A limited podcast series hosted by MEI’s Gonul Tol.
Where to Listen
Rethinking Democracy is an ongoing podcast series from MEI’s Gonul Tol that explores the evolving challenges facing democratic institutions around the world. As citizens in the US and globally grapple with declining trust in democracy, the series examines how domestic and international threats to democratic governance are deeply interconnected. Through in-depth conversations and analysis, the podcast investigates the forces undermining liberal democratic norms—and what can be done to counter them.
You can subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast providers.
A Turkish court has taken a dramatic step that could reshape the country’s political landscape. It annulled the results of the CHP’s 2023 party congress, effectively overturning the election of Özgür Özel as leader of Turkey’s main opposition party and potentially paving the way for former chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to return.
As the world’s attention shifts to the Iran war, Gaza is increasingly disappearing from the international spotlight. But more than six months after the United Nations endorsed a peace plan for Gaza, the humanitarian catastrophe continues. Israeli strikes remain relentless, while major international NGOs and aid groups say critical supplies are still not entering Gaza at anywhere near the scale needed.
In 2025, jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan made a historic call for the group to disarm and dissolve, raising hopes of ending a 40-year conflict that has shaped Turkey and the wider region. Months later, the PKK symbolically laid down arms in what many viewed as a breakthrough moment for the peace process.
Syria is in the midst of a fragile transition. Many observers see positive momentum, with new humanitarian initiatives underway and fresh funding beginning to flow. But the risks remain serious: regional spillover, deep humanitarian needs, funding shortfalls, Israeli strikes, sectarian tensions, stalled political tracks, and continued reports of abuses by multiple actors.
Nazanin Boniadi: How the World Can Help Iran’s Democratic Struggle
Just weeks before President Trump’s war began, Iran was in the midst of a powerful wave of anti-regime protests spreading across the country. But once the war started, that momentum largely came to a halt. The conflict shifted the focus from dissent to survival and gave the regime an opening to crack down harder. With tighter controls, heightened fear, and everyday life suddenly more precarious, people pulled back from the streets. The protests may have paused, but the resentments that fueled them haven’t gone anywhere.
Lebanon at the Brink: War, Hizballah, and the Fate of Democracy
Israel’s escalating campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah is rapidly turning Lebanon into one of the most unstable fronts in the wider US-Israel confrontation with Iran — pushing an already fragile state to the brink. The war is tearing at Lebanon’s sectarian and political fabric, displacing Shiite communities and deepening polarization between Hezbollah and its rivals.
The Kurdish Card: Can Iranian Kurds Shape the War’s Endgame?
The war against Iran has entered its third week with no clear endgame—and no clear strategy from Washington.
At one point President Trump appeared to encourage Iranian Kurdish groups to rise up against the regime, before quickly walking it back. Meanwhile, some exiled Kurdish opposition figures say they already have an invasion plan and only need US air cover.
The Kurdish question is once again at the center of regional politics. In this episode, we examine the role of Iranian Kurds in the opposition—and what this moment could mean for their future.
Is Turkey the New Iran — Or Is that the Wrong Question?
The balance of power in the Middle East is shifting. Iran is on the defensive — its military capabilities were badly degraded by last year’s 12 days of Israeli and US strikes, and growing protests at home have made the regime look more vulnerable than it has in years.
Dramatic developments in Syria have delivered a major blow to Kurdish ambitions for self-rule. In a rapid offensive, Damascus moved into northeast Syria, forcing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) out and effectively dismantling the autonomous region the Kurds had built during the civil war.
Long before the Gaza war erupted in 2023, a broad consensus had already taken hold across policymakers, activists, and foreign-policy circles: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was at a political dead end. The Oslo framework—and the promise of a two-state solution—had steadily lost credibility as a realistic path forward. Since Hamas’s October 7 attacks, the devastation in Gaza and the accelerating realities on the ground have made a two-state outcome even harder to imagine. And yet, it remains the default language of Middle East diplomacy. Most recently, UN Secretary-General António Guterres reaffirmed his determination to oppose Israeli actions undermining the two-state solution and called for renewed momentum toward Palestinian statehood.
