CMEC Director talks to maritime expert Dr Ian Ralby about the critical but largely overlooked role played by the sea in all of our lives and in the conflicts in the Middle East - the strategy behind the Houthis strikes on tankers in the Red Sea, how they have jeopardised Egypt's frail economy and the trade routes on which we all rely; how Russia's frantic search for a warn sea port after losing its base in Syria has helped fuel the terrible Sudan war.

One year on from the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie reports from the 2025 Doha Forum. She talks to Michael Lawrence OBE, Chief Executive of Asia House; Baria Alamudddin, respected commentator and journalist; Nicholas Hopton, Director General of The Middle East Association and former UK ambassador to Qatar, Iran, Libya and Yemen, and to Alicia Kearns, shadow Home Affairs minister and former Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie reports on Middle East current affairs from the 2025 Manama Dialogue and talks to Iain Lindsay OBE, former UK ambassador to Bahrain and now advisor to the country's prime minister Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa; Shayan Talabani, geopolitics analyst with the Tony Blair Institute; and Ibrahim Hamidi, Editor-in-Chief of Al Majalla magazine.

CMEC Chairman The Rt Hon. Kit Malthouse MP chairs a panel of distinguished experts examining the future of the Levant & its people. The panel comprises Emir Majid Arslan, academic & leading member of the Lebanese Druze community; Prof. Lina Khatib, Associate Fellow of the Chatham House MENA programme; & Lt Gen. Sir Simon Mayall KBE CB, soldier, author & former MENA advisor to the Ministry of Defence.

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie chairs a distinguished panel of experts and asks them how does the UK tackle the chronic under-reach of its soft power in the MENA region. The panel includes Omar Bdour, author and Founder & CEO, London Arabia; Tony Davis, boxing coach for the Bahrain national team; & Nicholas Hopton, Director-General of the Middle East Association and ex-ambassador to 4 MENA countries.

From the UK's media & creative industries to London's global appeal, our ancient education establishments, famous military training schools, and our Royal Family, Britain really is great. No wonder so many in the region ask, "Why doesn't Britain assert itself more?"

"The future of Christianity in a changing Israel" is the subject for the first of 3 CMEC debates at the 2025 Conservative Party Conference. CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie introduces 4 distinguished speakers: Mr Ghanem Nusbeibeh, Chairman, Muslims Against Antisemitism; Maj. Gen. Jonathan Shaw CB CBE - former Assistant Chief of the General Staff; Jamie Eyre, CEO, Embrace the Middle East; & - speaking remotely from her home in occupied East Jerusalem is the Palestinian Christian Mrs Hana Kirreh, consultant, researcher and peace activist .

CMEC Special: The UK joins 149 other countries in recognising the state of Palestine. CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie attends a raising of the flag at the Palestinian Mission to mark this historic event. These edited highlights of the commemoration include excerpts from speeches by His Excellency Dr Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian Ambassador, Hamish Falconer MP, minister for the Middle East and the Rt Hon. Kit Malthouse MP, CMEC's Chairman. There are also interviews with Kit Malthouse MP, the distinguished former diplomat Sir Vincent Fean KCVO, and Chris Doyle, Director of CAABU.

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, former MENA Minister, gives CMEC members a private briefing on the "12-day war" strikes by Israel and the USA, against Iran in June 2025.

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie hosts a discussion between two distinguished MENA experts, the soldier & scholar, Lt. Gen. Sir Simon Mayall, and Lebanese-British academic Professor Nader El-Bizri. The wide-ranging discussion covers #Lebanon and its relations with Syria, extremism, economics and how religion also acts as a key driver of identity. They also discuss the ongolng crisis and tragedy of #Gaza.

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks to Tom Helm, Jerusalem Correspondent for The National Newspaper. Tom reports from his home in The Old City, in Jerusalem, about the current and growing Middle East omni-crisis with Israel attempting to knock out Iran's Uranium enrichment capacity and seemingly non-stop slaughter in Gaza. What happens if the US joins Israel's attack on Iran and what happens to Netanyahu at any eventual conclusion of the conflict?