Attacked by All Sides Iraq’s New Government Faces Old Problems
After months of deadlock following the November 2025 elections, Iraq’s parliament approved a new government under Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi on May 14, 2026 — just as the country has become a battleground in the US-Israel-Iran war. Zaidi inherits a daunting brief: reviving a struggling economy, reining in armed factions, and steering Iraq through a perilous regional landscape. Dr. Renad Mansour, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme and director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House, joins host Alistair Taylor to discuss the war’s impact on Iraq — from Iran’s militia networks to the surge of attacks on the Kurdistan region — and how it’s reshaping Baghdad’s ties with Tehran and Washington.
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.
This backgrounder provides an overview of how the Abraham Accords came about, the US interests involved, their economic and strategic consequences, and the prospects for further enlargement going forward.
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.
As the Western Sahara conflict reaches its fifth decade, the territorial dispute remains unresolved and largely unknown. MEI’s Intissar Fakir unpacks the Western Sahara’s complex history and the rival claims by Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. She examines recent developments, such as President Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory and the collapse of a 30-year cease-fire, as well as the core questions that remain unanswered after half a century.
Podcasts
Middle East Focus
MEI’s flagship weekly podcast on US foreign policy and contemporary political and social issues in the Middle East.
MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis engages friends, colleagues, and policy experts in casual conversations on the most important happenings in the Middle East.
The Moroccan economy through the Doing Business Index
Over the past decade, Morocco made great progress in climbing up the global Doing Business Index (DBI), jumping from the rank of 130 in 2009 to 53 in 2020. Yet, Morocco’s improved DBI ranking did not correlate with significant economic improvement.
When the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates decline phone calls from the president of the United States, rebuff his requests to help lower oil prices, and shy away from condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and when the U.A.E. hosts Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in Abu Dhabi, there is no doubt that a major crisis in U.S.-Arab Gulf relations is under way.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should fundamentally alter how we think about Syria and its future. How can the United States protect its objectives in Syria without compromising with Russia? The answer lies in the north.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the nature of Iranian-Russian relations
Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, which triggered Europe’s first major conflict since the Balkan Wars of the 1990s, marks a watershed in the continent’s post-Cold War history. The conflict poses significant security challenges for countries throughout Eurasia and beyond, and Iran is by no means immune to the geopolitical changes underway.
War in Ukraine and drought at home: A perfect storm in the Maghreb
This year was already expected to pose challenges for Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Inflationary pressures have been driving up the price of goods since the fourth quarter of 2021. Persistent unemployment, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, aggravated social discontent. Now, as winter turns to spring, socio-economic stability in the Maghreb is being imperiled by the conflict in Ukraine and insufficient rainfall at home.
Mirette Mabrouk, Joey Shea, and guest host Eliza Campbell discuss current political disputes over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), cyber diplomacy, and the effects of climate change on the Horn of Africa.
Iran’s regional agenda and the call for détente with the Gulf states
As both a candidate and as president, Ebrahim Raisi has repeated a basic mantra: that he will seek to quickly improve relations with Iran’s neighbors, and particularly the Arab Gulf states. But what are his motivations for this and what are the potential hurdles?
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting collapse of U.S. and European diplomatic relations with Moscow mean Syria diplomacy is now all but dead. Small signs that diplomacy may have been poised for renewed investment in early 2022 now feel like a distant memory.
Most of the reporting on Russian recruitment in Syria has involved half-truths, if not outright lies. While it does appear that some Syrians have signed contracts to fight in Ukraine, there is no guarantee these fighters will actually be sent there. The coverage of this topic has also missed a key aspect of who would actually be involved if Syrians really do deploy to Ukraine.
“Get them to the conflict zone”: Russia turns to Syrian fighters for support in Ukraine
Doesn’t Russia’s egregious invasion of Ukraine look familiar? Whether it’s the flagrant attacks on civilians, the hospital bombings, siege tactics, or rampant disinformation, Ukraine’s parallels with Syria are just about everywhere one cares to look. However, yet another feature of Syria’s grueling war now appears set to be repeated amid reports that Russia is already recruiting Syrian fighters to join combat units on the frontlines in Ukraine.
Will Iran’s heavy-handed approach to deterring Israel backfire?
On March 13, Iran’s IRGC fired missiles at targets in the Iraqi Kurdish city of Erbil. While Tehran’s threat of force might shape the calculations of regional states that are weighing the pros and cons of establishing closer ties with Israel, the Iranians will inevitably have to reckon with the possibility that this heavy-handed approach may backfire.
In two months, Lebanon is scheduled to hold parliamentary elections in the midst of a continuing economic meltdown and total failure of governance. The outcome of the vote is likely to be disappointing for anyone expecting to elect new leaders capable of reforming Lebanon.
The "Mediterranean Worlds Forum”: France’s continued pursuit of leadership in the Mediterranean
On Feb. 7 and 8, France hosted the “Mediterranean Worlds Forum” in Marseille, following on the heels of the 2019 “Summit of the Two Shores, Mediterranean Forum.” These meetings have the stated goal of “giving new momentum” to relations in the western Mediterranean and illustrate Paris’s push to renew its leadership role in the region.
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.
