Few countries from the Middle East or North Africa were invited to participate in the Biden administration's December Summit for Democracy, a telling reflection of regional politics a decade after the Arab Spring. Tunisia—once considered the only successful Arab democracy—recently suffered significant backsliding on that front, while Sudan's attempted coup has raised doubts about its political transition. Meanwhile, a "new normal" of protests has settled in as citizens continue demanding improve...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Marking the release of Anna Borshchevskaya's groundbreaking new book on Russia's Putin-era Middle East Policy, the Institute senior fellow held a lively conversation with a leading scholar of the Russian military and a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow. In this episode, we present their in-depth conversation on the full extent of Russian activity in the Middle East, how Moscow sees its interests and calculates costs and benefits, and the implications for U.S. policy. Middle East PolicyCast: Conve...
Nov 23, 2021•59 min
Twenty years after the deadly terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, how has the global terrorist threat, and American strategy against it, evolved? And what lessons can we learn from the successes and failures of U.S. counterterrorism policy as we enter the third decade since 9/11? Two of the country's leading scholars of terrorist groups and counterterrorism assess twenty years of U.S. counterterrorism policy and the current state of the global terror threat. Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wex...
Sep 10, 2021•37 min
How will America’s choice to withdraw military forces from Afghanistan, and the manner of our withdrawal over the course of the last two presidential administrations, affect America’s standing in the wider Middle East? How will our partners and adversaries on the ground in the Middle East’s hot spots view American commitment and credibility in light of the rapid fall of Kabul? And how will Russia’s increasingly assertive Middle East policy adjust in light of these events in nearby Afghanistan? T...
Aug 16, 2021•36 min
To promote stability and other U.S. interests, Washington must reshape its approach to the increasingly complex staging ground for global competition that is the emerging Red Sea region. In the latest Middle East PolicyCast, Institute scholar Elana DeLozier expands on the economic and strategic risks and rewards facing the United States, and our Russian and Chinese adversaries, in this populous and increasingly prosperous region. To read Elana's recent presidential transition memo, " The Case fo...
Jul 02, 2021•36 min
Two experts on security and political issues in the Middle East, Grant Rumley and Neri Zilber, share insights into the causes and outcomes of the May 2021 Hamas-Israel conflict in Gaza - and they offer policy advice for American, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders who seek to prevent the recurrence of such violence. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Jun 07, 2021•36 min
How can the Biden administration build a mature, balanced relationship with Saudi Arabia? Institute executive director Robert Satloff, coauthor of a new study on the opportunities and challenges facing the Washington-Riyadh relationship, outlines that can secure American interests and help cement positive developments in the kingdom. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Mar 12, 2021•31 min
In a new paper from Amb. Dennis Ross, he argues that Iran, its nuclear program, and its threats to regional security will pose some of the toughest challenges for the incoming Biden administration. In this episode, we speak to Amb. Ross about how Biden can maximize U.S. leverage in order to compel the Iranian regime to change its destabilizing behavior. His Transition Series paper, “The Coming Iran Nuclear Talks: Openings and Obstacles”, is available now at https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/po...
Jan 08, 2021•34 min
Israel has a couple of new friends in the Persian Gulf. On September 16, representatives from Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the Kingdom of Bahrain met at the White House, signing peace treaties that agree to fully normalize relations with the State of Israel. On this episode of Middle East PolicyCast, we've enlisted the help of three experts in order to understand where these deals came from, why American-made F-35 fighter jets are of such heated debate, and what these deals mean for the...
Sep 22, 2020•56 min
Lebanese Hezbollah has been well-known to Americans as a deadly terrorist group for nearly forty years, but there has never been an accessible, all-in-one record of Hezbollah’s global terrorist and criminal activity. Until now. Hezbollah expert Matthew Levitt this month unveiled a comprehensive new interactive map and timeline that illuminates the full range of Hezbollah’s activities, from travel routes and aliases to larger themes related to the group’s founding, development, and relationships ...
