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The Washington Institute

Middle East PolicyCast

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

Democratic Backsliding with Chiraz Arbi, Yasir Zaidan, Alberto Fernandez, and Sarah Feuer

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

Russia in the Middle East with Anna Borshchevskaya, Lester Grau, and Michael McFaul

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.

Counterterrorism Twenty Years after 9/11

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.

Afghanistan Fallout with Anna Borshchevskaya, Bilal Wahab, and Kathryn Wheelbarger

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.

Military & Political Assessment of the Gaza Conflict with Grant Rumley & Neri Zilber

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.

U.S.-Saudi Relations in the Biden Administration with Robert Satloff

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.

The Biden Administration and Iran with Dennis Ross

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.

New Israeli-Arab Peacemaking with Amb. Barbara Leaf, Dana Stroul & Neri Zilber

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.

Mapping Hezbollah with Matthew Levitt

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.

Tunisia's Missionaries of Jihad with Aaron Zelin

In early August, the Trump administration issued sanctions against Turkey for its continued detention of American pastor Andrew Brunson. Ties between the two governments have been under strain for years, but the latest incident has seemingly touched off the most severe crisis in recent memory. What are the future prospects and pitfalls for U.S.-Turkish relations? Listen to analysis from an expert panel as they debate how to salvage the bilateral relationship - and even whether the alliance is worth saving at all. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The U.S.-Turkish Crisis with Amanda Sloat, Max Hoffman, and Steven A. Cook

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