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“Gwadar is the future”: China and Pakistan’s troubled strategic port on the Arabian Sea
Photo by AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • “Gwadar is the future”: China and Pakistan’s troubled strategic port on the Arabian Sea

    Strategically located at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz on the Arabian Sea, Gwadar, once a derelict port, was revitalized as part of the broader development of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and declared fully operational in 2021. Can a renewed focus on the Gwadar port and the socio-economic and security situation of the surrounding region help Islamabad and Beijing rescue CPEC from failure?

    Expert Views: How should we navigate the new rules of the game in the Israel-Iran conflict?
    Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Expert Views: How should we navigate the new rules of the game in the Israel-Iran conflict?

    The month of April saw a series of unprecedented escalations in the long-simmering Iranian-Israeli conflict, with both countries launching missile and drone attacks against the other’s territory for the first time in history.

    In the wake of these strikes, what will be the impact on the regional security and political environment going forward, what is needed to stabilize the new rules of the game, and how can US diplomacy help to facilitate that process? MEI has asked its experts to weigh in.

    The long rise and sudden death of jihadist leader Abu Maria al-Qahtani
    Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • The long rise and sudden death of jihadist leader Abu Maria al-Qahtani

    In a significant and surprising turn of events, on the evening of April 5, a prominent Iraqi leader in the Syrian Sunni Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, Maysar bin Ali al-Juburi, also known as Abu Maria al-Qahtani, was reportedly killed in an attack in Idlib’s northern countryside.

    The Next Paradigm-Shattering Threat? Right-Sizing the Potential Impacts of Generative AI on Terrorism
    Photo by Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • The Next Paradigm-Shattering Threat? Right-Sizing the Potential Impacts of Generative AI on Terrorism

    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.

    March 18, 2024

    Maintaining the best thing the US built in Iraq: Continued support to the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service
    Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • Maintaining the best thing the US built in Iraq: Continued support to the Iraqi Counterterrorism Service

    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 road to war with Iran is paved with good intentions and serious miscalculations
    Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images
  • Analysis
  • The road to war with Iran is paved with good intentions and serious miscalculations

    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.

    February 2, 2024

    What it means when nine nations bomb in the Middle East in two weeks
    Photo by Ammar Ghali/Anadolu via Getty Images
  • Commentary
  • What it means when nine nations bomb in the Middle East in two weeks

    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.

    January 21, 2024