the brink of fiscal collapse. Hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj are joined by MEI Associate Fellow Tahani Mustafa to discuss why the Gaza peace plan is deadlocked, an increasingly emboldened Israel in the West Bank, Mahmoud Abbas’s postponement of Palestinian elections, the Palestinian Authority’s deepening economic crisis, and what role the US could play.
Kim Ghattas on a Murder That Explains the Middle East
Brian sits down with author and Emmy Award-winning journalist Kim Ghattas to talk about her new book, The Best Kind of American, which tells the story of the 1984 assassination of Malcolm Kerr, then president of the American University of Beirut. They discuss her inspiration for the project, what Kerr’s murder revealed about the Middle East at the time, and why his story still resonates four decades later.
Over the past several weeks, the Houthis have seized the port city of Mokha, Yemen’s western coastline, and several islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and they are now massing around Marib and Taiz in the first major frontline shift since 2022. MEI Associate Fellow Nadwa Al-Dawsari joins host Matthew Czekaj to unpack the latest developments. Together, they discuss what has allowed the Houthis to advance against Yemeni government forces, the role the militant group plays in Iran’s regional strategy, and what it will take to contain the threat.
The humanitarian disaster in Syria’s eastern Ghouta
The Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta is the site of a humanitarian disaster unfolding day by day as the Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian backers have maintained a massive aerial assault that has killed hundreds. MEI Fellows Ibrahim al-Assil and Charles Lister join host Paul Salem to discuss the conditions on the ground and what led to the campaign that has turned Ghouta into a “Hell on Earth.”
Syria: Which Way Forward? | Congressional Testimony by Charles Lister
The below testimony was delivered to the House Foreign Affairs Committee by Charles Lister on February 6, 2018. See also testimony by Amb. Robert S. Ford, delivered at the same hearing, or the video webcast of the proceedings.
January 10, 2018 – Mobile technologies for consuming and spreading information are empowering individuals and nonstate actors in politics and in conflicts. Social media activists scrutinize authoritarian and democratic powers alike. Violent extremists such as ISIS have used the web to advance their ideologies, project invincibility, undermine governments, and sow fear and hatred. The information battlefield surrounds all internet users.
ISIS Eyes Tunisia’s Cultural Heritage as Militants Return
Looting and trafficking of antiquities in the Middle East and North Africa has reached unprecedented levels since the rise of ISIS. In a region with tens of thousands of archaeological sites, antiquities are as easily accessible as oil for terrorist groups controlling such archaeologically rich territory.
Last week’s terrorist attack in New York City utilized similar tactics to other low-tech attacks carried out in western Europe, closely following the ISIS playbook.
Jasmine El-Gamal, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, Charles Lister, director of MEI’s Extremism and Counterterrorism project, and Will Wechsler, MEI senior fellow on national security and counterterrorism, join host Paul Salem to discuss what the attack means for U.S. counterterrorism policy and the future of the fight against ISIS.
The NYC Terror Attack and U.S. Counterterrorism Policy
November 2, 2017 – Charles Lister, director of MEI’s Extremism and Counterterrorism program, discusses what the recent terror attack in lower Manhattan, and the suspect’s claimed connection to ISIS, means for U.S. security and counterterrorism policy.
Who will win the spoils from ISIS’ demise in Syria? The Syrian civil war is entering a new phase with the liberation of Raqqa, as well as the Turkish intervention in the north. MEI experts Paul Salem, Charles Lister, Ibrahim al-Assil and Gonul Tol discuss the latest developments in Syria.
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.