Sep 01, 2020•32 min
What factors will shape Israel's decisionmaking, and how would unilateral annexation affect its relations with the Palestinians, Arab neighbors, Europe, and U.S. legislators? In this week's Middle East PolicyCast, we share a conversation between former U.S. peace process advisors David Makovsky and Ambassador Dennis Ross, former Palestinian peace process advisor Ghaith al-Omari, and former Senate Foreign Relations staff member Dana Stroul on the scenarios and implications of potential Israeli an...
Jul 22, 2020•1 hr 23 min
Military analyst Michael Eisenstadt details how the Islamic Republic of Iran operates in the gray zone between war and peace to manage escalation, leverages asymmetries to achieve disproportionate effects, and employs its hybrid force structure for maximum effect. The current U.S. approach, he explains, is based on overt action, blunt force, and emphatic messaging, all of which entail a heightened potential for escalation. But an alternative approach—one focused on unacknowledged activities, ind...
Jul 22, 2020•38 min
In the last decade, Tunisia has been seen as both a democratic bright spot of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and a major source of manpower for the Islamic State and other violent jihadist movements. How did this country of 12 million, with little history of domestic terrorism before 2011, come to play such a crucial role in filling the ranks of violent Islamist groups worldwide? Jihadism scholar Aaron Y. Zelin, author of the 2020 book "Your Sons Are at Your Service: Tunisia's Missionaries of Ji...
Jun 25, 2020•41 min
For two decades, rumors have swirled around the royal succession from Jordan’s King Hussein to his son, King Abdullah II. Hussein reinstated Abdullah as crown prince just days before Hussein died, a move that struck many at the time as sudden, controversial, even capricious. But in a private conversation years earlier, King Hussein told Robert Satloff in confidence of his plans to return Abdullah to the line of succession, and the deeply personal reasons why. Long sworn to secrecy, Satloff can n...
May 19, 2020•24 min
The head of the UN team charged with monitoring each group assesses their prospects for bouncing back and recommends further steps that governments can take to counter them. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Feb 14, 2020•42 min
Listen to an exclusive press briefing on the Trump administration's newly announced peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Four expert, including former Palestinian and American peace negotiators and a veteran congressional foreign policy analyst, share their views of the ramifications of the peace plan for the Middle East and for domestic politics in Israel, the United States, and the Palestinian Authority. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washingto...
Jan 31, 2020•40 min
Since 2016, statements from Riyadh have suggested that Saudi Arabia might be on the verge of reorienting its decades-long promotion of Salafism around the world. In a new Institute study titled "Course Correction: The Muslim World League, Saudi Arabia's Export of Islam, and Opportunities for Washington," Arab politics scholar Dr. Sarah Feuer investigated Saudi reform efforts and their potentially profound global ripple effects. In this interview, Sarah shares the origins of Saudi religious expor...
Dec 27, 2019•32 min
The FBI’s top intelligence official shares his insights into how authorities and agencies are collaborating to keep the United States safe amid a shifting threat landscape. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Nov 21, 2019•24 min
"Decision Points" is a new Washington Institute podcast that provides fresh insights into critical moments in the U.S.-Israel relationship from prominent historians and policymakers. The series is hosted by Ziegler Distinguished Fellow David Makovsky, a renowned expert on U.S.-Israel relations, including territorial solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Oct 31, 2019•32 min
"Decision Points" is a new Washington Institute podcast that provides fresh insights into critical moments in the U.S.-Israel relationship from prominent historians and policymakers. The series is hosted by Ziegler Distinguished Fellow David Makovsky, a renowned expert on U.S.-Israel relations, including territorial solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Each episode highlights an important event in the 70-year history between Israel and the U.S., from President Truman's recognition of t...
