Middle East Forum Podcast

Poland’s policies on Islamism and migration make it and Israel natural allies, especially at a time when Western Europe governments show increasing hostility toward the Jewish state. But a Polish law criminalizing mention of the role Polish citizens played in the Holocaust has poisoned relations between the two countries. Should Jerusalem pragmatically acquiesce to this historical revisionism in o...

Netanyahu has 28 days to form government; can he patch one together with outside support by Islamists? Who is for and against, and what are the deeper dynamics? Tune on Tuesday, not Wednesday, for the answers.

Shurat HaDin (the Israel Law Center) confronts terrorists and their enablers where governments and intelligence agencies cannot: the civil court room. In less than two decades it has won more than US$2 billion in judgments from everyone from BDS bigots to state sponsors of terrorism. How does Shurat HaDin accomplish so much with limited resources, what are its goals, and what is its long-term impa...

The Establishment in France has for decades accommodated Islamists, but this has modestly changed in recent months, especially after the beheading of Samuel Paty last October. Has public opinion changed about Islamism? Survey research only goes so far because of concerns about being called an "Islamophobe." Applying data science to anonymous French tweets reveals a persistent anger that, if suitab...

Israel's president has decided who gets first shot at forming a government. At this time, no one appears to have a path to 61 seats. What are the chances of ending the political impasse? Of election #5?

“Are Israeli Arabs finally moderating?” Daniel Pipes asked in late 2020. The speech on Apr. 1 by Mansour Abbas of the Islamist Ra’am party suggests just that possibility; further, he might become kingmaker following a closely divided Israeli election. Why did Abbas choose this novel route and how does he differ from his peers? What follows if an Islamist party joins a Zionist coalition?

Much has happened since the last round of Hezbollah-Israel warfare in 2006, with both sides very substantially increasing their arsenals. Moreover, Hezbollah has gained years of continuous field experience in the Syrian Civil War, while the IDF has implemented its Momentum tactics. Most observers say it’s not a question of if but of when a war breaks out. What are likely scenarios in such a confla...

Israel's election is over, near-conclusive results are now in. Who is most likely to form the next government, the Bibi or the anti-Bibi faction?

China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” trades Chinese technical know-how and capital for influence, and Beijing’s recently-signed ten-year $600 billion deal with Tehran turns Iran into the a BRI crown jewel. What does Iran get and what does it pay for this China connection? How does it affect Tehran's power vis-à-vis its neighbors? And the United States?

President Biden struck Iranian-backed militias on the Iraqi-Syrian border in late February, a move surprising to those who expected his administration to return to Obama’s approach. What should one make of this event? Where does this president stand between his two predecessors on the question of Iran’s nuclear build-up?

Ashley Perry, Advisor to the Middle East Forums Israel Office, joins us here each Wednesday to update us on all the events going on in Israel. Mr. Perry will be giving us a briefing on current Israeli affairs for 15 minutes, then open it up for questions.

With just six days until Israel's elections, getting out the vote has become the challenge. What is each major party doing?

Congress Counters Turkey with Nick Larigakis by Middle East Forum

The Kurds: What Does The Future Hold? with Diliman Abdulkader by Middle East Forum

A wave of protests against Iranian meddling and corruption made Mustafa Al-Kadhimi Iraq’s prime minister in May 2020. His promise to reassert sovereignty faces 160,000 IRGC-controlled local militia members and their supporters in government. His efforts to combat endemic corruption have proven equally difficult. Can Al-Kadhimi succeed? Can Americans help?

Famed French statesman Talleyrand said of the House of Bourbon it had “learned nothing and forgotten nothing” upon its return to power. Will the same be said of Biden administration officials returning to the “peace process” to manage the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Douglas Feith notes that the pre-Trump approach has not worked and cannot work. He then explains its persistence despite so many de...

Polls show Netanyahu’s bloc capturing about 50 Knesset seats out of a needed 61, While the opposition encompasses too wide a spectrum of ideologies and egos to shoehorn easily into one government. Polls also show one-fifth of the electorate still hasn't made up its mind; what developments over the next few days might prove decisive?

Polls show Netanyahu’s bloc capturing about 50 Knesset seats out of a needed 61, while the opposition encompasses too wide a spectrum of ideologies and egos to shoehorn easily into one government. Polls also show one-fifth of the electorate still hasn't made up its mind; what developments over the next few days might prove decisive?

Women “make up half of society and we want it to be a productive half” says Saudi Crown Prince Muhammed Bin Salman (MbS).Yet Saudi Arabia ranks near the absolute bottom of every list of female empowerment. What changes have taken place in recent years and what can be expected as MbS pursues his large-scale reforms?

In 2017 Saudi Arabia and the UAE demanded thirteen policy reforms of Qatar and enacted a strangulating air, land, and sea blockade to extract compliance. Three-and-a-half years later, however, the de facto GCC leaders terminated the blockade without a single demand being met. What sparked the blockade and how did tiny Qatar fend off the powerhouses of the Arab world?

With less then three weeks until Israel's elections, this is the peak time for maneuverings and appeals from the many rival parties. What are the prominent issues and which are the key personalities? Is the outcome beginning to take shape?

Growing numbers of Muslims are converting to Christianity, to the point that a term (Muslim Background Believer) and even an acronym (MBB) has emerged. What are the circumstances and main themes of their conversions? What challenges do they face, both in Muslim-majority countries and in ostensibly tolerant Western societies?

President Trump instituted a maximum-pressure campaign against Iran’s economy in hopes of striking a better nuclear deal than that reached by his predecessor. As the Biden administration reverses course, where does Iran’s economy stand? How fast can it revive? Did maximum pressure make Tehran more flexible?

For the first time in Israel's history, a prominent Muslim politician talks of getting involved in the country's decision-making. Might this happen, what effect would it have on the elections and on Israels future?

When Ilhan Omar describes herself as an “intersectional feminist” and Omar Suleiman participates in a pagan ritual, American Islamism is clearly going in new directions. In particular, a Red-Left alliance has been growing for decades. What does each camp hope to achieve in its alliance with the other? Will it succeed or the differences ultimately too deep?