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Monday Briefing: Middle East takes center stage at UNGA
  • Analysis
  • Monday Briefing: Middle East takes center stage at UNGA

    This week’s briefing on recent news and upcoming events in the region featuring Gerald Feierstein, Alex Vatanka, Eran Etzion, Gonul Tol, Amal Kandeel, Marvin G. Weinbaum, Michael Sexton and Eliza Campbell.

    US negotiations with the Taliban: The cases for hope and skepticism
    Middle East Institute
  • Podcast
  • US negotiations with the Taliban: The cases for hope and skepticism

    Amb. Robin Raphel and MEI’s Marvin Weinbaum join guest host Jerry Feierstein to discuss the latest round of negotiations between the US and the Taliban and lay out their competing views on whether there is greater cause for optimism or pessimism as the US seeks to withdraw its troops after nearly twenty years in Afghanistan.

    September 6, 2019

    Pakistan on Kashmir: “They have colonized the territory”
    A security personnel stands guard on a street during a lockdown in Srinagar on August 11, 2019, after the Indian government stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy.
  • Analysis
  • Pakistan on Kashmir: “They have colonized the territory”

    MEI scholar Lawrence Pintak speaks to Sardar Masood Khan, the president of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, about India’s early August annexation of the semi-autonomous territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

    September 5, 2019

    Monday Briefing: A mixed record for PM Khan’s first year in office
  • Analysis
  • Monday Briefing: A mixed record for PM Khan’s first year in office

    This week’s briefing on recent news and upcoming events in the region featuring Arif Rafiq, Ibrahim Jalal, Michael Sexton and Eliza Campbell, and Alex Vatanka.

    August 19, 2019

    US-Taliban talks won’t lead to lasting peace
    Afghan Taliban delegation attends the Intra Afghan Dialogue talks in the Qatari capital Doha on July 7, 2019.
  • Analysis
  • US-Taliban talks won’t lead to lasting peace

    Much has been written about the ongoing direct peace talks between U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad and an Afghan Taliban delegation headed by Mullah Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai in Doha, Qatar. This article takes a closer look at the challenges to negotiating with the Afghan Taliban and lays out six reasons why the prospects for peace in Afghanistan still seem bleak.

    August 19, 2019

    Oman's new embassy in Palestine
    In this handout from the Palestinian Press Office, Palestinan President Mahmoud Abbas (R) meets with Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said on January 14, 2010 in Muscat, Oman.
  • Analysis
  • Oman's new embassy in Palestine

    The news came eight months after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid a visit to the Omani capital for surprise talks with Sultan Qaboos in October 2018, and four months after Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah met with Netanyahu in Poland during the Trump administration’s “Peace and Security in the Middle East” summit.

    August 12, 2019

    Monday Briefing: US-Turkey dispute over Syria comes to a head
  • Analysis
  • Monday Briefing: US-Turkey dispute over Syria comes to a head

    This week’s briefing on recent news and upcoming events in the region including the Turkish-U.S. crisis meeting in Ankara on Syria, the resumption of U.S.-Taliban negotiations, Trump’s creation of a new “dovish” line on Iran, a rise in Egypt’s poverty levels, Sudan’s democratic transition, the easing of female guardianship rules in Saudi Arabia, and the end of the ceasefire in Idlib, featuring Charles Lister, Marvin G. Weinbaum, Paul Salem, W. Robert Pearson, Mirette F. Mabrouk, Thomas W. Lippman, and Robert S. Ford.

    Monday Briefing: Syria’s deadly status quo
  • Analysis
  • Monday Briefing: Syria’s deadly status quo

    This week’s briefing on recent news and upcoming events in the region including Kazakhstan’s upcoming “Astana talks” on Syria, Jared Kushner’s planned visit to the Middle East, the shift in US-Pakistan relations, and Abbas’ announcement that the Palestinian Authority will halt all signed agreements with Israel, featuring Charles Lister, Gerald Feierstein, Marvin G. Weinbaum, and Khaled Elgindy.

    Afghanistan brings Trump and Khan together
    President Donald Trump Meets With Pakastani Prime Minister Imran Khan At The White House
  • Analysis
  • Afghanistan brings Trump and Khan together

    The long-awaited summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan raised more questions than it answered. Nevertheless, the message emerging from the meeting has major implications for regional stability and the Afghan peace process. 

    July 29, 2019

    OPEC+ agrees to production-cut extension and new charter amid rising Middle East tensions
    Oil ministers attend the 176th meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) conference and the 6th meeting of the OPEC and non-OPEC countries on July 1, 2019 in Vienna, Austria.
  • Analysis
  • OPEC+ agrees to production-cut extension and new charter amid rising Middle East tensions

    OPEC+ nations have ended speculation about whether they would continue oil production cuts by agreeing to a nine-month extension. Led by the global petroleum powers Saudi Arabia and Russia, the group agreed on July 2 to extend the current level of cuts until the second quarter of 2020.

    July 24, 2019

    Monday Briefing: Pakistani PM Khan heads to the White House
  • Analysis
  • Monday Briefing: Pakistani PM Khan heads to the White House

    This week’s briefing on recent news and upcoming events in the region including Imran Khan’s visit to the White House, tensions between President Trump and Congress over Turkey’s new S-400 system, escalation in the Straits of Gibraltar and Hormuz, military restructuring in Iraq, increased collaboration on the region’s power supply, and changes to Egypt’s social safety net, featuring Arif Rafiq, Gonul Tol, Ruba Husari, Robert S. Ford, Dr. Ibrahim Saif, and Mirette F. Mabrouk.

    Monday Briefing: US and Turkey face S-400 confrontation
  • Analysis
  • Monday Briefing: US and Turkey face S-400 confrontation

    This week’s briefing on recent news and upcoming events in the region including Turkey’s confrontation with the U.S. over its S-400 defense system, the latest round of Afghan peace talks, the UAE’s drawdown in Yemen, Turkey’s media signaling on Syria, and the 21st consecutive week of protests in Algeria, featuring W. Robert Pearson, Marvin G. Weinbaum, Ibrahim Jalal, Guney Yildiz, and Robert S. Ford.