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Shahmahmood Miakhel is the Country Director in Afghanistan for the US Institute of Peace (USIP). Prior to that he was a Governance Advisor for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and, from 2003–2005, a Deputy Minister of the Interior in the Government of Afghanistan. In 1994–1995 he worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in South and Southeast Afghanistan helping to establish District Rehabilitation Shuras (DRS). He also worked as a reporter for the Pashto service of the Voice of America from 1985–1990.
Just days before Turkey’s main opposition party was set to select its next presidential candidate, the leading contender, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, was arrested and jailed, effectively removing him from the race.
Syria’s political landscape has undergone a major shift with the recently announced agreement between the predominantly Kurdish and American-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the transitional Syrian government. After weeks of negotiations, this deal signals a potential breakthrough in the country’s long and complex path to reunification.
President Donald Trump’s administration dialed up its use of military power in the Middle East this past week just as it took more steps to dismantle American institutions central to advancing peace and stability through diplomacy.
In response to the request for information (RFI) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding the “Development of an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan” in support of the objectives set forth in Executive Order (EO) 14179, the Middle East Institute (MEI) offers five recommendations to solidify the United States’ position as the global leader in AI innovation while addressing critical ethical, regulatory, and infrastructural imperatives.
After decades of managing tensions through careful balancing, Turkey and Iran now find themselves increasingly at odds following recent shifts in the regional balance of power. With Ankara emboldened and Tehran on its back foot after the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the struggle for influence between the two neighbors and long-time rivals is escalating in both Syria and Iraq and could spread well beyond their borders.
Reflections on a recent visit to Baghdad. Much has changed and ordinary life has resumed in Iraq’s capital, but deep challenges remain.
The punishing Israeli response to the Hamas and Hezbollah attacks of October 7 and 8 has devastated Gaza and Lebanon, decimated Hamas and Hezbollah, contributed to the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, and dealt the most serious blow to Iran’s axis of influence in many decades.
The work of the Syria Strategy Project and the considerable policy recommendations found in this report present a realistic and holistic vision for Syria’s recovery and reintegration into the international system.
While most media attention was focused on its global economic policy moves, the Trump administration continued to keep the Middle East high on its agenda this past week, with the president sending a letter to Iran’s supreme leader and his team directly engaging with the Palestinian group Hamas. This continued engagement on the region’s top two strategic questions, Iran and Arab-Israel affairs, contrasted with America’s hands-off approach to Syria, which saw some troubling violence.
United States-Saudi diplomacy is increasingly seeming to take on a transactional flavor, especially with regards to the Saudi mining industry.
Syria’s national dialogue, held in Damascus at the end of February, was intended to chart the country’s future, one that would have been unthinkable just three months earlier. However, the process and outcomes of the dialogue were flawed, left critical questions unanswered, and raised new concerns.
