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    • Blue Wave, Regional Ripples: Turkey and Lebanon React to the Midterms
  • Podcast

    • Blue Wave, Regional Ripples: Turkey and Lebanon React to the Midterms

    The November 3 US midterms handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress, a result many abroad read as a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s policies. How does the “blue wave” resonate among electorates and governments in Turkey and Lebanon, two key American partners in the Middle East? Ankara is weighing an early vote that could let President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan run again while his chief rival stands trial. Beirut, its elections postponed by war, is trying to restore state authority, including over Hizballah’s weapons. MEI Senior Fellows Gönül Tol and Fadi Nicholas Nassar join host Alistair Taylor to discuss how both countries read the results, how issues like corruption struck a chord in each, and what Ankara and Beirut expect from a Democratic Congress.

    November 12, 2026

    Alistair Taylor, Matthew Czekaj

    Syria’s SDF Integration: Progress, Obstacles, and Security Risks
  • Analysis

    • Syria’s SDF Integration: Progress, Obstacles, and Security Risks

    On October 9, protesters in the northeastern city of Hasakah raised the Syrian flag and called for the extension of state authority, roughly six weeks after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced their dissolution as an independent force. The protesters, who came from Ghwayran, al-Nashwa, al-Aziziyah, and the surrounding countryside, carried photographs of detainees. Alongside a stronger state presence, they demanded a say in how it would be exercised, from who is appointed to run local government to who is recruited into the security services.

    November 12, 2026

    Samer al-Ahmed

    The Human Story Behind Gaza: Jaser AbuMousa on the Costs of Survival for Palestinians
  • Podcast

    • The Human Story Behind Gaza: Jaser AbuMousa on the Costs of Survival for Palestinians

    Brian sits down with MEI Senior Fellow Jaser AbuMousa to assess the situation on the ground in Gaza three years after October 7 and a year into the ceasefire. Drawing on his own personal experience, Jaser explores the toll that the war and continued destruction have taken on Gaza’s residents, the implications of the recent Israeli and US elections, and the difficult path forward.

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    The first test of the Abraham Accords
    Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis

    • The first test of the Abraham Accords

    The recent round of fighting between Israel and Hamas, and especially the events that preceded it in Jerusalem, were the first significant test of the Arab-Israeli normalization agreements signed in 2020. Saved by Hamas’ intervention, the four normalizing Arab governments were nevertheless forced to address the consequences of their agreement in the face of popular discontent with the situation at home as well as criticism from other Arab and Muslim states over their relative silence. How they respond to the evolving Israeli-Palestinian tension going forward will be critical not only in regard to their own relations with Israel but also in terms of the future path of Arab-Israeli normalization.

    الانتخابات السورية المقبلة تكاد تكون محسومة
    Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images
  • Commentary

    • الانتخابات السورية المقبلة تكاد تكون محسومة

    “اليوم… اللوحات الإعلانية الضخمة والمكلفة التي تحمل صورة الأسد والموزعة في جميع أنحاء المدن السورية، لا تستخدم كمصدر للدعاية الانتخابية، بل كمكان ظليل يحمي الأطفال المشردين من أشعة الشمس”.

    MEI Lebanon Policy Conference

    MEI Lebanon Policy Conference

    May 26 – June 4, 2021, May 26 - 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
    June 4 - 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

    Zoom Webinar,

    Palestinian cultural resistance: Art in the face of violence
  • Analysis

    • Palestinian cultural resistance: Art in the face of violence

    Singer Kamilya Jubran, founding member of the iconic Palestinian band Sabreen, once famously sang, “We’ve tried resistance, we’ve tried confrontation, we’ve tried intifada, we’ve tried peace. What else is left to us?” The answer of course, that hung in the air of her breathtaking vocals, was “to sing.”

    May 25, 2021

    Hadani Ditmars

    The Growing Alignment Between the Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean
    Photo by IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis

    • The Growing Alignment Between the Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean

    The synergies between the Gulf and the eastern Mediterranean theaters have grown substantially in recent years. Speaking at a meeting in Paphos, Cyprus in mid-April 2021 with his counterparts from Greece and Israel, as well as the former minister of state for foreign affairs of the UAE (now an advisor to the UAE president), the Cypriot foreign minister noted, “The evolving web of regional cooperation is creating a new narrative.” A week later, the UAE and Israeli fighter jets flew together publicly — for the first time — in an international aerial exercise hosted by Greece. How can we explain the signs of growing cooperation between these actors that seemingly operate in close but not completely overlapping arenas?

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