Trump’s Family Business Deals Risk Further Undermining the Credibility of US Middle East Policy
President Trump’s family businesses are once again in the spotlight as a new financial disclosure showed they earned $2 billion in income in 2025 — a dramatic increase on the year before, with much of it coming from Gulf entities, raising emoluments concerns. Mounting perceptions of corruption, combined with unresolved crises in Iran and Israel-Palestine, are eroding trust among key partners in the Middle East. With the 2026 midterms approaching, these entanglements could represent a major political vulnerability and further undermine America’s already-strained standing in the region.
After the US-Israel-Iran war — and the strikes that followed the cease-fire — the Gulf states find themselves dangerously exposed. Host Alistair Taylor is joined by MEI Associate Fellow Gregory Gause to discuss the war’s impact on the Gulf, their partnership with the United States, and whether the turmoil of recent months will push Gulf leaders to reassess their alliances and international engagement.
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.
After the Summit: Assessing Iraq's Relations with its Arab Neighbors
MEI Podcast, 12 July, 2012After the Summit: Assessing Iraq’s Relations with its Arab NeighborsJohn Desrocher, Gregory Gause, Ken Pollack, Amb. Samir Sumaida’ie, Phebe Marr
After the Summit: Assessing Iraq's Relations with its Arab Neighbors
MEI Podcast, 12 July, 2012After the Summit: Assessing Iraq’s Relations with its Arab NeighborsJohn Desrocher, Gregory Gause, Ken Pollack, Amb. Samir Sumaida’ie, Phebe Marr
After the Summit: Assessing Iraq's Relations with its Arab Neighbors
MEI Podcast, 12 July, 2012After the Summit: Assessing Iraq’s Relations with its Arab NeighborsJohn Desrocher, Gregory Gause, Ken Pollack, Amb. Samir Sumaida’ie, Phebe Marr
After the Summit: Assessing Iraq's Relations with its Arab Neighbors
MEI Podcast, 12 July, 2012After the Summit: Assessing Iraq’s Relations with its Arab NeighborsJohn Desrocher, Gregory Gause, Ken Pollack, Amb. Samir Sumaida’ie, Phebe Marr
Saudi Professor Faces Charges After Fighting for Free Speech
This Opinion was first published on Al-Monitor.com on June 28, 2012
What are the limits of free speech and open dissent in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia? They are often unclear and seemingly arbitrary, but there is no doubt that Dr. Mohammad al-Qahtani, a professor and activist, went well beyond them, and he knew it. He was hardly surprised when Saudi prosecutors, finally fed up with his vociferous denunciations of the regime, hit him with a long list of criminal charges. He had predicted it, and in the context of Saudi Arabia, he was asking for it.
The Third Annual Conference on Turkey: Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey
The Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies in collaboration with the Institute of Turkish Studies present:”Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey” June 27th, 20129:00am-5:00pmNational Press Club529 14th Street, NW 13th FloorWashington, DC 20045 Conference Schedule:8:45am – 9:00am: Registration9:00am – 9:15am: WelcomeAmb. Wendy J. Chamberlin, Middle East InstituteGönül Tol, MEI’s Center for Turkish StudiesRoss Wilson, Institute of Turkish Studies 9:15am – 10:00am: Opening KeynoteSenator John McCainUnited States Senate 10:00am – 10:30am: KeynoteAmb.
The Third Annual Conference on Turkey: Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey
The Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies in collaboration with the Institute of Turkish Studies present:”Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey” June 27th, 20129:00am-5:00pmNational Press Club529 14th Street, NW 13th FloorWashington, DC 20045 Conference Schedule:8:45am – 9:00am: Registration9:00am – 9:15am: WelcomeAmb. Wendy J. Chamberlin, Middle East InstituteGönül Tol, MEI’s Center for Turkish StudiesRoss Wilson, Institute of Turkish Studies 9:15am – 10:00am: Opening KeynoteSenator John McCainUnited States Senate 10:00am – 10:30am: KeynoteAmb.
The Third Annual Conference on Turkey: Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey
The Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies in collaboration with the Institute of Turkish Studies present:”Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey” June 27th, 20129:00am-5:00pmNational Press Club529 14th Street, NW 13th FloorWashington, DC 20045 Conference Schedule:8:45am – 9:00am: Registration9:00am – 9:15am: WelcomeAmb. Wendy J. Chamberlin, Middle East InstituteGönül Tol, MEI’s Center for Turkish StudiesRoss Wilson, Institute of Turkish Studies 9:15am – 10:00am: Opening KeynoteSenator John McCainUnited States Senate 10:00am – 10:30am: KeynoteAmb.
The Third Annual Conference on Turkey: Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey
The Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies in collaboration with the Institute of Turkish Studies present:”Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey” June 27th, 20129:00am-5:00pmNational Press Club529 14th Street, NW 13th FloorWashington, DC 20045 Conference Schedule:8:45am – 9:00am: Registration9:00am – 9:15am: WelcomeAmb. Wendy J. Chamberlin, Middle East InstituteGönül Tol, MEI’s Center for Turkish StudiesRoss Wilson, Institute of Turkish Studies 9:15am – 10:00am: Opening KeynoteSenator John McCainUnited States Senate 10:00am – 10:30am: KeynoteAmb.
The Third Annual Conference on Turkey: Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey
The Middle East Institute’s Center for Turkish Studies in collaboration with the Institute of Turkish Studies present:”Regional and Domestic Challenges for an Ascendant Turkey” June 27th, 20129:00am-5:00pmNational Press Club529 14th Street, NW 13th FloorWashington, DC 20045 Conference Schedule:8:45am – 9:00am: Registration9:00am – 9:15am: WelcomeAmb. Wendy J. Chamberlin, Middle East InstituteGönül Tol, MEI’s Center for Turkish StudiesRoss Wilson, Institute of Turkish Studies 9:15am – 10:00am: Opening KeynoteSenator John McCainUnited States Senate 10:00am – 10:30am: KeynoteAmb.
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.
