Near East PolicyCast

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.

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.

What factors will shape Israel's decisionmaking, and how would unilateral annexation affect its relations with the Palestinians, Arab neighbors, Europe, and U.S. legislators? In this week's Middle East PolicyCast, we share a conversation between former U.S. peace process advisors David Makovsky and Ambassador Dennis Ross, former Palestinian peace process advisor Ghaith al-Omari, and former Senate Foreign Relations staff member Dana Stroul on the scenarios and implications of potential Israeli annexation of West Bank territory.

Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Military analyst Michael Eisenstadt details how the Islamic Republic of Iran operates in the gray zone between war and peace to manage escalation, leverages asymmetries to achieve disproportionate effects, and employs its hybrid force structure for maximum effect. The current U.S. approach, he explains, is based on overt action, blunt force, and emphatic messaging, all of which entail a heightened potential for escalation. But an alternative approach—one focused on unacknowledged activities, indirection, subtlety, and discreet messaging—could more effectively deter Iran while reducing the risk of further escalation and broader conflict.

Michael Eisenstadt is Kahn Fellow and director of the Military and Security Studies Program at The Washington Institute. He is the author of the recently published study, Operating in the Gray Zone: Countering Iran's Asymmetric Way of War. https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/operating-in-the-gray-zone-countering-irans-asymmetric-way-of-war

View a presentation on countering Iran's gray zone activities prepared by Michael Eisenstadt: https://www.slideshare.net/TWIPubs/operating-in-the-gray-zone-countering-irans-asymmetric-way-of-war

Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

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.

For two decades, rumors have swirled around the royal succession from Jordan’s King Hussein to his son, King Abdullah II. Hussein reinstated Abdullah as crown prince just days before Hussein died, a move that struck many at the time as sudden, controversial, even capricious.

But in a private conversation years earlier, King Hussein told Robert Satloff in confidence of his plans to return Abdullah to the line of succession, and the deeply personal reasons why. Long sworn to secrecy, Satloff can now tell the story of how a royal father’s heartache changed the course of a kingdom.

Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The head of the UN team charged with monitoring each group assesses their prospects for bouncing back and recommends further steps that governments can take to counter them.

Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Listen to an exclusive press briefing on the Trump administration's newly announced peace plan for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Four expert, including former Palestinian and American peace negotiators and a veteran congressional foreign policy analyst, share their views of the ramifications of the peace plan for the Middle East and for domestic politics in Israel, the United States, and the Palestinian Authority.

Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Since 2016, statements from Riyadh have suggested that Saudi Arabia might be on the verge of reorienting its decades-long promotion of Salafism around the world. In a new Institute study titled "Course Correction: The Muslim World League, Saudi Arabia's Export of Islam, and Opportunities for Washington," Arab politics scholar Dr. Sarah Feuer investigated Saudi reform efforts and their potentially profound global ripple effects. In this interview, Sarah shares the origins of Saudi religious export, profiles the personalities behind the current reform program, and offers policy advice for how Washington can help promote Saudi reform efforts.

Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The FBI’s top intelligence official shares his insights into how authorities and agencies are collaborating to keep the United States safe amid a shifting threat landscape. Middle East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.