News & Announcements

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks to Farah Pandith, senior fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project and adjunct fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, about the evolution of presidential rhetoric on acts of terrorism and the groups that perpetrate them.

Audio recording of a February 2, 2017 MEI Book Talk with Dr. Olivier Roy, Joint Chair Robert Schumann Centre for Advanced Studies, Chair in Mediterranean Studies, European University Institute on his most recent book Jihad and Death: The Global Appeal of the Islamic State.

Behind every security issue — national or international — are cultural, economic and social factors that need to be considered when tackling the problem. In the case of global terrorism, a better understanding and more open dialog about the religion of Islam itself is vital.

Audio recordings from MEI's Spring 2015 Study Group Rethinking the Arab State: the Collapse of Legitimacy in Arab Politics, with Professor Michael C. Hudson.

During the Spring 2015 semester, Prof. Hudson hosted a distinguished group of scholars to re-examine the foundational concepts of legitimacy, the state, civil society, religion, and regional stability in the wake of the Arab Uprisings.

An audio recording from Dr. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Professor of Law, Emory University Law School.

On April 27, 2015 at MEI, Prof. Abdullahi An-Na'im presented his perspective on Sudan’s struggle since Independence from colonial rule in 1956 to reconcile Islam, state and society in the modern context and the teachings of Sudanese Islamic reformer Ustadh Mahmoud Mohamed Taha.

An audio recording from Yezid Sayigh, Senior Associate and Professor, Carnegie Middle East Center, Beirut.

On March 31, 2015 at MEI, Dr. Yezid Sayigh examined the political legacy of Saddam Hussein's regime in ISIS' leadership structure and methods of control in Iraq, Syria and beyond.

An audio recording from Dr. Elizabeth H. Prodromou, Associate Visiting Professor of Conflict Resolution, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.

On March 4, 2015 at MEI, Elizabeth Prodromou presented her research on Turkey's Christian minority and how the use of secularism and Islamism in creating national identity has impacted religious freedoms in Turkey.

An audio recording from His Royal Highness Prince Turki Al Faisal of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, former Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States (2005-2007) and former Director General of Saudi Arabia's General Intelligence Directorate (1977-2001).

On November 18, 2014 Prince Turki spoke on regional instability and forces at work in the region, including power politics, energy markets, violent extremism, and theological divides, in a public address moderated by Kennedy School professor Nicholas Burns.

An audio recording from Prof. Gregory Gause, John H. Lindsey ’44 Chair in International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University.

On November 13, 2014, Professor Gause outlined an incisive new framework for understanding Middle East regional politics, casting regional power dynamics as a "New Cold War", in a talk moderated by Kennedy School Professor Tarek Masoud.

An audio recording from Robert S. Ford, former US Ambassador to Syria (2011-2014) and Algeria (2006-2008). He is currently a resident scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington, D.C. and teaches at Johns Hopkins University on Middle East politics.

On October 29, 2014 at MEI, Ambassador Ford reflected on his 4½ years working for the U.S. Mission in Iraq and 3 years working on Syria, in a talk moderated by Kennedy School professor and former State Department colleague Nicholas Burns.