Middle East Focus

This summer, brutally hot temperatures, deepening water scarcity, and spiking fertilizer costs have put North Africa's agricultural sector under intense pressure. Host Alistair Taylor is joined by Mohammed Mahmoud, CEO and founder of the Climate and Water Initiative and lead for Middle East Climate and Water Policy at the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health, to unpack the region's food and water security challenges. Drawing on Mahmoud's new report card on agricultural sustainability in North Africa, they explore the diverging picture across the region, why some countries have weathered the strain better than others, and what it will take to build a more resilient and secure food system.
 
Recorded on July 16, 2026.


Read Mohammed's report card assessing the sustainability of agriculture across North Africa here.

At the recent NATO summit in Ankara, renewed US-Iran strikes and Turkey's push to rejoin the F-35 stealth fighter program overshadowed the Alliance's message of unity and a strong European pillar. MEI Senior Fellow Iulia Joja joins host Alistair Taylor to unpack the summit — what it achieved, what got left off the agenda, and why the roads out of Ankara run through the Middle East.
Recorded on July 14, 2026.

US President Donald Trump recently proposed that Syria intervene militarily against Hizballah in Lebanon. Is that a good idea? This episode of Middle East Focus features a recent MEI Virtual Briefing. Director of Communications Zeina Al-Shaib is joined by Ambassador David Hale, MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow and Charles Lister, MEI Senior Fellow. Together they examine the prospects and implications of renewed Syrian involvement in Lebanon, the potential impact on US relations with both countries, and how evolving dynamics in Lebanon and Syria could reshape the regional balance of power and affect countries such as Turkey and Israel.
 
Watch the Virtual Briefing Series here.
 
Recorded on July 8, 2026.

After the US-Israel-Iran war — and the strikes that followed the cease-fire — the Gulf states find themselves dangerously exposed. Host Alistair Taylor is joined by MEI Associate Fellow Gregory Gause to discuss the war's impact on the Gulf, their partnership with the United States, and whether the turmoil of recent months will push Gulf leaders to reassess their alliances and international engagement.
 
Recorded on July 1, 2026.

After nearly four months of war, the US and Iran have signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding declaring the conflict over, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and beginning talks toward a final deal. Alan Eyre, MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow and a core member of the 2015 JCPOA negotiating team, joins host Alistair Taylor to unpack the deal's implications for both countries, its ripple effects across the region, and what a lasting settlement would take.


Recorded on June 23, 2026.