Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.
This Study analyzes how and to what extent terrorists and violent extremists have interacted with generative AI so far, identifies potential ways in which they could misuse generative AI in the future, and then contextualizes these threats with the likely broader impacts of generative AI. In doing so, the Study seeks to identify a likely trajectory for the abuse of this technology by terrorist actors as well as concludes with some initial recommendations for policymakers.
The scale of rebuilding needed after the Gaza war, in addition to the difficult political questions involved, will require close international coordination as well as innovative, future-informed thinking.
As the US engages in a dialogue with the Iraqi government over the future of the coalition forces combating the Islamic State, Washington must ensure a continued relationship between the US Special Operations Forces and the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service.
The Biden administration’s National Cybersecurity Strategy, published in March 2023, outlines how the White House plans on defending America’s digital ecosystem from malicious threat actors. The document defines key priorities for shaping a global cyber landscape that is more resilient and secure, but the administration will face obstacles and challenges while putting its plan into action. Overcoming these obstacles will require it to devise flexible, sustainable, and realistic policies at home and establish robust cyber coalitions and trade frameworks with allies and partners abroad.
Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.
Forty-five years after Iran’s February 1979 revolution, American officials continue to struggle to understand this nation of almost 90 million. Rather than trying to solve a crisis that threatens to draw the US into direct conflict with Iran, the Biden administration appears more intent to manage it.
Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.
The Islamic State has regained its momentum, and the Biden administration might inadvertently give it another boost.
Nine nations, including terrorist groups that are de facto governments, have attacked other countries in the region over the course of about two weeks. Numerous commentators have drawn the conclusion that a regional war is already underway or soon will be.
Ansar Allah, the Yemen-based militant group commonly referred to as the Houthis, is arguably the latest and largest addition to the Iran-led Axis of Resistance. Present tensions in the Red Sea illustrate both the utility of the Houthis for Tehran’s anti-American and anti-Israel regional agenda as well as the challenges their actions can create for the Iranians.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have sought means to capitalize on the war in Gaza to raise their profile, enhance their pan-Arab legitimacy, and burnish their credentials both domestically and in the region. In their effort to insert themselves into the Gaza conflict, the Houthis believe their actions will strengthen their support base at home while also cementing their movement more firmly into the Iranian “Axis of Resistance.”
The current escalation between Israeli and Hezbollah forces necessitates immediate action from the international community to prevent a widening of the Gaza war, and the US is positioned in a leadership role to mollify tensions, beginning with diplomatic actions to stabilize the Lebanese-Israeli border, helping to pacify the broader region as a result.
Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of joining more than 800 fellow futurists, and another 1,500 “futures-adjacent” collaborators, from over 100 countries at the second annual forum convened by the Dubai Future Foundation. Arriving with high expectations, I left even more enthused than I’d anticipated, and with invaluable new learning from those around me.
