Middle East Forum Podcast

The Israeli government has made an official decision to conquer Gaza. Is this really the goal or is it just another negotiating tactic? Ashley Perry is an advisor to the Middle East Forum’s Israel office. He served as adviser to Israel's minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister in 2009-15, and has also worked with Israel's Ministers of Intelligence, Agriculture and Rural Devel...

For two decades, Iran’s regime pursued a clandestine nuclear agenda, aiming to unleash apocalyptic devastation on Israel. Israel’s response, the daring Operation Rising Lion, sparked the intense 12-Day War, reshaping the Middle East’s geopolitical landscape. How did this high-stakes clash unfold, and what does it mean for the region’s future. Edwin Black is an award-winning, New York Times bestsel...

Buoyed by diplomatic gains, Hamas has now walked away from negotiations. What are Israel’s options in the next period?

Iran has for centuries constituted a resilient multi-ethnic empire, dominated by Persian imperial ambitions. It survived the 20th-century collapse of similar realms like the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires. Today, this imperial nature persists, though it is now cloaked in Islamist garb. The Tehran regime perpetuates subjugation through ethnic apartheid, proxy militias, and the expansionist Ir...

College campuses have become ground zero for the world’s antisemites to take advantage of democratic norms to espouse their hatred of Jews and the Jewish homeland while coupling their vitriol with physical acts of abuse and intimidation not seen in the West since the years leading up to the Shoah. After many years of both Democrat policymakers and progressive university administrations ignoring th...

In Jordan, King Abdullah II has steered a delicate course through a turbulent region, balancing global alliances with domestic pressures, as vividly captured in  The Most American King , the first comprehensive biography of the king. Drawing on over 100 interviews with Abdullah’s classmates, former Jordanian ministers, and CIA directors, author Aaron Magid, a former Amman-based journalist, traces...

In southern Syria, the Druze community—split between pro- and anti-Damascus factions—has long navigated alliances amid local Sunni Arabs and shifting regime forces, all entangled in the remnants of Iran's "Axis of Resistance." Yet, Israel's evolving policies over the past few months, from its support for religious and ethnic minorities to tentative outreach toward Damascus's...

Rising antisemitism, multiculturalism, and postmodern relativism currently threaten the well being and security of Israel and the Jewish people. Josh Hammer argues that the West’s survival hinges on Israel’s strength and the Jewish people’s right to self-determination. From the trauma of October 7, 2023, to global anti-Israel sentiment, the stakes are clear: a proud Jewish heritage is vital to the...

What will Happen Next in Gaza? Is the war coming to an end? Is another temporary ceasefire imminent? Might the long declared IDF military surge to conquer the Gaza Strip be about to begin? Ashley Perry is an advisor to the Middle East Forum’s Israel office. He served as adviser to Israel's minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister in 2009-15, and has also worked with Israel's M...

For decades, Iran's theocratic regime has wielded unyielding control, fueling regional instability through its nuclear ambitions, proxy militias, and ideological fervor, casting a shadow over the Middle East. Yet, amid escalating internal protests, economic collapse, and external pressures from Israel's precision strikes on key military targets in 2025, whispers of regime change are growin...

The Middle East has been transformed by the recent Israel-Iran war, with profound strategic, diplomatic, and military consequences. The war was the culmination of the contest which commenced with the Hamas massacres of October 7, 2023. How will this conflict reshape the Middle East’s power dynamics? What are the prospects for peace or for further escalation? Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh is the director of E...

For decades, evangelical Christianity championed Israel and religious freedom. As a result, it often found itself clashing with supremacist strands of Islam. Deep concern over Christian persecution—largely in Muslim-majority countries post-Soviet collapse—fueled wariness of political Islam’s aggressive forms. Recently, things have begun to shift. Some evangelical institutions in the US have begun...

As Israel’s battle with the Islamic Republic of Iran continues in its new phase of direct conflict after four decades of proxy wars, numerous questions remain. How is Israel defining victory and what means does it have to attain its goals? What role with the U.S. play militarily, diplomatically and politically? What does defeat look like for Iran and what does the future hold for its citizens? Wha...

