Research & Commentary

Trump’s South Caucasus Peacemaking Is His Most Successful, but It Remains Unfinished

Of all the fronts in President Trump’s peacemaking agenda, the South Caucasus has delivered the most concrete results. The August 2025 Washington Declaration, signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan and witnessed by Trump, marked an important step toward peace in the region. The two sides initialed a peace agreement and advanced plans to unblock regional connectivity, including through the establishment of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), which would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhijevan exclave through southern Armenia. Implementation of TRIPP has since made notable progress, but construction has yet to start. A breakthrough on those two tracks would, in turn, unlock Armenia–Türkiye normalization, transforming a long-fractured region into an area of trade and interdependence.

The Iran War Was Always About Regime Change

Wars don’t just end. They get interpreted, reinterpreted, and turned into strategic doctrine. That is what happened after the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, a conflict that saw the United States back Tehran’s Iraqi adversaries. The war taught Tehran three lessons it never unlearned: that Washington wants the Islamic Republic gone, that Iran stands essentially alone in the world, and that it cannot survive a direct, overt fight with the U.S. and Israel.

Iran’s New War Cabinet Is Really an Old One

Within 48 hours this week, Iran filled six of the most important posts in its battered military and security establishment. Read together with the biographies and mandates behind them, the appointments show how Tehran is drawing lessons from successive wars and preparing for a prolonged period of insecurity, without proving it has abandoned negotiation.

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Israeli Settlements in the West Bank

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

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

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.

Turkish Foreign Policy

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.

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Middle East Focus

MEI’s flagship weekly podcast on US foreign policy and contemporary political and social issues in the Middle East.

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Taking the Edge Off 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.

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Rethinking Democracy

MEI Senior Fellow Gonul Tol hosts leading scholars and thought leaders on global democracy trends and the state of the liberal international order.

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Introduction to I am from Adana, Welcome to Beirut: How Identity, Soap Operas, and Trade are Transforming Turkey and the Arab World

Originally posted September 2010

Arabs and Turks: How They Have Drawn Closer

Originally posted: September, 2010

Turkey’s growing links with the Arab world are evolving on multiple levels and reflect key shifts in the diplomacy, economy, and society of much of the Middle East. They also reflect Turkey’s desire to utilize its close links to Western nations, its neighbors, and other nations to expand its economy and to have greater influence in global politics.

Responses to Autonomy: The Optimal Political Solution?

Responses to “Autonomy: The Optimal Political Solution”

Egypt After the Elections – Video

The Middle East Institute is pleased to host Nathan Brown, Khaled Elgindy, and Hafez Al Mirazi for a conversation about recent political developments in Egypt. As the first ever Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate prepares to take office, a larger standoff looms between the SCAF and the Brotherhood over the future of the recently dissolved Parliament and the question of the constitution. Brown, Elgindy and Al Mirazi will examine these and other challenges facing Egypt on its rocky transition toward democracy.