About
The Middle East Forum Observer

The Middle East Forum Observer was founded in 2024 and provides rapid analysis on leading Middle East developments, from Marrakech to Mashhad and the Bab el-Mandeb to the Black Sea.

More than just an outlet for opinion and opeds, the Observer explores topics in greater depth than American newspapers or opinion essays, often drawing upon primary language research or technical expertise on topics like shipping, aircraft leasing, or counter-terrorism finance. Policymakers and intelligence analysts not only in the United States and Europe, but also across the Middle East regularly read Observer articles. Newspapers and policy journals from Israel to Iran excerpt and debate the Observer’s takes.

As with the Middle East Quarterly, Middle East Forum Observer is open access. All content is available without charge. The Middle East Forum Observer allows reposts of its articles as an integral whole with a citation that includes author, date, title, publication and original URL.

More from MEF
A view of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland.
Middle East Forum Observer
As Turkey’s Hostility Grows, Should Somaliland Keep Turkey Consulate Open?
Some Fear the Consulate Is an Intelligence Hub from Which Turkish Agents Aid Adversaries and Undermine Somaliland’s Cohesion
October 1, 2026
 · 
Siyad Madey
Boston Public Schools hired True-See Allah after he lost his job in the Suffolk County DA’s office over praise for Louis Farrakhan and remarks about a “Jewish guy that’s got short arms and deep pockets.”
Middle East Forum Online
Boston Public Schools Employs Farrakhan Supporter Who Lost Job with District Attorney
True-See Allah Praised Nation of Islam Leader as ‘Illustrious Leader, Teacher and Guide’
September 30, 2026
 · 
Dexter Van Zile
Italy has approved a decree-law banning face coverings in schools, which has incited an angry response from Islamist leaders in Italy and the United States.
FWI News
Meloni Government’s Sweeping Ban on Burqas and Niqabs from Schools Provokes Islamists
Italian Islamist Says Policy Is ‘White Supremacist’
September 30, 2026
 · 
Jules Gomes
Counterterrorism experts suspect that Salim El Koudri’s May 16, 2026, car-ramming in Modena, Italy was a deliberate Islamist terrorist attack, pointing to the driver’s planning, choice of location and time, and other data points uncovered in the investigation.
FWI News
Jihadi Car Attacker Filmed Four Terror Videos 48 Hours Before Deadly Strike
Italians Furious Over €6,500 Given to Moroccan Terrorist as University Scholarship
September 30, 2026
 · 
Jules Gomes
Mourners in the streets of Tehran for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's funeral.
Middle East Forum Observer
Iran Seeks Revenge for Killing of Khamenei
Avenging the Supreme Leader’s Death in the War Is State Policy, and Iranian Media and Officials Reflect It
September 30, 2026
 · 
Shay Khatiri
MEF in the Media
Jim Hanson on Middle East Issues
September 29, 2026
Outside the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Middle East Forum Observer
A Two-State Solution in Yemen Is a Practical Exit, Not an Ideological One
The U.N. Cannot Impose Trust, and Saudi Arabia Cannot Continue to Impose Its Trusteeship over South Yemen
September 29, 2026
 · 
Khaled Alyemany
The India-Pakistan Attari-Wagah border ceremony, a daily military drill held just before sunset.
Middle East Forum Observer
Are the Gulf Arab States Hedging Their Bets Between India and Pakistan?
The Gulf Arab States Increasingly Seek Relationships Based on Specific Capabilities, Rather than Exclusive Alignment
September 29, 2026
 · 
Radhika Lakshminarayanan
At the same time, there were surprising omissions from Netanyahu's address, omissions that reinforce the sense that Israel does not have a clear and viable plan right now for countering the central threat to its national security: Iran’s nuclear weapons program, its ballistic missiles, and its rapacious, tenacious regime.
Middle East Forum Online
What Netanyahu Didn’t Say at the U.N. Was as Telling as What He Did
The Prime Minister Didn’t Present Promised New Iran Intel or Issue Additional Threats Against the Regime, or Talk About Saudi Peace
September 28, 2026
 · 
Lazar Berman
Israel’s August 18, 2026, strike against the Abu al-Duhur airbase hours after a Turkish delegation departed the facility crystalized the collision now shaping Syria’s trajectory: Turkish efforts to build a permanent military foothold against Israel’s need for aerial freedom, in a contest over which power will fill the vacuum Iran left in the Levant.
Middle East Forum Online
Israel, Turkey, and the Contest for Syria
Post-Assad Syria Has Become the Primary Theater in Which Competing Visions for the Region’s Future Are Being Tested
September 28, 2026
 · 
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour