Attiya Ahmad

Attiya Ahmad is Georgetown University’s 2009-10 Center for International and Regional Studies Post-Doctoral Fellow. She recently completed her PhD in Cultural Anthropology at Duke University. Dr. Ahmad’s work brings together scholarship on Islamic studies, globalization, diaspora and migration studies, economic anthropology, and political economy.

The Latest from Attiya Ahmad

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What is the Kurds’ place in an evolving Syria?

Six factors shaping Trump’s calculus on Iran

From a US military build-up in the region to Trump’s growing unpopularity at home, several factors could influence his decision on whether or not to attack.

Ankara’s double win: Kurds, Israel, and the new Syria

Whether the truce between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces holds or collapses will have major implications for neighboring Turkey, which has long-standing interests in Syria, but recent developments already point to a win for Ankara.

Making Libya investable again

The question facing international oil companies is not whether Libya has oil and gas to develop. It does. The question is whether the country’s current political, economic, and security conditions allow that potential to be converted into reliable returns — and whether near-term changes could alter that calculation.

Omar Offendum Live: Arab Pop Art Closing Night

Join us for the closing celebration of MEI's Arab Pop Art exhibition, featuring a live performance by Syrian-American rapper, spoken word poet, and storyteller Omar Offendum.

When Conflict No Longer Moves Oil

Despite escalating conflicts, sanctions, and strategic rivalry across key producing regions, the global oil market increasingly behaves less like a system gripped by scarcity fears and more like one struggling to absorb abundance.

Bonus Episode: Can Yemen Hold Together?

This bonus episode of Middle East Focus features an excerpt from a recent MEI Virtual Briefing recorded on January 20. Director of Communications Zeina Al-Shaib is joined by MEI Affiliate Fatima Abo Alasrar and Associate Fellow F. Gregory Gause III to discuss the dramatically changing dynamics in Yemen’s civil war. Last month, Yemen emerged as a focal point of rising tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Southern Transitional Council, a UAE-backed southern separatist movement, has disbanded in recent weeks, following fierce clashes with Saudi-backed forces. In the conversation, Alasrar and Gause analyze the political, security, and socio-economic shifts affecting Yemen’s internal dynamics and what all this means for regional stability.

The Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict: A strategic concern for the US

Pakistan’s relationship with the Afghan Taliban has shifted from open sponsorship in the 1990s to a silent partnership following 2001 to alienation and belligerence since 2021. Their current conflict, which comes at great cost to both countries and seems to have no easy military or political resolution, also poses a threat to the stability and prosperity of neighboring states. Although American strategic interests in the region greatly diminished following the United States’ military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the region’s altered political dynamics have prompted a growing American engagement with Pakistan and tentatively with Afghanistan. At the same time, the US has become a factor in how both Islamabad and Kabul have come to form their national security strategies.

Debate: Will Hezbollah have a new partner in Turkey?

Can Yemen hold together?

Held Hostage by Iran’s Militias: Where Are They Now?

The Middle East Institute invites you to an in-person panel with Elizabeth Tsurkov, Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the New Lines Institute. It will be moderated jointly by Charles Lister, Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute, and Benjamin Wittes, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution

Breaking News Brief: Damascus and the Syrian Kurds Come to Blows

MEI Senior Fellow Charles Lister joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to unpack the latest developments in Syria, as a tenuous cease-fire takes hold after several days of intense fighting between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Their discussion explores the drivers of the conflict, the prospects for a lasting deal that would integrate the SDF into the Syrian military, as well as the role and perspective of key external actors, including the US, Turkey, and Israel.

Brian and Behnam Shake the Magic 8 Ball on Iran

Brian sits down with Behnam Taleblu, Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, to unpack the ongoing protests in Iran and what this moment reveals about the long struggle between the state and the street. They discuss the regime’s brutal crackdown, the prospect of US intervention, and what both could mean for the future of the Islamic Republic. The episode centers on agency, imagination, and the possibilities facing Iranians at a critical juncture in the country’s history.

Israel and the West Bank: The Next Crisis?

Join us for a webinar conversation with Dr. Tahani Mustafa, Ambassador (ret.) Yael Lempert, and Colonel (res.) Ron Shatzberg to unpack the potential consequences of West Bank annexation efforts – de jure and de facto.