US President Donald Trump recently proposed that Syria intervene militarily against Hizballah in Lebanon. Is that a good idea? This episode of Middle East Focus features a recent MEI Virtual Briefing. Director of Communications Zeina Al-Shaib is joined by Ambassador David Hale, MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow and Charles Lister, MEI Senior Fellow. Together they examine the prospects and implications of renewed Syrian involvement in Lebanon, the potential impact on US relations with both countries, and how evolving dynamics in Lebanon and Syria could reshape the regional balance of power and affect countries such as Turkey and Israel.
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.
The Middle East Institute is proud to host Rochelle Davis, professor of Anthropology at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, to discuss US military conceptions of culture and the war in Iraq.
US Interest Wanes in the Mission that Remains in Iraq
This Commentary first appeared as an op-ed in The National, July 25, 2010.
After the March 2003 invasion of Iraq by United States and coalition forces, a short but sharp war, and the declaration of “Mission Accomplished” aboard an American aircraft carrier, Iran felt isolated and encircled on all sides by US might. Not so today.
Tehran has closely observed US travails in Iraq over the years, and watched with satisfaction as the US began withdrawing its forces in anticipation of a full withdrawal by the end of 2011.
Higher Education and the Middle East: Serving the Knowledge-based Economy
This is the first of three volumes examining the internationalization of higher education and the Middle East. The 12 essays included in this volume explore some of the changes that are taking place and the challenges that lie ahead as Middle Eastern countries seek to build sustainable higher education systems and strengthen their economies. Within the dynamic global higher education landscape, is the Middle East a stagnant backwater or a center of creative initiative? What are, and should be the roles of foreign partners and providers?
This Commentary first appeared as an op-ed in McClatchy News, July 6, 2010.
The misuse and abuse of language is yet another obstacle to obtaining peace in the Middle East. In recent weeks the media, government officials and commentators have so garbled the use of the words “blockade” and “embargo” to describe events in Gaza that understanding what is occurring, the legal implications, and developing a reasonable policy are almost impossible.
From the Director’s Chair: The Making of the Documentary Film Veiled Voices
Last year, I completed an hour-long documentary, Veiled Voices, profiling the role that women can play as religious leaders in the Middle East. This essay briefly discusses my discoveries over the four years working on the project and the decisions I made regarding how to responsibly and visually represent these women on film.
In February 2010, Stockholm, Sweden hosted the Persian Hip Hop Festival: Voices of Change. Persian rappers came from around the world to call for changes in Iran through their rap music. Prior to her performance, one of Iran’s female rappers, Ghogha (Rebel), said to the audience:
I come from a place where music is a crime. New ideas are crimes. They execute young people for having new ideas. We have come together here to remember the children of Iran.[1]
Introduction to The State of the Arts in the Middle East: Volume V
This edition of MEI Viewpoints features essays that shed light on the relationship between artistic production and changing societal conditions and norms. Clayton Keir discusses “rap” music in Iran – its integration of Western and Persian cultural influences, politics, and popularity. Brigid Maher reflects on the making of Veiled Voices, her award-winning documentary film that profiles three female Muslim religious leaders from Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria.
Introduction to The State of the Arts in the Middle East: Volume VI: Creative Arab Women
Creative Arab Women is the sixth edition of the MEI Viewpoints series on the State of the Arts in the Middle East. The 14 essays in this collection offer a glimpse into the rich and varied cultural output of Arab women in the region and the diaspora. Partly reminiscences and partly calls to action, they are essays of survival and empowerment that add a deeply personal dimension to the subject of the role of Arab women as cultural producers. MEI is grateful to Dr.
The Middle East Institute is proud to host Thomas W. Donovan, an expert in Iraqi business law, specializing in international investment. Drawing upon his background as a corporate attorney and managing partner of the Iraq Law Alliance, PLLC, Mr. Donovan will discuss the particular nuances of doing business in post-war Iraq and how the 2009 Status of Forces Agreement may change the way in which international investors interact with their Iraqi partners. Mr.
The Middle East Institute is proud to host distinguished academic and author Dr. Akbar Ahmed for a discussion of his latest book, Journey into America: the Challenge of Islam, a comprehensive study of the American-Muslim community. Dr. Ahmed will discuss the results of the research conducted by his team as they traveled to over 75 cities and 100 mosques across the United States to discover what Muslims are thinking, what they are reading, and how they are living every day in America. Among the questions his team asked include, "Can we expect an increase in homegrown terrorism?
The Middle East Institute is proud to host Justin Dargin, research fellow at the Dubai Initiative, for a discussion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Gulf and the pursuit of an effective carbon trading plan. Dargin will also examine the effect which this hot-button issue has upon the region's geopolitical relations, energy efficiency, natural gas utilization, renewable energy, and conservation of natural resources.
The last five years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be summed up in one word: Gaza.
Israel’s lethal raid on the flotilla attempting to deliver aid to Gaza is part of a recurring theme that goes like this: Gaza wallows in dysfunction. Tensions steadily build. A confrontation erupts. Every major crisis between the Israelis and the Palestinians in recent years has revolved around Gaza—the overcrowded, impoverished strip of sand squeezed between Israel and the Mediterranean.
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.
