On the Middle East with Amberin Zaman

Murat Mercan, Turkey’s Ambassador to the United States, discusses the prospects for enhanced US-Turkish cooperation during the Biden Administration; his country’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system; Turkey’s position on Syria, the Kurds, Ukraine, Greece, Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean; and more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy...

Nureldin Satti, Sudan’s Ambassador to the United States, says that the ‘stumbling block’ in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) negotiations so far has been Ethiopia’s unwillingness to engage in talks leading to a binding agreement; that, with an agreement, the GERD can be a symbol of integration rather than a cause of conflict; that Sudan does not occupy Ethiopian territory; that US-S...

Raziye Akkoc, a British-Turkish journalist based in Ankara who reports for Agence France Presse and co-edits a highly regarded weekly newsletter Turkey Recap, speaks to Amberin Zaman about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unchallenged grip on politics. For all his recent setbacks — most notably a weakening economy — he is, she says, "still the guy." Early elections are a possibility a...

Afshin Molavi, senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins University SAIS Foreign Policy Institute and founder of  Emerging World newsletter , discusses why we shouldn’t oversell the Iran-China agreement; the prospects for employment and growth in the MENA region following the coronavirus pandemic; the post-covid prospects for Dubai and Egypt; China’s role in the region; the ‘disruptio...

Renad Mansour, senior research fellow and project director of the Iraq Initiative at Chatham House, discusses the origins, impacts and trends in Iraq’s protest movements; the influence and role of the US and Iran in Iraqi politics and security; the normalization of Iraq’s foreign policy; how network analysis informs our understanding of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units; and the challeng...

Sherri Kraham Talabany, the president and executive director of the Iraqi Kurdistan-based SEED Foundation NGO, speaks to Amberin Zaman this week about the enormous challenges facing Iraq as the country grapples with the human toll of the havoc and brutality wreaked by the Islamic State. Few have suffered as much as the country's Yazidi community, with thousands of its women abducted, raped and ens...

Dr. Denise Natali, former Assistant Secretary of State for Conflict and Stabilization Operations and Director of the Center for Strategic Research at the National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, discusses the impact of the bipartisan Global Fragility Act on US policy; the challenges of re-integration of non-state armed individuals and groups in the Middle East;...

Dalia Dassa Kaye, RAND senior political scientist and Wilson Center Fellow; Linda Robinson, Director of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy; and Jeffrey Martini, RAND Senior Middle East researcher, discuss their recent RAND report, ‘Reimaging US strategy in the Middle East, including a new approach to assess US partnerships in the region; how Iran can be ‘right sized’ in US str...

Sam Blatteis, CEO of The MENA Catalysts, explains the continued potential and vitality of the digital economy and high tech sectors in the Gulf, post-COVID; the Gulf’s commitment to the knowledge economy, and how it has become a differentiator in a fragmenting Arab world; why the US is still the partner of choice for Gulf governments, but why and how the US-China competition for inf...

Mohsen Milani, professor of politics at the University of South Florida and a leading scholar of Iranian politics, discusses why Iran is ready to talk with the US, and reenter the Iran nuclear deal, but only from a position of strength; why Iran is in a stronger regional position today than it was 30 years ago; what to expect in Iranian politics and the presidential election; who wi...

Motaz Zahran, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States, discusses why US and international mediation is required to break the stalemate in Renaissance Dam talks; why the US-Egyptian relationship ‘transcends local politics’; Turkey’s ‘destructive role’ in Libya; the Egyptian economy’s resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic; Egypt’s role in Libya and in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts; and more. S...

Hebah Fisher, Co-Founder and CEO of Kerning Cultures Network, discusses trends in media consumption in the Middle East, the power of sound and storytelling, and why young people in the region are turning to podcasts instead of radio. Also: Andrew’s take on why the Biden Administration is well-placed to help the break the deadlock in the Nile Dam talks. See Privacy Policy at https://art19...

Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian scholar and a fellow at the Center for Global Policy who has followed the Syrian conflict from the ground since the beginning, talks with Amberin about how over the past decade a peaceful civilian uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad degenerated into a seemingly endless series of conflicts within conflicts. The country is...

Al-Monitor Senior Correspondent Amberin Zaman discusses why US-Turkey relations are unlikely to get better; the Kurdish question in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria; why an Israel-Turkey rapprochement is not imminent; and her new role as the other host of ‘on the Middle East….also Andrew’s take on Hamas and Egypt’s vital role in regional peace efforts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Ca...

Leila Hamadeh, Co-founder and CEO of Finyal Media, explains how Arab youth are seeking new media outlets and platforms for expression and connection, and to bridge the gap between traditional and modern culture. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Mick Mulroy -- former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, retired CIA officer and co-founder of the Lobo Institute—discusses why the US needs to stay engaged in the Middle East, including militarily, to prevent ISIS 2.0; the prospects for the US-Saudi partnership and the future of Yemen; and whether and how US partners could endorse a new Iran deal. Also: &nbs...

Elizabeth Hagedorn, Adam Lucente, and Jared Szuba discuss what the Biden Administration can expect, and what we might expect from the Biden Administration and the next Congress, in dealing with the Middle East, including policies toward Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, human rights, the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at h...

Al-Monitor columnist and media activist Daoud Kuttab breaks down the present and future of Palestinian politics, assesses the impact of Israel’s normalization agreements and the prospects for a renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace track, and explains why he is optimistic, and relieved, about a Joe Biden Administration…as well as Andrew Parasiliti’s comment on the signals from Tehran on...

Ms. Micky Aharonson, senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, and a former senior director on Israel’s National security council, discusses why she is upbeat about US-Israel relations under a Biden Administration; Russian President Vladimir Putin’s role in the region; why Israel would prefer an Arab strategy to try to break Assad’s ties to Iran ; and the pr...

Dr. Karen Young, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, discusses why the Biden Administration needs early and clear communication regarding US policy toward Saudi Arabia and Iran; prospects for healing the rift within the GCC; the potential and constraints of economic normalization between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain; the prospects for Egyptian and GCC economies post-COVID; and...

Dr. Philip Gordon, Mary and David Boies Senior Fellow in US Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, former White House Coordinator for the Middle East, and author of  Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East,  discusses the lessons learned, and not learned, from US regime change efforts in the region; trends in US policies toward Iran,...

Bijan Khajehpour, Managing Partner of Eurasian Nexus Partners and an Al-Monitor columnist, discusses the options for US-Iran diplomacy and the Iran nuclear deal under a Biden Administration; the candidates and issues shaping Iran’s presidential elections next year; the prospects for Iran’s economy; how Iran’s relations with Russia and China are linked to its ties with Europe and the US; Iran’...

HE Sheikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United States, discusses the depth and endurance of the US-Bahrain security relationship; how normalization offers hope for both economic prosperity and progress toward a two state solution; the challenge and threat from Iran, and why Bahrain supports ‘all multilateral frameworks’ dealing with nonproliferation; and Bahrain’s...

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, former National Security Adviser and the Fouad and Michelle Ajami Senior Fellow at Stanford University’s  Hoover Institution , discusses his new book,  Battlegrounds:   Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World;  why the US should not return to the Iran deal, a ‘political disaster masquerading as a diplomatic triumph’; how Saudi Ar...