With less than a week before the midterm elections in the United States, the spotlight is on the economy and cultural divides. US foreign policy remains mostly on the sidelines, but this year’s ...

On March 1, 2026, debris from an intercepted aerial object ignited a fire at a berth in Jebel Ali, the Middle East’s largest container port. Port operator DP World temporarily suspended terminal ...

This individual is a guest contributor. MEI is not able to assist with contact requests. Hunter Stoll is a defense analyst at the RAND Corporation and a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve. He holds an ...

Mehrdad Akhlaghi was appointed defense minister in October 2026 by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. He is an unusual choice, as, unlike most of his predecessors, he does not come from a uniformed ...

One striking thing about US President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this past week is how isolated he was in making this call. The Israeli Prime Minister has ...

Ross Harrison is a senior fellow and book series editor at the Middle East Institute (MEI). He is also a faculty member in the Political Science Department at the University of Pittsburgh, where he ...

Jonathan “Jonny” Gannon retired during the summer of 2025 as a senior executive at CIA. Originally an operative, he has over 26 years of experience navigating national security challenges and building ...

Alex Vatanka is a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute. He specializes in Middle Eastern regional security affairs with a particular focus on Iran. He was formerly a Senior Analyst at Jane’s ...

Join MEI’s Arts and Culture Center for a live performance by pioneering duo Sons of Yusuf, brothers Ya’koob and AbdulRahman, who blend rap with traditional Arabic instruments, poetry, and storytelling ...

Alan Eyre is a Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the Middle East Institute and the founder and president of EyreAnalytics LLC. He retired from the US Foreign Service in September 2023 after a 40-year ...

Karen E. Young is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute (MEI), where she leads the Economics and Energy Initiative. She is also a senior research scholar at the Columbia University Center on ...