Middle East Forum Podcast

Two Hamas-linked academics at Georgetown University have recently come under fire following explosive revelations of their ties to the terror group. Badar Khan Suri, a fellow at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, was arrested on March 19, 2025, and now faces deportation after a Middle East Forum report exposed his praise of Hamas and his marriage to Mapheze Ah...

The Iran-backed Ansar Allah (Houthis) recently renewed their threat to attack any Israeli ship sailing in the vicinity of Yemen. The organization’s ongoing campaign of aggression in the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden area severely disrupts supply chains and fuels regional instability. The Middle East Forum last week launched the Red Sea Security Initiative (RSSI) to advocate for and support a determined wes...

#USAID has been engaged in recent years in financing Islamic terrorist organizations. A report by the Middle East Forum documents $122 million in taxpayer funds reaching extremist groups. This report has been reviewed and heard by the House DOGE subcommittee and is now under investigation for potential criminal referrals. The findings challenge long held assumptions about oversight and accountabil...

Seth Frantzman’s latest book, "The October 7 War: Israel’s Battle for Security in Gaza" looks into the devastating Hamas attack on Israel, the battles that followed, and the global forces at play. In preparing the book, the author had exclusive access to IDF soldiers and commanders and to military strategists. Mr. Frantzman will in this talk explore how Israel responded to the October 7 attacks, a...

Demographic decline has arrived in the Middle East. This process is challenging long-held assumptions about the region’s resilience to global fertility trends. The Middle East was once thought immune or less susceptible to demographic decline due to cultural and religious norms. Now, countries like Iran and Tunisia are experiencing sub-replacement birth rates. As populations shrink and age, econom...

Islamism may appear to be in decline in the Middle East but it is adapting. Movements that once sought caliphates have shifted their strategies, sometimes, shedding overt ideological commitments in favor of pragmatic governance. The recent transformation of Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria offers a case study of a post-Islamist Islamism where Islamists claim to prioritize state capacity over a rigid...

The Islamist Struggle for Libya with Mark ChoateIslamist groups play a pivotal role in post-Qaddafi Libya and are a central factor in the country’s continued instability. The Muslim Brotherhood, Salafi factions, and jihadist groups compete for influence and power. Some Islamist organizations have integrated into political institutions, while others operate outside the system as armed militias. Wha...

The Kurds in Iran lag behind their co-ethnics in Iraq, Syria, and Türkiye in terms of asserting their rights. The movement for Kurdish autonomy has gained visibility but is limited by fragmentation. The Islamic Republic views Kurdish activism as a national security threat. How should the international community engage with the Kurds of Iran? Would external support bolster their cause or further es...

John Spencer, a leading expert on urban warfare, has made four trips to observe the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, during which he has studied both its efficacy and its morality. Putting the IDF’s conduct in a larger perspective, he asks fundamental questions: How has it fared compared to other Western armies? What are the special circumstances in Gaza? From an ethical point of...

Iran’s political dynamics are shifting rapidly as a range of forces, including economic, religious, and demographic ones, drive a growing rift between the people and their 46-year-old regime. While the U.S. government has never sought the overthrow of the Islamic Republic of Iran, this opportunity raises urgent questions. Should Washington now seek to overthrow the mullahs? How should it approach...

Captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine-style stimulant, has ravaged the Middle East in recent years. The fall of Bashar al-Assad revealed Syria's role as the global epicenter of Captagon production, a $10 billion-a-year drug trade that sustained the Assad regime’s grip on power and fueled its war economy. Production facilities have been uncovered even in air bases. The industrial-level productio...

Contrasting approaches of recent U.S. administrations toward Islamism and the Middle East (think Iran and Hamas) express more than divides in policy; they reveal contrasting mentalities. These might be summarized as confrontation vs. cooption. What shapes opposing philosophical approaches? What are their practical implications? Are there differences over time? Kenneth Abramowitz is the founder and...

The abuse of security clearances as a political weapon within the U.S. national security bureaucracy threatens not just individual careers but the integrity of American defense and diplomacy, both in the Middle East and more broadly. What is the nature of the problem? How are security clearances used to silence dissent and eliminate adversaries? How does this affect U.S. responses to strategic cha...

The Houthis of Yemen, once a minor Iran-backed militia, have emerged since Oct. 7 as a major force within Tehran’s “axis of resistance” due to their drone and missile attacks on ships in the Red Sea, their alliances with al-Shabaab and other jihadis, and their arms deals with Russia. This transformation raises urgent questions: What enabled it? How does the Houthis’ power affect regional dynamics?...

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a Sunni Islamist organization, has taken Damascus, completing its stunning ten-day offensive and overthrowing the Bashar al-Assad regime. This historic moment has many and profound implications. Which key factors made possible the HTS success? What next for Syria? How will this major shift affect Turkey, Iran, Israel, Russia, and the United States? Jonathan Spyer is MEF...

The unexpected capture of Aleppo by Turkish-backed rebel forces has reignited the Syrian civil war after years of stasis. This striking event, due in large part to diminished support from Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, raises many questions: How did the rebels achieve this victory? Can they hold and even expand their holdings? What can the Bashar al-Assad regime do in response? What should the U.S....

Peter Theroux’s memoir, "In Obscura," recalls the author’s journey from journalism and translation, to the CIA and the National Security Council, weaving through Damascus and Hollywood. Drawing parallels between the hidden lives of intelligence officers and stunt actors, he offers an eloquent nuts-and-bolts glimpse into realms where success requires invisibility. What can we learn from lives lived...

The discovery of natural gas off the shores of Israel and Cyprus has transformed the eastern Mediterranean into a critical energy hub. It has also seen unprecedented cooperation (the 3+1 framework of Greece, Cyprus, Israel and the United States, and the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum in particular), which has magnified the region’s role. Great projects, including the Great Sea Interconnector, the...

Lebanon's education system and media present Israelis and Jews as the enemy of Lebanon. The depictions, often extreme in their hostility, shape the perceptions of many Lebanese and also Syrians. Raised in this environment, Rawan Osman accepted the message. Only on moving to Europe and gaining access to new, uncensored information did she question her own biases. In the end, she embraced Israel’s c...

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has pushed a transformative agenda on Saudi Arabia since his father came to power in 2015. His Vision 2030 intends radically to reshape nearly every aspect of the kingdom’s landscape: diversify the economy’s revenue sources, redefine societal norms (notably through women’s rights and greater personal freedoms), and enhance the country’s global standing. To wh...

For twenty-five years, 1948-73, three Arab states dominated the Arab-Israeli conflict: Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. For over fifty years, they have ceded the fight to Palestinians. All these decades later, how do the states recall the distant wars of 1948-49, 1956, 1967, 1970, and 1973? In part, the practices of remembrance reflect the particular interests of the Ministry of Defense that typically ov...

Largely ignored by the media, the civil war in Sudan is perhaps the world’s deadliest conflict, with hostilities relentlessly escalating over the past year between the Sudanese Army and the “Rapid Reaction Forces.” Eighteen million people, or over one-third of the country’s population, are estimated to experience severe levels of acute food insecurity. What are the origins of this conflict? What a...