Few countries from the Middle East or North Africa were invited to participate in the Biden administration's December Summit for Democracy, a telling reflection of regional politics a decade after the Arab Spring. Tunisia—once considered the only successful Arab democracy—recently suffered significant backsliding on that front, while Sudan's attempted coup has raised doubts about its political transition. Meanwhile, a "new normal" of protests has settled in as citizens continue demanding improvements in healthcare, housing, jobs, freedom of expression, and more. Given such realities, where are countries like Tunisia and Sudan headed, and how should the administration shape its broader regional approach to democracy, human rights, and reform? Listen to an expert conversation with the Tunisian political analyst Chiraz Arbi, the Sudanese scholar Yasir Zaidan, former U.S. diplomat Alberto Fernandez, and former Institute scholar Sarah Feuer. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Watch full video of this conversation: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/popular-protest-democratic-prospects-and-us-policy-dilemmas-middle-east

Marking the release of Anna Borshchevskaya's groundbreaking new book on Russia's Putin-era Middle East Policy, the Institute senior fellow held a lively conversation with a leading scholar of the Russian military and a former U.S. ambassador to Moscow. In this episode, we present their in-depth conversation on the full extent of Russian activity in the Middle East, how Moscow sees its interests and calculates costs and benefits, and the implications for U.S. policy. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Watch full video of this conversation: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/future-putins-war-syria Read Anna Borshchevskaya's new book, "Putin's War in Syria": https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/putins-war-syria-russian-foreign-policy-and-price-americas-absence

Twenty years after the deadly terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, how has the global terrorist threat, and American strategy against it, evolved? And what lessons can we learn from the successes and failures of U.S. counterterrorism policy as we enter the third decade since 9/11? Two of the country's leading scholars of terrorist groups and counterterrorism assess twenty years of U.S. counterterrorism policy and the current state of the global terror threat. Matthew Levitt is the Fromer-Wexler Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of its Jeanette and Eli Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Aaron Y. Zelin is the Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Read Matt's presidential transition memo, Rethinking U.S. Efforts on Counterterrorism: Toward a Sustainable Plan Two Decades After 9/11: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/rethinking-us-efforts-counterterrorism-toward-sustainable-plan-two-decades-after Read Aaron's monograph, Your Sons Are at Your Service: Tunisia’s Missionaries of Jihad: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/your-sons-are-your-service-tunisias-missionaries-jihad; and his presidential transition memo, Syria at the Center of Power Competition and Counterterrorism: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/syria-center-power-competition-and-counterterrorism Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

How will America’s choice to withdraw military forces from Afghanistan, and the manner of our withdrawal over the course of the last two presidential administrations, affect America’s standing in the wider Middle East? How will our partners and adversaries on the ground in the Middle East’s hot spots view American commitment and credibility in light of the rapid fall of Kabul? And how will Russia’s increasingly assertive Middle East policy adjust in light of these events in nearby Afghanistan? Three Washington Institute scholars - Anna Borshchevskaya, Bilal Wahab, and Kathryn Wheelbarger - share their insights into how America's allies, partners, and adversaries will respond to the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the rapid collapse of the previously U.S.-backed Afghan government in Kabul. Read Bilal Wahab's study, " Promoting Sovereignty and Accountability in Iraq: Guidelines for the Biden Administration," here: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/promoting-sovereignty-and-accountability-iraq-guidelines-biden-administration Read Anna Borshchevskaya's article, "Russia’s Questionable Counterterrorism Record: Why Moscow Is an Unreliable Partner for the West" here: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/syria/2017-11-23/russias-questionable-counterterrorism-record; her article, "Afghanistan's Women Face a Dangerous and Uncertain Future," here: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/afghanistans-women-face-a-dangerous-and-uncertain-future; and her 2014 book, "Putin's War in Syria: Russian Foreign Policy and the Price of America's Absence," here: https://www.amazon.com/Putins-War-Syria-Russian-Americas/dp/0755634632 Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

To promote stability and other U.S. interests, Washington must reshape its approach to the increasingly complex staging ground for global competition that is the emerging Red Sea region. In the latest Middle East PolicyCast, Institute scholar Elana DeLozier expands on the economic and strategic risks and rewards facing the United States, and our Russian and Chinese adversaries, in this populous and increasingly prosperous region. To read Elana's recent presidential transition memo, " The Case for a Holistic U.S. Policy Toward the Emerging Red Sea Region ," go tohttps://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/case-holistic-us-policy-toward-emerging-red-sea-region Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Two experts on security and political issues in the Middle East, Grant Rumley and Neri Zilber, share insights into the causes and outcomes of the May 2021 Hamas-Israel conflict in Gaza - and they offer policy advice for American, Israeli, and Palestinian leaders who seek to prevent the recurrence of such violence. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

How can the Biden administration build a mature, balanced relationship with Saudi Arabia? Institute executive director Robert Satloff, coauthor of a new study on the opportunities and challenges facing the Washington-Riyadh relationship, outlines that can secure American interests and help cement positive developments in the kingdom. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In a new paper from Amb. Dennis Ross, he argues that Iran, its nuclear program, and its threats to regional security will pose some of the toughest challenges for the incoming Biden administration. In this episode, we speak to Amb. Ross about how Biden can maximize U.S. leverage in order to compel the Iranian regime to change its destabilizing behavior. His Transition Series paper, “The Coming Iran Nuclear Talks: Openings and Obstacles”, is available now at https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/coming-iran-nuclear-talks-openings-and-obstacles. Ambassador Dennis Ross is the Counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He has served as a lead negotiator and diplomat in Democratic and Republican administrations, most recently as a special assistant to President Obama. He has also worked closely with Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher and James Baker. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Israel has a couple of new friends in the Persian Gulf. On September 16, representatives from Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the Kingdom of Bahrain met at the White House, signing peace treaties that agree to fully normalize relations with the State of Israel. On this episode of Middle East PolicyCast, we've enlisted the help of three experts in order to understand where these deals came from, why American-made F-35 fighter jets are of such heated debate, and what these deals mean for the Middle East. Former U.S. Ambassador to the UAE Barbara A. Leaf, journalist Neri Zilber, and former Senate Foreign Relations Committee Senior Staff Member Dana Stroul lead us through the complexities of this latest stride in Israeli-Arab peacemaking. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Lebanese Hezbollah has been well-known to Americans as a deadly terrorist group for nearly forty years, but there has never been an accessible, all-in-one record of Hezbollah’s global terrorist and criminal activity. Until now. Hezbollah expert Matthew Levitt this month unveiled a comprehensive new interactive map and timeline that illuminates the full range of Hezbollah’s activities, from travel routes and aliases to larger themes related to the group’s founding, development, and relationships with state sponsors. (https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/hezbollahinteractivemap/) In this episode of MIddle East PolicyCast, Matt offers a guided tour through this ambitious new interactive tool and shares the important lessons it can teach about Hezbollah's nature, its methods, and its objectives. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

What factors will shape Israel's decisionmaking, and how would unilateral annexation affect its relations with the Palestinians, Arab neighbors, Europe, and U.S. legislators? In this week's Middle East PolicyCast, we share a conversation between former U.S. peace process advisors David Makovsky and Ambassador Dennis Ross, former Palestinian peace process advisor Ghaith al-Omari, and former Senate Foreign Relations staff member Dana Stroul on the scenarios and implications of potential Israeli annexation of West Bank territory. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Military analyst Michael Eisenstadt details how the Islamic Republic of Iran operates in the gray zone between war and peace to manage escalation, leverages asymmetries to achieve disproportionate effects, and employs its hybrid force structure for maximum effect. The current U.S. approach, he explains, is based on overt action, blunt force, and emphatic messaging, all of which entail a heightened potential for escalation. But an alternative approach—one focused on unacknowledged activities, indirection, subtlety, and discreet messaging—could more effectively deter Iran while reducing the risk of further escalation and broader conflict. Michael Eisenstadt is Kahn Fellow and director of the Military and Security Studies Program at The Washington Institute. He is the author of the recently published study, Operating in the Gray Zone: Countering Iran's Asymmetric Way of War. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/operating-in-the-gray-zone-countering-irans-asymmetric-way-of-war View a presentation on countering Iran's gray zone activities prepared by Michael Eisenstadt: https://www.slideshare.net/TWIPubs/operating-in-the-gray-zone-countering-irans-asymmetric-way-of-war Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

