Research & Commentary Results

AI is a pivotal catalyst for global innovation, with the United States at the forefront of the development of this transformative technology amid its ongoing great power rivalry with China. This report aims to define the concept of AI supremacy and to revise the US’ AI strategy in accordance with a more comprehensive understanding of it. The report also looks at how the competition has affected actors from the Middle East, namely the UAE and Saudi Arabia, attempting to steer the conversation on the global AI race toward a comprehensive conception of AI supremacy that is anchored in the realities of international affairs and US-China great power competition.

Middle East Focus Presents: ’Taking the Edge Off the Middle East’ with Brian Katulis.

A series of casual conversations with leading policy professionals on the most important happenings in the Middle East today – hosted by MEI’s Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy Brian Katulis.

Steven A. Cook, Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, sits down with Brian to discuss his latest book “The End of Ambition,” their policy outlook with the incoming Trump Administration, and deteriorating discourse in Washington policy circles. 

Under past reformist presidents, Iran repeatedly tried to build a grand bargain deal with the United States, entailing compromises over its nuclear program in return for negotiating spheres of influence across the Middle East. This September, speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, the current reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian confirmed that he was open to direct talks with Washington to end hostilities.

The multiple wars that have erupted since Oct. 7, 2023, have already changed the strategic landscape in the Middle East — and more change is likely to follow.

it is possible to extrapolate how the incoming second Trump administration may respond to the complex situation in the Middle East by examining the president-elect’s record during his first term, what he has said since, as well as public statements of his running-mate, Sen. J. D. Vance. Two main issues are likely to dominate Donald Trump’s regional agenda when he comes to power: Iran and Israeli-Palestinian affairs.

The following is a short abstract, offering the main analytical findings and policy takeaways from a newly released Middle East Institute report on post-war reconstruction in Syria.

Since the end of the civil war in Syria, government officials have inaugurated high-end tourist projects and upscale urban housing schemes, while at the same time preventing Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons from returning to their ruined neighborhoods or rebuilding their demolished homes. The focus on luxury housing in a country devastated by conflict and within a city suffering from massive destruction and housing shortages encapsulates the contradictions of the regime’s policy for reconstruction and early recovery not only in Damascus but in the whole country.

In a landmark move signaling the growing importance of the Middle East in the global tech landscape, Google has entered into a strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. The partnership underscores the “growing interlink” between AI and energy, as Saudi Arabia — along with the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states — uses its energy surplus to power data centers, a critical pillar of AI infrastructure.

Middle East Focus Presents: ‘Taking the Edge Off the Middle East’ with Brian Katulis

A series of casual conversations with leading policy professionals on the most important happenings in the Middle East today – hosted by MEI’s Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy Brian Katulis.

Danielle Pletka, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, sits down with Brian to discuss how she made the jump from journalism to policy, her views on the Iraq War, and the need for strong leadership in US-MENA foreign policy. 

Israel’s escalation of its military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon has severely disrupted the cross-border flow of goods into Syria that have long served as a critical lifeline for Damascus. These interruptions have worsened existing shortages, triggering sharp increases in the prices of essential commodities for Syrian who were already struggling economically.

Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.

This policy assessment examines the statements and positions staked out by the Harris and Trump campaigns on the Middle East. The spotlight is on the past few weeks, with a stronger focus on two main issues that are likely to dominate the regional agenda of the next US administration: Iran and Israeli-Palestinian affairs.

Last month marked the second anniversary of the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini and the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement born of her murder. The authorities’ subsequent brutal crackdown on the protesters is but one flagrant example of the government’s appalling human rights record. The regime’s disdain for international human rights norms is not the recent result of Iran’s transition from Islamic theocracy to nationalistic military-security state. Rather, it has been a feature of the regime from the beginning, as shown by (inter alia) the 1988 mass executions of Iranian prisoners.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Islamist political system in Tehran is on the brink of experiencing perilous blowback for the foreign policy choices it has made. Whether Tehran continues to prioritize the fight against Israel or decides to look for ways to deprioritize the conflict as a national security matter will not be settled in the foreseeable future — or perhaps the matter will be taken out of Iran’s hands.

A leader in renewable energy in the Middle East and North Africa, Morocco is developing a dynamic green energy ecosystem that is beginning to incorporate renewable power into major sectors of its economy. Moving forward, renewable energy and the green energy ecosystem hold significant potential to drive the creation of employment opportunities for its growing population. Indeed, the expansion of green industrial manufacturing and agricultural production in Morocco could become the engine of sustainable human development more broadly. This case study explores current and planned efforts to expand the kingdom’s renewable energy sector and green energy ecosystem, assessing the opportunities and challenges in using these new green industries as a driver of long-term employment, particularly among women, youth, and rural populations.