Middle East PolicyCast

Washington Institute scholars David Makovsky and Eric Trager report on recent extended research trips to Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Egypt.

Shaul Mofaz's victory in the Kadima primary election and subsequent decision to bring his party into the governing coalition sent shockwaves through Israel, changing the dynamics of regional politics. To discuss his strategy for security and peace, and ways in which the expanded coalition can promote these goals, The Washington Institute invited Lt. Gen. (res.) Shaul Mofaz, vice prime minister of Israel, minister without portfolio, and leader of the Kadima Party, to address a Policy Forum in Washington on June 19, 2012.

Former DEA operations chief Michael Braun, illicit finance expert David Asher, and Institute counterterrorism expert Matthew Levitt explore Hizballah's growing involvement in global organized crime, stretching from the ports of Asia to the markets of West Africa to the streets of America.

Ambassador Dennis Ross, the Institute's counselor and formerly special assistant to President Obama and senior Iran advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, briefs journalists on a conference call ahead of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's White House meeting with President Barack Obama.

Institute Iran expert and Qom-trained Shiite theologian Mehdi Khalaji joined Carnegie Endowment Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour and Dennis Ross, counselor at the Institute and formerly special assistant to President Obama and senior Iran advisor to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to discuss likely scenarios for Iran's transition to post-Khamenei rule.

Two heroes of the campaign for freedom and human rights in the Middle East -- Natan Sharansky of Israel and Saad Eddin Ibrahim of Egypt -- jointly received the Washington Institute's Scholar-Statesman Award at a benefit dinner in Manhattan on December 5, 2011.