Defense and Security

Outgoing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had long been at odds with President Trump on key issues in the Middle East, from the intra-GCC dispute between Qatar and other member states, to the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and the Iran nuclear deal. MEI fellows Gerald Feierstein, Charles Lister and Alex Vatanka join host Paul Salem to discuss how his replacement may impact these and other regional policy issues.

Read the full article on The Century Foundation

Read the full artice on The National Interest

Tens of thousands have been subjected to enforced disappearance in Syria since 2011. The regime is responsible for a majority of these detentions, but various armed groups have been guilty of the practice as well. Amnesty International has warned that “the plight of those who have vanished after being arrested by the authorities or detained by armed groups is a tragedy that has been largely ignored internationally.”

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Charles Lister, Bilal Y. Saab, Eran Etzion, Gonul Tol, Paul Salem, and Randa Slim provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the Syrian-Iranian downing of an Israeli fighter jet, the critical crossroads of U.S. and Turkey relations, Rex Tillerson’s upcoming visit to Lebanon, and Iraqi reconstruction plans.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Charles Lister, Bilal Y. Saab, Marvin G. Weinbaum, and Gonul Tol provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the unrelenting violence in Syria, President Trump’s “Buy American” plan, the Taliban’s anti-U.S. propaganda, and Erdogan’s meeting with the Vatican.

View the full issue brief at the Atlantic Council.

Read the full piece, co-authored by Nilsu Goren, on The American Interest.

Of all the calamities that have caused mass death and destruction in the Middle East in recent years­—including civil war, terrorism, ethnic cleansing, cholera, and famine—none is more potentially threatening to human life than the danger of nuclear power.

This piece was co-authored by Bilal Saab and Kenneth M. Pollack, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Read the full op-ed on the Wall Street Journal.

Read the full article on Foreign Affairs.

Read the full article on the American Interest.

It takes a certain level of political naiveté or blindness to continue to believe that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned last week of his own volition.