Curb Your Enthusiasm: Why the Midterms Might Not Change Much in US Middle East Policy
With less than a week before the midterm elections in the United States, the spotlight is on the economy and cultural divides. US foreign policy remains mostly on the sidelines, but this year’s inconclusive Iran war and its effect on America’s economy have shaped the broader political environment in this electoral cycle.
The Multiple Costs of the US–Iran War – From Hormuz to Europe and South Asia: The Widening Economic and Political Geography of the Conflict
Wars are decided by those who hold military power, but their costs are increasingly borne by those who have little or no voice in the decisions that start them. The US–Iran war shows this imbalance very clearly. Its economic consequences have gone far beyond the battlefield and have disrupted energy markets, trade routes, food supplies, public finances and investment in the Gulf, Europe, Africa and Asia. The most striking feature of the conflict, however, is not only the size of the damage but its very unequal distribution.
In recent weeks, the Iran-backed Houthis have fired missiles and drones deep into Saudi Arabia, striking high-profile targets, including Riyadh’s airport and Aramco’s headquarters. The attacks follow a rapid Houthi offensive in September to seize key parts of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, which Saudi-backed government forces are now trying to roll back. Fatima Abo Alasrar, an affiliated scholar at MEI and non-resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute, joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to unpack the latest phase of the conflict. They discuss what the Houthis want, Riyadh’s calculus and search for allies, and how this campaign ties into Iran’s confrontation with the United States.
Since 1967, Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been a contested feature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ultimate disposition of the settlements and ongoing activity related to their growth have repeatedly defied agreement in negotiations over a resolution to the conflict.
The Houthis are a political-military faction and Zaydi religious movement founded in northwestern Yemen in the 1980s. A key member of Iran’s Axis of Resistance with links to other militant organizations in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the group has continued to pose a threat to Western interests on a global scale.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is a proposed multinational infrastructure initiative aimed at upgrading connectivity between the three regions through integrated trade, energy, and digital networks. Announced at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023, IMEC is envisioned partially as a counterweight to China’s international infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative.
After a decade of post-Arab Spring isolation, Turkey’s leaders have recognized that their ambition to position the country as an agenda-setter on the world stage requires active engagement in all directions. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s consolidation of executive authority has centralized foreign policy decision-making and tied it to his domestic political priorities, transforming the country’s revisionist approach to one shaped primarily by personal and pragmatic interests.
MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis engages friends, colleagues, and policy experts in casual conversations on the most important happenings in the Middle East.
June 1, 2017 – Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, joins host Gonul Tol for a discussion of the tensions in Turkey’s relations with Europe in the wake of the Turkish referendum and a recent meeting between President Erdogan and E.U. leaders.
Two cells of terrorists have rocked the United Kingdom, striking in the heart of its two greatest cities. As Americans look on in horror, with sympathy for our British allies, we wonder what lessons we should be taking so that we might avoid such events here. I see six relevant points.
Algeria today possesses a number of assets that endow it with the potential to be a regional power and to serve as an anchor of stability. After Algerian security forces succeeded in crushing the decade-long Islamist insurgency and in the context of rising regional instability, American and European officials came to regard Algeria as being a potentially valuable security partner in the Maghreb and the Sahel. However, as this essay shows, Algeria’s military doctrine must be updated for this partnership to truly flourish — and for Algeria itself to thrive.
Is the traditional view that U.S. leadership in the Middle East advances our strategic interests well judged? As president, Barack Obama upended many assumptions about that view. He turned heads in dismissing Saudi Arabia as a “so-called ally” and reached out to Iran, hoping to make it less dangerous.
U.S.-led Coalition Strikes Pro-Assad Forces near al-Tanf Again
The U.S.-led coalition announced today that it “destroyed additional pro-Syrian regime forces that advanced inside the well-established de-confliction zone in southern Syria.” The U.S.
Senior Iranian Official: Syria Crisis Helped Tehran and Moscow to Build “Strategic Ties” but Doubts Remain
A senior Iranian official has said that cooperation between Iran and Russia in Syria elevated relations between the two countries to a strategic level and changed the balance of power in Syria in favor of the government of Bashar al-Assad and its foreign allies.
Barzani Complains to U.S. about Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces in Sinjar
Iraqi Kurdish Region President Masud Barzani has warned that the Hashd al-Shaabi – the paramilitary Iraqi forces also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) – is complicating the security and political situation in Mosul and broader Nineveh Province.
Israel to Announce Settlement Expansion | Monday Briefing
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Yousef Munayyer, Randa Slim, and Paul Salem provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including Israel’s expected announcement of new settlement expansion, the escalating risk of a clash between U.S.-backed and pro-Iranian forces in southeastern Syria, and Lebanon’s efforts to pass a reformed election law.
Iranian Officials and Media Outlets React to Gulf Crisis by Blaming U.S. and Saudi Arabia
Iranian leaders and media outlets today reacted to a decision by Saudi Arabia and several other Arab nations to sever diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar by blaming Washington and Riyadh for regional tension and discord. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the chairman of Iranian Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy, said the rising tension is a direct result of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East.
Iran-Supported Iraqi Paramilitaries Capture al-Baaj Region near Iraqi-Syrian Border
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) – also known as the Hashd al-Shaabi – on Sunday seized the center of al-Baaj, one of the last bastions of the Islamic State in northwestern Iraq close to the Syrian border, the Iraqi and Iranian media reported. Iraqi air force assisted the P.M.F.
Iran Set to Deploy 47th Flotilla of Warships to Indian Ocean
A senior Iranian military official has said that the country’s 47th flotilla of warships will be deployed to the Indian Ocean this month to protect the country’s cargo ships and oil tankers, according to Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards (I.R.G.C.), “The 46th flotilla, which was dispatched to the high seas some time ago, is now halfway through its mission and will return home in the coming days,” Rear Admiral Peyman Jafari Tehrani, the deputy commander of the Iranian Navy, said.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Blasts Trump for anti-Iran Alliance
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Sunday blasted the Trump administration for trying to create a regional security alliance to counter Iran, and claimed that the new initiative will not succeed.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
