Middle East & North Africa

Host Aroop Mukharji interviews Dr. Tarek Masoud, the Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School, about the shifting political dynamics of the Middle East, the region's potential for democratization, and a triple snack of doughnuts, coffee, and Turkish delight.

The U.S. is "a long way" from taking any "punitive action" against Saudi Arabia over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi any time soon, a former ambassador said Monday.

"For President Trump, it is a difficult balancing act," Nicholas Burns, who served under Republican and Democratic administrations as ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Greece, said on CNBC's "Squawk Alley."

"He doesn't want to end the relationship with Saudi Arabia," he added. "But on the other hand, you have American values to uphold."

Excerpt from a November 14 installment of the “Inside the Middle East" Q&A Series, with Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni Activist and 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, on women's role in Yemen's 2011 Revolution (of which she was a leading voice) and her hopes for the future of Yemen amidst the mixed results of the Arab Spring.

Each semester, the Belfer Center proudly hosts warriors and peacemakers, politicians and polymaths, investors and musicians. Rarely do we welcome all these roles in just one person. But Lamont Lecturer Ehud Barak is nothing if not a singular figure. Israel’s former prime minister has enlivened the Center this fall with a JFK Jr. Forum, classroom teaching, and many briefings with faculty, fellows, and students.

In this installment of “Inside the Middle East: Q&A,” recorded on September 22, 2015, Mahmoud Gebril, Former Prime Minister of Libya, discusses Libya's difficult transition including international intervention and the overthrown of the Qaddafi regime, subsequent elections and reform efforts, and his hopes for future political stability and economic prosperity.

A video recording of a public address from His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Gebril, former Prime Minister of Libya.

On September 22, 2015, HE Dr. Mahmoud Gebril spoke on the current trends shaping the Arab countries with a special focus on Libya and North Africa, and highlighting the most likely scenarios for the future.

In Heretic: Why Islam Needs a Reformation Now, Ayaan Hirsi Ali writes that a religious reformation is the only way to end the terrorism, sectarian warfare, and repression of women and minorities that each year claim thousands of lives throughout the Muslim world. She argues that the violent acts of Islamic extremists cannot be divorced from the religious doctrine that inspires them. Instead, she says, we must confront the fact that they are driven by a political ideology embedded in Islam itself.