In the last decade, Tunisia has been seen as both a democratic bright spot of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and a major source of manpower for the Islamic State and other violent jihadist movements. How did this country of 12 million, with little history of domestic terrorism before 2011, come to play such a crucial role in filling the ranks of violent Islamist groups worldwide? Jihadism scholar Aaron Y. Zelin, author of the 2020 book "Your Sons Are at Your Service: Tunisia's Missionaries of Jihad," explains Tunisia’s little-known role in powering the Islamic State’s rise in Iraq and Syria, the “original sin” of the 2011 revolution that helped unleash Tunisian jihadism, and the lessons that the United States and other countries should learn from Tunisia’s experience. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

For two decades, rumors have swirled around the royal succession from Jordan’s King Hussein to his son, King Abdullah II. Hussein reinstated Abdullah as crown prince just days before Hussein died, a move that struck many at the time as sudden, controversial, even capricious. But in a private conversation years earlier, King Hussein told Robert Satloff in confidence of his plans to return Abdullah to the line of succession, and the deeply personal reasons why. Long sworn to secrecy, Satloff can now tell the story of how a royal father’s heartache changed the course of a kingdom. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The head of the UN team charged with monitoring each group assesses their prospects for bouncing back and recommends further steps that governments can take to counter them. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Listen to an exclusive press briefing on the Trump administration's newly announced peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Four expert, including former Palestinian and American peace negotiators and a veteran congressional foreign policy analyst, share their views of the ramifications of the peace plan for the Middle East and for domestic politics in Israel, the United States, and the Palestinian Authority. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Since 2016, statements from Riyadh have suggested that Saudi Arabia might be on the verge of reorienting its decades-long promotion of Salafism around the world. In a new Institute study titled "Course Correction: The Muslim World League, Saudi Arabia's Export of Islam, and Opportunities for Washington," Arab politics scholar Dr. Sarah Feuer investigated Saudi reform efforts and their potentially profound global ripple effects. In this interview, Sarah shares the origins of Saudi religious export, profiles the personalities behind the current reform program, and offers policy advice for how Washington can help promote Saudi reform efforts. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The FBI’s top intelligence official shares his insights into how authorities and agencies are collaborating to keep the United States safe amid a shifting threat landscape. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"Decision Points" is a new Washington Institute podcast that provides fresh insights into critical moments in the U.S.-Israel relationship from prominent historians and policymakers. The series is hosted by Ziegler Distinguished Fellow David Makovsky, a renowned expert on U.S.-Israel relations, including territorial solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Decision Points" is a new Washington Institute podcast that provides fresh insights into critical moments in the U.S.-Israel relationship from prominent historians and policymakers. The series is hosted by Ziegler Distinguished Fellow David Makovsky, a renowned expert on U.S.-Israel relations, including territorial solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Each episode highlights an important event in the 70-year history between Israel and the U.S., from President Truman's recognition of the State of Israel, to the internal U.S. government deliberations over Israel's wars, to Washington's involvement in the Israel-Palestinian peace process. David Makovsky will be joined by a distinguished figure who has been intimately involved in Middle East affairs as a policymaker, journalist, or political leader. Guests include Michael Oren, the former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.; Natan Sharansky, a human rights activist and former Israeli government minister; and William Quandt, one of the U.S. negotiators of the Camp David Accords and a leading diplomatic historian. The podcast is both a history lesson, a biography of the key Israelis and Americans that shaped the modern bond between the two nations, and a quest to understand how these decision points continue to reverberate today.