Middle East Forum Podcast

Established months after 9/11, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies initially focused on terrorism. Twenty years on, FDD deals with a wide range of topics, from Arab politics and biodefense to China and COVID-19. Known as (and attacked for being) a think tank that affects policy on such issues as the Iran nuclear deal and domestic extremism, its founder muses on FDD’s route to influencing...

36 American states have enacted laws since 2015 regulating against the antisemitic commercial boycott of Israel in what has come to be known as the ‘Economic Iron Dome.’ Yet, despite this impressive record against the BDS movement, anti-Jewish bias is increasing within the public arena. What explains this contradictory trend? What can be done to address it?

What ramifications did President Biden's visit to the Middle East have? What does it indicate about the future of U.S. policy?

In 1967, Israel celebrated the capture of the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site. In 2022, the Temple Mount has become irrelevant to most secular Israelis, reduced in their minds to a place of concern only to those they call "religious extremists." In response, the Palestinians exalt the Temple Mount, using it as a foremost tool to declare victory over the Jewish state. How did this shift take p...

With Gantz and Saar uniting their two parties, are Knesset blocs starting to shift? When a personality such as Netanyahu's arouses more passion than economical and national security issues, do "Left" and "Right" have meaning?

One of Israel’s most articulate defenders, Danny Danon spent five tumultuous years as ambassador to the United Nations, with a long list of accomplishments to his name. What impact and legacy did those have? What lessons did he learn? In what direction is the U.N.-Israel relationship going?

American journalists have shown great drive and enthusiasm to cover white supremacism, but they go deaf, dumb, and blind when it comes to Islamism. Outrageous bigotry by U.S. Islamist leaders slide by while those who point this out get accused of "Islamophobia." Why this behavior? How to fix the problem?

With elections four months off, campaigns and intrigues have begun. We will review the fast-changing political map to explain who is doing what and why.

Former Iranian diplomat Mohammad Jaffar Mahallati, now a professor of religion at Oberlin College, stands accused of helping to cover up a mass murder of Iranian dissidents in the late 1980s. Despite his continuing ties to the regime and to Hezbollah, he remains securely employed at the college, which has remained silent. Is Mahallati unique? Should the government take a closer look at Islamist op...

With Israeli elections finally in sight, on what issues will the parties focus?

Since 1979, Iran’s radical Shiite-theocratic dictatorship has committed internally to turn its subject population into Islamist automatons and externally to intimidate its enemies. How can such a regime be overthrown? A diplomat of the Shah’s offers a path forward.

Although the likelihood of a renewed nuclear deal with Iran, or JCPOA #2, has faded, Tehran and Washington still can make it happen. In that case, how does it differ from the first iteration? How would it affect Israel’s national security? How does that affect the possibility of an Israeli military attack?

U.S. foreign policy has evolved through four distinct periods, from a weak power in 1776 to the world’s sole hyperpower in 1990. Throughout nearly 250 years, three main factors – ideology, economics, democracy – have shaped those policies. What does history suggest about future policy, toward Israel and Iran in particular?

The coalition is being ripped apart on the Left and Right. How much longer can it survive? What next when it collapses?

Islamist fury, including death threats issued to those involved with the film’s production, has erupted against a new movie about Fatima, the daughter of Islam’s prophet Muhammad, causing many British cinemas to cancel screenings of the “blasphemous” film. Governments in Morocco, Egypt, Iran and Pakistan then banned it. Sam Westrop discusses this furor with Malik Shlibak, the producer of Lady of H...

Using constant tech surveillance, such as state-imposed in-home video cameras, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to control the Uyghur population in its Xinjiang region. This technological dystopia has placed the Uyghurs at the complete mercy of the state. What is the impact of this high-tech monitoring on the Uyghurs’ Muslim culture? What implications beyond Xinjiang does it have, including...

Two schools, “Assertive Realist” and “Defensive Realist,” dominate Israel’s strategic thinking, informing debates on the Palestinian issue, the Iranian nuclear program, and building Israel’s international legitimacy. They agree on the need for hard power but diverge on cause roots of Israel’s conflicts, the path to security, and the best means to use force. How do these alternative views affect Is...

The U.S. government has long underestimated Al-Qaeda and ISIS; think of President Obama dismissing the latter as “junior varsity.” The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) continues to estimate the number of Al Qaeda operatives at 200, and the CIA claimed 50-100 until the 2016 raid in the Shorabak district of Afghanistan. These are no mere regional nuisances, though. The jihadi guerrilla warfare is n...

June 1, 2022 Israel Insider with Ashley Perry by Middle East Forum

Daniel Haqiqatjou, one of America’s most vocal Islamist commentators, offers his views on the need to impose Islamic law universally and the clash between Islam and what he calls liberalism. A vehement critic of modernizing Islamists (such as CAIR and Omar) he has built an audience of hundreds of thousands of Western Muslims on social media and is on the frontlines of a powerful new ideological di...

With a Meretz MK gone and then back rapidly in the coalition, can the government accomplish any of its goals?

Not coincidentally, Israel came into existence just after World War II and during the early months of the Cold War, in a singular moment of flexibility and potential. How did circumstances uniquely allow this to happen? What underpinned the support for and the opposition to the Jewish state? What role did the Soviet leadership, Americans, and other international actors play?

Christians living in the Middle East have long faced persecution, but the experience of recent years, with the rise of Islamist eliminationism, is the worst of modern times. How do circumstances compare for Christians in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, and beyond? How can they be helped?

What are the real ramifications for Israel following the death and funeral of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh?

In 1986, Iran’s fertility rate was 6.5 children per woman. Today, at 1.6 (roughly half that of Israel’s), it is the lowest in the whole Middle East/North Africa region. What caused the birth rate to fall well below replacement level? What are the consequences for Iran? Is this welcome news to the United States and Israel?