CMEC`'s Director Charlotte Leslie interviews Matthias Burchard, the Representative to the EU of the UN Relief & Works Agency (UNRWA), about the critical role played by the Agency in looking after 5.8 million Palestinian refugees.

Mr Burchard explains the vital work of the UNRWA which provides, health, education and social care services across the region for Palestinian refugees, and robustly defends the Agency against what he describes has been a "malicious campaign" that's been conducted against it over the years.

UNRWA has faced many funding challenges, not least when Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew funding from UNRWA in August 2018 - a move since reversed by the Biden White House.

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie chairs the 2022 CMEC Party Conference Event on the impact on the Middle East of Russia's illegal war against Ukraine - with special guests and Middle East experts Lt. Gen. Sir Simon Mayall, Baria Alamuddin, the celebrated author and columnist, and Dr Ziya Meral, Director for Research and Programmes and Head of Strategic Studies at the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research as well as Senior Associate Fellow of Rusi.

Lt General (Ret.d) Sir Simon Mayall KBE CB reflects on his childhood in Yemen and a remarkable military career that was interwoven with the last tumultuous half century of the Middle East and North Africa.

In this podcast interview by CMEC's Director Charlotte Leslie, Sir Simon talks about his time as a Soldier in the Sand, the title of his book, which is very much a personal history but one that explains the history of the Middle East in an eloquent and accessible way.

This is the third in a series of CMEC podcasts on Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy – being done in conjunction with the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies based in Saudi Arabia.

At the heart of Vision 2030 is Neom, the astonishing and carbon neutral city being built along the Red Sea Coast in northern Saudi Arabia. It has been described as the Kingdom's "new oil".

CMEC's Director Charlotte Leslie talks about Neom to

Dr Aisha Al-Sarihi, a research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute, and Dr Rami Alharbi, a senior research specialist at the Ministry of Culture in Saudi Arabia.

In the third of a series of CMEC podcasts on Turkey, CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks Turkey with Dr Ziya Meral, a senior associate fellow at RUSI, as well as being a programmes director specialising in global trends shaping defence and security, politics and foreign policies of Turkey and the Middle East. Since Russia began its attack on Ukraine in late February, Turkey has assumed an even greater significance, thanks to its geography and complex network of global alliances. Recently, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to boycott the NATO applications of Sweden and Finland. So what next for this regional Middle East superpower in these dark times?

This is the 3rd in a series of podcasts on Turkey sponsored by Karkin and Yuksel, a leading Turkish law firm based in the heart of London. To find out more about their practice, visit www.karkinyuksel.co.uk

Chris Doyle has - for 20 years - been the Director of Caabu, the Council for Arab-British Understanding. An Arabist by education and background, Chris is a respected commentator on the Arab World and on the issue of Palestine in particular.

Chris talks to CMEC's Director Charlotte Leslie about the impact of the war in Ukraine on the Middle East and the way Arabs interpret the reaction of the West to the conflict in contrast to the long-running conflicts in the MENA region.

CMEC Director Charlotte Leslie talks to Peter Millett CMG, who was, from 2015, for 3 years, the UK's Ambassador to the troubled and war-torn country of Libya.

Chaos and civil war has wracked Libya since 2011 and the fall and death of the dictator Colonel Mu'ammar Gaddafi. Warring rival governments were established in the East and West and militias have fought for control of the country's resources.

Peter Millett, also Chairman of the Libyan British Business Council, warns of Russia's malign influence in Libya, largely through Wagner Group mercenaries, and says that the UK and the West must help bring stability to this important country so close to Europe.

Prime Minister Theresa May praises CMEC's "vital" work by CMEC

Prime Minister Theresa May congratulates CMEC on its forthcoming 40th anniversary and "its vital work" in the region, and its role in creating a more peaceful and prosperous world"

Almost 19 years after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, CMEC's Charlotte Leslie interviews senior Iraqi official Mr Mohamed al-Daraji about the necessity of maintaining security in Iraq.

Mr Al-Daraji - the President of the country's National Defence Industries Commission, effectively Iraq's arms department - speaks candidly about the current security and political challenges facing Iraq, particularly following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the resurgence of the Islamic State group, also known as Daesh.

Mr Al-Daraji says the UK in particular has an important role in engaging with #Iraq and helping the country maintain security against the many threats against it.