Bipartisan Members of Congress Join Israeli Knesset Members for Virtual Strategy Session on the 3+1 Framework
The People of Iran Want to Choose Their Government, and They Deserve to Be Able to Do So
By Embedding Itself in Somalia’s Hydrocarbons Sector and Security Architecture, Turkey Positions Itself as a Gatekeeper
The Breakdown of Gulf Unity Is Reshaping the Middle East’s Balance of Power
Genoa judge orders Nine Suspects Jailed Before Trial to Prevent Further Crime
International Forces Historically Fail When They Lack Clear Enforcement Authority
Whether Washington Intends to Confront Tehran over the Killings or Demand Guarantees Against Its Repetition Is Unclear
The Kingdom’s Pivot to an Islamist Vision and Its Turn Toward Turkey, Qatar, and Pakistan May Have Been the End Goal All Along
As a Victim of Pakistan-Supported Terrorism and Transnational Islamist Networks, India Has No Reason to Appease the Iranian Regime
Framed as Neutral Governance, Gaza’s New Technocratic Committee Masks Hamas’s Ongoing Military Rule
Erdoğan May Conclude That He Needs to Follow Khamenei’s Lead and Slaughter Tens of Thousands of Dissatisfied Turks
Certain Partnerships Carry Greater Strategic Weight Because of Their Economic, Technological, and Security Significance
A $2.7 Billion Port Deal That Turns Infrastructure Into Armed Power
The West, in Its Universalist Hubris, Imports Incompatible Paradigms, Believing That Liberal Democracy Can Digest Everything, like an Omnivorous Leviathan
Years of State Protection and Legal Impunity Allowed Jihadist Networks to Flourish Inside Turkey
Spotlight on War with Iran
The Iranian Navy and Air Force are effectively non-existent. The new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen since the start of the war. Basij checkpoints are being attacked by drones.
But the Islamic Republic is far from finished. The Strait of Hormuz has seen tankers attacked and oil flow is critical. What is the path to an end that is worth the dangers? MEF fellows and experts weigh in on all of this.
But the Islamic Republic is far from finished. The Strait of Hormuz has seen tankers attacked and oil flow is critical. What is the path to an end that is worth the dangers? MEF fellows and experts weigh in on all of this.
As unrest spreads across Iran, the regime and the opposition both face narrowing choices.
Iran’s Kurdish Armed Groups Remain Too Fragmented, Cautious and Constrained to Shape the War’s Outcome.
Sustained Strikes and the Removal of Senior Islamic Republic Figures Raise Questions About the Regime’s Durability
An Operational Concept for Reopening the Strait of Hormuz Without a Ground Campaign
Classical Strategy and the Path from Air Campaign to Iranian Liberation
Spotlight on the Middle East
The entire region is affected by the conflict with Iran, but there are many other vital issues being covered by MEF. New alliances are growing in the Eastern Mediterranean, Syrian in-fighting cools down and let’s not forget North Africa.
The turmoil makes predictions perilous, but it also presents opportunities for change. Will the conflict with Iran create the conditions for broader peace and prosperity?
The turmoil makes predictions perilous, but it also presents opportunities for change. Will the conflict with Iran create the conditions for broader peace and prosperity?
Cairo’s Regional Security No Longer Depends on Gulf Symbolism but on Eastern Mediterranean Energy Alignment
Behind Official Merger Language, Kobani Still Operates Under Kurdish Security Control
Iran’s Proxy Strategy Has Expanded Beyond the Levant and Now Threatens North Africa’s Strategic Balance
The Sánchez Regime Has Made Hostility to Jerusalem Its Policy and Israel Should Impose Consequences
When Turkish Networks Move Money, Weapons, People and Narcotics Across Borders, They Export Not Only Violence but Also the Institutional Weaknesses and Culture of Impunity
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
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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‘Morag’ Is Intended to Drive a Wedge Between the Rafah and Khan Yunis Brigades of Hamas, and Then to Destroy These Formations -
Gaza’s Powerful but Usually Cowed Clan Leaders Called on Gazans to ‘Launch a Popular Uprising’ and for Hamas to ‘Lift Its Hand from Gaza Immediately’ -
Pressure Mounts on Both Sides—Who Will Yield First in This Endless War? -
The Plan Is a Dangerous Scheme That Threatens Israel’s Security, Strengthens Hamas, and Undermines U.S. Strategic Interests