For decades, Iran’s network of proxies—Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and others—formed a formidable "Axis of Resistance," projecting Tehran’s influence across the Middle East. Yet, Israel’s 2025 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities and IRGC leadership, followed by devastating retaliatory campaigns, have left these groups reeling. From Hezbollah’s decimation in Lebanon to Hamas’s weakened grip in...

In a perplexing twist, segments of the LGBTQ+ community have aligned with Islamist terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, despite these Islamist groups’ brutal persecution of individuals from this community. From Pride parades chanting “Queers for Hamas” to slogans like “Gays for Gaza,” some activists champion pro-Palestinian causes while ignoring the impriso...

For many years, the Lebanese Hezbollah organization was widely seen as the most powerful non-state military force in the world. Hezbollah’s ascent from a militia to a dominant political and military force in Lebanon captivated the world. But after entering the war with Israel on October 8, 2023, the organization suffered a series of devastating blows, leaving it severely diminished. The Middle Eas...

The Turkish state is currently engaged in an initiative to address the Kurdish question. This effort, marked by symbolic gestures like the recent handshake between ultranationalist leaders and pro-Kurdish MPs, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s statements announcing the dissolution of his movement, and the PKK Congress confirming this, is unfolding amid shifting domestic and regional dynamics. This pres...

The Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza have exposed a fissure within the “America First” or MAGA movement. A new cadre of anti-Zionist voices, led by figures like Tucker Carlson and amplified on X and TikTok, has emerged, wielding leftist-style tactics—identity politics, cancel culture, conspiratorial antisemitism, and historical revisionism—under the guise of conserv...

In a world facing a resurgence of jihadist ideologies, the concept of dhimmitude—rooted in Sharia law and tied to historical jihad—casts a long shadow over modern societies. From blasphemy laws stifling free speech to the erosion of Judeo-Christian cultural identities, dhimmitude’s mechanisms are increasingly visible in the West. Unexpected alliances between jihadist movements, the anti-Christian...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party has won a decisive victory in elections in Australia. The Middle East looks set to be an issue dividing Australia in the period ahead. Albanese’s Labor Party is vague on the Iran issue, and supports recognizing Palestinian statehood. The (Center-right), opposition Liberal-National Coalition has a firmer stance on Iran, in line with current U.S. policy....

Mental illness in the Islamic world is often perceived differently than in the West. Spiritual healing, jinn possession, and communal stigma shape responses to psychological distress, sometimes sidelining medical intervention. At the same time, untreated mental illness, social isolation, and identity crises can make individuals more vulnerable to radical interpretations of Islam. Contrary to popul...

Bangladesh’s political landscape is unraveling after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime in August 2024, with rising Islamism threatening the nation’s secular fabric. Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, once celebrated as a global icon for microfinance, has faced criticism for enabling extremist parties like Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam, whose growing influence—marked by attacks on Hindus, Ahmadi...

Islamism today casts a troubling and widening shadow over Canada, sowing division and threatening national cohesion. From university campuses to clandestine gatherings, both homegrown and global Islamist currents are gaining traction. At the University of Quebec in Montreal, a pro-Palestinian group, Solidarité Palestine à l’UQAM, recently screened Gaza Ghetto Uprising, a film glorifying the Octobe...

Islamism casts a growing shadow over the UK. Both foreign and homegrown Islamist currents are fueling tension and challenging national stability. Islamist ideologies have taken deep root, disrupting communities and igniting fierce political debate. Their political influence and impact are advancing at every level of society. Bold action is urgently needed and drastic steps must be taken if disaste...

Prior to October 7, 2023, Iranian-sponsored terrorism and influence in the Middle East was pervasive and insidious, growing ever more dangerous as it inched its way to nuclear weapons and threatened Israeli and U.S. interests in the region. While Iran continues to pose an existential threat to Israel and edges closer to producing nuclear weapons, Israel’s military achievements post-10/7, along wit...