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Middle East Program
The Middle East program provides cutting-edge analysis of the region’s emerging political, economic, and social trends, offering insights about the sources of its current instability, where it might be headed, and the United States’ role in the Middle East.
Morocco has one of the world’s largest solar power plants, Ouarzazate Solar Power Station (OSPS), also called Noor Power Station
Featured
A spate of attacks involving loyalists to former ruler President Bashar al-Assad has spurred concerns of a return to sectarian warfare in Syria, but there is still a path for the country’s new rulers to find stability.
A strategically weakened Iran has sent signals it would be willing to discuss the militarization of its nuclear program with the United States, but any diplomatic breakthroughs are highly unlikely.
The United States appears intent on keeping its counterterrorism alliance with the Kurds in post-Assad Syria despite the strains it is causing with ally Turkey.
CFR experts discuss the latest news out of Syria, including what the fall of Bashar al-Assad means for the future of the country and the wider region.
A clear-headed vision for the United States' role in the Middle East that highlights the changing nature of U.S. national interests and the challenges of grand strategizing at a time of profound change in the international order.
Turkey opposes the Assad regime, but the fall of the government could disrupt Ankara’s aims to reverse refugee flows and defeat Kurdish forces in Syria’s north.
Ray Takeyh, the Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how Trump’s victory is being viewed in Iran and whether a return to “maximum pressure” will force Tehran to agree to limit its nuclear program. This episode is the eighth in a special TPI series on the U.S. 2025 presidential transition and is supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Panelists discuss the Trump administration’s role in the Israel-Hamas peace negotiations, U.S. relations with other Middle East countries, and the administration’s priorities regarding U.S. involvement and stability in the region.
This meeting is part of CFR’s Transition 2025 series, which examines the major foreign policy issues confronting the Trump administration.
Please note there is no virtual component to the meeting. The audio, video, and transcript of the discussion portion of this event will be posted on the CFR website.
Program Experts
Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and Director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars
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CFR experts discuss the implications of the death of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, new International Criminal Court charges against Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leadership, and other updates from …
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CFR experts discuss Iran’s attack on Israel and the escalation of the conflict. FROMAN: Well, thanks very much. Thanks, everybody, for joining. And thank you to our six senior fellows here who’ve …
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CFR experts Steven A. Cook and David J. Scheffer join Amnesty International’s Agnes Callamard and Refugee International’s Jeremy Konyndyk to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
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In a collaboration between CFR and Open to Debate, panelists debate the threat of Iran to global security. Did Biden’s diplomacy fail? Can Israel live with a nuclear Iran? Does Iran pose a challenge to the global order? Open to Debate is the nation’s only nonpartisan, debate-driven media organization dedicated to bringing multiple viewpoints together for a constructive, balanced, respectful exchange of ideas. Open to Debate is a platform for intellectually curious and open-minded people to engage with others holding opposing views on complex issues.
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Panelists discuss the regional escalation of the Israel-Hamas war, developments in flashpoints including in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, attacks on U.S. forces and the consequences for U.S. strategy in the Middle East.
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Following the drone strike on a U.S. base in Jordan, panelists discuss the possibility of a U.S. military response as well as the implications of conflict spreading in the region. BRANNEN: Thanks…
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Panelists discuss Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, American and British responses, and prospects for regional escalation. ELDER: Thank you. Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us for this media brief…
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Panelists discuss Israel’s incursion into Southern Gaza, military tactics thus far, and potential exit strategies for the Israeli army.