Expert regional analysis by MEI scholars and contributors.
A cycle of retaliation against energy assets, though far from a guaranteed outcome, would be to the detriment of all and the benefit of none.
Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.
Director of MEI’s Arabian Peninsula Program Gerald Feierstein speaks to scholars Nadwa Al-Dawsari and Fatima Abo Alasrar as they reflect on the tenth anniversary of Yemen’s civil war.
It’s been ten years since the Houthis seized control of the capital of Sanaa, beginning a cycle of fighting that continues on and off to this day. What happened, what is the current state of the conflict, and where might the country be headed?
The two leading presidential candidates in America’s 2024 election have made statements and established track records on the Middle East based on their time in office. This document aims to highlight the most important and reliable positions staked out by former President Donald Trump and current Vice President Kamala Harris.
Expert regional analysis by MEI scholars and contributors.
In the corridors of power in Brussels, it is common to hear that the position of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is an impossible job. It may actually become even more difficult for the outgoing Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who is set to succeed the Spanish Josep Borrell as the European Union’s foreign policy chief in the coming weeks.
Expert regional analysis by MEI scholars and contributors.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack touched off a destructive war with Israel and a limited but fierce regional conflagration between Israel and the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance,” with Lebanese Hezbollah at the forefront. The ongoing conflict has been multi-fronted, multi-faceted, dynamic, and already highly consequential. While a clear bottom line remains elusive, exploring the war’s primary origins and evolution offers useful indicators.
As the Middle East becomes more autonomous and empowered domestically, the leaders in the region might consider more synergetic relations with each other and prepare national long-term plans that provide a balanced and integrated approach to social, technological, environmental, economic, and political development and progress.
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The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden, is a crucial chokepoint for global maritime commerce. Despite the strait’s importance, the waters around it have long been plied by smugglers of weapons and other illicit goods. Djibouti today is an important player in trade in the Horn of Africa region, but it also serves as a conduit for Chinese influence, has been linked to malign actors like Iran and the Houthis, and has faced allegations of involvement in various grey and black market activities, including money laundering, illicit finance, oil smuggling, and weapons trafficking.
After 10 months of Israel’s war on Gaza, the US administration has lost control over its ally and the fear of its opponents. As a result, Washington has only limited, if any, impact on the cost-benefit escalation calculus of the fighting sides. The Middle East is today the closest it has ever been to an all-out multi-front regional war.
Israel’s targeted killing of Hezbollah military leader Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran are explosive events for the region. Coming within 12 hours of each other, they were also an earthquake within the “Axis of Resistance” — but not one likely to encourage de-escalation. Far from it.
Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.