Barbarism That Does Not Come from the Desert, but from Our Own Comfortable Living Room
The ‘Lebanese Mud,’ as the Hebrew Phrase Has It, Never Seems Quite to Be Finally Scraped off the IDF’s Boots
Intelligence Agencies Sound Alarm Over ‘Political Islam’ Penetrating Universities
Clearly, Spain Is Drifting Away from the Atlantic Camp and Toward the Moral Vanity of the Anti-Western Left
A Lebanese Sunni Perspective
Organized Crime Syndicates Ranging from Drug Trafficking Networks to Racketeering Groups Have Operate with Near-Total Impunity in Turkey
CAIR’s Seemingly Bulletproof Legal Standing May Soon Crumble
Imams in West Portray Khamenei as Victim, U.S. as Perpetrator
Iranian Operatives in Los Angeles Engage in Activities from Money Laundering to Harassment of Anti-Regime Protesters
Iraq’s Continued Subordination to Iran Is a Direct Threat to Gulf Cooperation Council Security and to U.S. Interests
Iran Is Turning the Continent Into a Lucrative Market and a Potential Forward Assembly Zone for Its Asymmetric Arsenal
It Is Hard to Think of an Image That Could Be More Damaging to Israel on the World Stage Right Now
Hardliners Normally Are the Last Men Standing, and Trump Should Grant Their Wish to Fight to the Death
Some Observers Say Trump’s Extended Ceasefire Reflects a Fragile Stalemate in Which neither Side Wants to Resume War nor Compromise
Military Pressure, Economic Contraction, and Industrial Disruption May Push Iran Toward Significant Concessions
Spotlight on War with Iran
The ceasefire still technically exists but negotiations seem stalled if not dead in the water. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz got its first bump as two US-flagged vessels transited on May 3, 2026. President Trump says more will follow.
But Iran has fired on several other civilian tankers and it does not appear likely the war will end without some reignition of hostilities. The blockade has taken a heavy toll on Iran’s economy. The lack of oil revenue paired with the dwindling storage space for oil they pump seems the most potent leverage for any deal. MEF fellows and experts weigh in on all of this.
But Iran has fired on several other civilian tankers and it does not appear likely the war will end without some reignition of hostilities. The blockade has taken a heavy toll on Iran’s economy. The lack of oil revenue paired with the dwindling storage space for oil they pump seems the most potent leverage for any deal. MEF fellows and experts weigh in on all of this.
As unrest spreads across Iran, the regime and the opposition both face narrowing choices.
The Strait’s Closure Disrupts the Flow of More than 20 Percent of the World’s Oil and Gas Supplies
The Choice Facing the U.S. Is to Intensify and Escalate the Pressure, or to Accept a Face-Saving Deal Likely to Leave the Regime’s Regional Project Intact
Iran’s Energy Weakness Could Become Its Strategic Breaking Point
The Lebanese Government Will Not Risk Pushing Hezbollah Into Using Violence Against It by Trying to Disarm It
Spotlight on Oil and Energy
The kinetic action has mostly stopped but the maneuvering for power, which means energy, in the region has gotten even more heated. The oil and natural gas from the Middle East constitutes 25% of the world’s energy supply.
The UAE has left OPEC and may be in a position to increase that percentage and also ease the current supply shortage. The Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al Mandeb Strait have historically been chokepoints. But pipelines are making threats to those less powerful. These issues and more are getting the attention of Middle East Forum authors.
The UAE has left OPEC and may be in a position to increase that percentage and also ease the current supply shortage. The Strait of Hormuz and the Bab al Mandeb Strait have historically been chokepoints. But pipelines are making threats to those less powerful. These issues and more are getting the attention of Middle East Forum authors.
Bitter About Being Caught off Guard by the U.S. Attack on Iran and the End of Its Mediator Role, Oman Now Chooses Iran’s Side
The Most Significant Implication May Be What It Reveals About the Broader Collapse of the Gulf Hedging Architecture
Iranian Authorities Continue to Project Defiance but the Economy Appears to Have Limited Remaining Resilience
The Pipeline Would Cost Billions of Dollars, Take Years to Build, and Would Cross Multiple Jurisdictions, Not All of Them Reliable
The Decision Sends a Signal That National Priorities Now Outweigh Collective Discipline
Recovery Will Not Be Simply a Return to the Old Model, Now That Gulf States Are Diversifying Their Energy and Economies
Middle East Quarterly - Current Issue
Founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, MEQ is the Middle East Forum’s journal intended for both scholars and the educated public. Policymakers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists write for and read the Quarterly, which is known for exclusive interviews, in-depth historical articles, and book reviews on subjects ranging from archaeology to politics and on countries from Morocco to Iran.
Spring 2026 Volume 33: Number 2
Spring 2026 Volume 33: Number 2
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The Doctrine Would Guarantee Organizational Destruction for any Terror Group That Takes an Israeli Hostage -
Shirin Saeidi Removed as Director of King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies at Univ. of Arkansas -
New Research Initiative Honors Pioneering Scholars Bat Ye’or and David Littman While Addressing Modern-Day Religious Oppression -
Years of Middle East Forum Warnings Validated as Israel’s Parliament Takes Action
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Policymakers May Consider Middle East Islamism in Decline, but They Ignore the Fact That in South Asia and the Far East, Islamism Is in Ascendance -
Radical Islam Has Been Growing in Canada for over a Half Century -
Somaliland Is a Successful Role Model for Democracy and a Free Market Economy in the Horn of Africa -
Jew-Hatred Is Never Just About Jews; It’s the Canary in the Democratic Coal Mine
Middle East Forum Observer
Founded in 2024, the Observer provides rapid analysis on leading Middle East developments, from Marrakech to Mashhad and the Bab el-Mandeb to the Black Sea.
Launched in 2006, Islamist Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum. We work to combat the ideas and institutions of lawful Islamism in the United States and throughout the West. Arguing that “radical Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution,” we seek to expose the Islamist organizations that currently dominate the debate, while identifying and promoting the work of moderate Muslims.
CAMPUS WATCH, a project of the Middle East Forum, reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds.
Gaza
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A Rare Account From a Gaza Faction Opposing Hamas Rule -
International Forces Historically Fail When They Lack Clear Enforcement Authority -
Framed as Neutral Governance, Gaza’s New Technocratic Committee Masks Hamas’s Ongoing Military Rule -
As the Hostage File Closes, Strategic Pressure on Israel Accelerates
Islam
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Sahwa Activists Have Decentralized and Are Strewn Across Universities, Charities and Cyberspace, Making the Movement Difficult to Uproot -
Persian Gulf Countries in the Last Several Decades Have Built Mosques and Cultural Centers to Hold Sway in Europe and America -
This Is What Happens When You Think “the West” Is Just the Direction Where the Sun Sets -
If an Islamic Council Governed the Pilgrimage, Shi’i, Ibadi, and Other Muslim Communities Could Contribute to Ritual, Logistics, and Interpretation
Muslims in the US
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Leader of Islamic Center Behind Project Has Promoted Hostility Toward Jews, Gays -
Some of America’s Most Controversial Extremist Organizations Are Backing Mamdani, Starting with the Islamic Circle of North America -
Dearborn Mayor Tries to Put Critic in His Place With ‘Islamophobia’ Accusation -