Oct 29, 2019•1 min
What is going on in Israeli politics? Two elections this year, both leaving no clear majority and a deadlocked parliament, a prime minister facing imminent criminal indictment, Israeli Arab leaders hinting at a willingness to join a Zionist government, and the clock ticking down to a possible third election - Israel expert and author David Makovsky explains who's who in Israeli politics, what each party and leader wants, and why repeated rounds of voting keep producing political deadlock for one...
Oct 07, 2019•37 min
"Turkey more isolated, more alone, and more exposed to foreign policy threats than it has been for decades if not centuries." Soner Cagaptay, author of a new book on Turkish foreign policy, details the ways in which Recep Tayyip Erdogan represents both a revolution in Ankara's regional relations and deep continuity with centuries of Ottoman and Turkish strategy. Find Cagaptay's new book, "Erdogan's Empire: Turkey and the Politics of the Middle East" at https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-...
Sep 22, 2019•25 min
What sets Israel's greatest leaders, Labour and Likud, apart from others? And can U.S. policy encourage wiser statesmanship from our Israeli allies? In this episode, David Makovsky and Ambassador Dennis Ross, veteran observers of and participants in the peace process, discuss the lessons of their new book on Israel's greatest leaders. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Sep 13, 2019•32 min
What are the consequences of the Iranian government's massive, systematic campaign to spread disinformation about religious minorities through social and traditional media? Three leading Iranian activists detail Tehran's campaign of slander and incitement and offer practical suggestions for how tech companies and Western governments can act to protect vulnerable religious minorities in Iran. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Pol...
Aug 13, 2019•40 min
Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkote, IDF (ret.) delivered the 2019 Zeev Schiff Memorial Lecture on Middle East Security earlier this month. In his first public remarks since his retirement as chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, General Eizenkot detailed the four pillars of Israeli strategy and shared his assessment of Israel's military position as it faces new threats on multiple fronts. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
May 30, 2019•26 min
Jared Kushner, the senior advisor to President Donald Trump, was the keynote speaker of the Washington Institute's 2019 Soref Symposium dinner on May 2, 2019 in Washington, DC. Kushner was interviewed by Institute executive director Robert Satloff. Since becoming the President's senior advisor, Kushner has traveled extensively in the Middle East and has met numerous times with the region's key leaders. He has been present for major Middle East policy decisions, including moving the U.S. Embassy ...
May 08, 2019•52 min
A notably divisive Israeli campaign is coming down to its final hours. Will Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu survive the election, a likely corruption indictment, and a strong challenge by a new centrist party led by three former top IDF generals? And whoever leads Israel's next government, what do the April 9 elections mean for American interests and for a potential U.S. peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians? Three leading experts, Ehud Yaari, Tal Shalev, and David Makovsky, share...
Apr 07, 2019•55 min
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf region perceive that U.S. interest in and commitment to their region is declining even as Russian and Chinese military and economic activity in the Middle East grows. As a result, the Gulf states are looking to their west, to the Red Sea, to bolster their own long-term commercial and security interests. In this episode of Near East PolicyCast, Institute scholar Elana DeLozier explains the new Red Sea competition, why Gulf states are getting involved, and what ...
Mar 22, 2019•27 min
Israel's April 2019 parliamentary elections feature two of the most significant developments in modern Israeli political history, says Institute scholar David Makovsky: The formation of a new opposition coalition featuring three recently former IDF commanders and the criminal indictment of a sitting prime minister. In this episode, David explains the issues, parties, and personalities at play in Israel's parliamentary vote and what the outcome may mean for American policy and interests. Near Eas...
Feb 28, 2019•25 min
American Middle East policy has focused on forging security and economic ties between Israel and its Arab neighbors. In a new report (http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/reclamation), Joseph Braude documents growing opportunities for reclaiming cultural space for Arab-Israeli reconciliation. In this episode, Joseph joins Brookings Institution scholar Tamara Cofman Wittes to discuss the possibilities and obstacles facing this new cultural opening, and how U.S. policy can encourage it. Near East Po...
Feb 14, 2019•32 min
