News & Announcements

David Saperstein, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Religious Freedom, spoke on Monday, November 14^th at the Harvard Kennedy School on “U.S. Efforts to Promote Religious Freedom Abroad.” In a wide-ranging discussion moderated by Future of Diplomacy Project Executive Director Cathryn Clüver, the diplomat and rabbi explained the importance of religion and human rights as part of an integrated approach to foreign policy.

The election of Donald Trump has fueled an intense struggle within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over the future disposition of the West Bank that Israel has occupied for nearly fifty years.

Audio recording of a November 21, 2016 MEI Book Talk with Nader Hashemi, University of Denver; Danny Postel, Northwestern University; and Paulo Gabriel Hilu Pinto, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil, on their new book Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East.

Aisha S. Ahmad's "The Security Bazaar: Business Interests and Islamist Power in Civil War Somalia," International Security, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Winter 2014/15), pp. 89–117, has received the Best Security Article Award given by the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) of the International Studies Association. This is the first year that ISSS has given a Best Security Article Award, so Aisha Ahmad is the inaugural winner.

The Right Honourable Douglas Alexander offered his views on European security in a discussion moderated by FDP Executive Director Cathryn Cluver.

Putin and his government seek respect, stability from next U.S. administration, panel says.

An interview by Kourosh Ziabari of Iran Review with Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center's Middle East Initiative, about ISIS being the product of decades of economic stagnation, mismanagement, lack of educational opportunities and absence of democratic representation in the Arab world countries.

A French-led initiative kicked off on June 3 aimed at prodding Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table for the first time in two years. Absent from the meeting were senior Israeli and Palestinian officials, and domestic constraints mean neither side is inclined to negotiate seriously right now.

A collection of resources from the Middle East Initiative's events during March 2016, marking the fifth anniversary of the start of Syria's uprising, focusing on the international political and humanitarian response to the ongoing Syrian civil war and refugee crisis.

An audio recording of a book talk by Ibrahim Fraihat, Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution Doha Center and Affiliate Scholar, Georgetown University in Qatar, on his most recent book Unfinished Revolutions from Yale University Press.