Middle East Forum Podcast

Iran’s military isn’t built to win fast — it’s built to survive.
Host Lauri Regan speaks with Iran analyst Alexander Grinberg of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security on Tehran’s decentralized “mosaic defense” doctrine — a system designed to function even if central command is destroyed.
They examine how fragmented command, autonomous units, and proxy networks allow Iran to absorb strikes and continue operating, and why that resilience complicates U.S. and Israeli strategy.

The return of Israeli hostages marked an emotional turning point—and the clearest sign of Donald Trump’s renewed influence in the Middle East. His intervention pushed Israel toward a fragile peace that trades withdrawal for relief, as Hamas reasserts control in Gaza and global leaders remain hesitant to condemn it. With Netanyahu absent from the talks, Israel’s strategy and Hamas’s future hang in the balance. Has Israel traded security for symbolism? Can Hamas be disarmed through diplomacy? What comes next for Gaza and the region?

Ashley Perry is an advisor to the Middle East Forum’s Israel office. He served as adviser to Israel's minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister in 2009-15, and has also worked with Israel's Ministers of Intelligence, Agriculture and Rural Development, Energy, Water and Infrastructure, Defense, Tourism, Internal Security, and Immigrant Absorption and as an advisor to The Negev Forum. Originally from the U.K., he moved to Israel in 2001. He holds a B.A. from University College London and an M.A. from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya).

The Houthis (Ansar Allah), entrenched in Yemen’s highlands and backed by Iran, have resisted years of military campaigns and efforts to dislodge them through diplomacy. Controlling key territory, including the Yemeni capital and a large part of the coastline, and exploiting the humanitarian crisis, they wield growing power and regional influence. The Houthi campaign against shipping on the Gulf of Aden-Red Sea route has effectively shuttered a key global maritime artery. Can local resistance, regional unity, and international resolve finally defeat them, or is Yemen fated to remain an arena for endless conflict?Summer Ahmed is a researcher and analyst of the Middle East. Yemen-born, she is the Yemeni Southern Transition Council’s Foreign Affairs Representative to the United States. She holds a BBA from Northwood University.

Dearborn, Michigan, long celebrated for multicultural harmony, now faces scrutiny for suppressing dissent under claims of fighting Islamophobia. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud’s public attack on Christian critic Ted Barham coupled with the city council’s silence on Hamas and Hezbollah, raises alarms about radical Islamism’s influence. Dexter Van Zile, on a recent visit to Dearborn, observed further evidence of Islamism and support for terror in other forms. What future awaits non-Muslim voices in Dearborn, and what does this mean for religious freedom in America?Dexter Van Zile, the Middle East Forum’s Violin Family Research Fellow, serves as managing editor of Focus on Western Islamism. Prior to his current position, Van Zile worked at the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis for 16 years, where he played a major role in countering misinformation broadcast into Christian churches by Palestinian Christians and refuting antisemitic propaganda broadcast by white nationalists and their allies in the U.S. His articles have appeared in the Jerusalem Post, the Boston Globe, Jewish Political Studies Review, the Algemeiner and the Jewish News Syndicate. He has authored numerous academic studies and book chapters about Christian anti-Zionism.

The Druze of southern Syria, long known for their pragmatism, now face an uncertain future as the country’s landscape fractures. Caught between Islamist factions, Iranian-backed militias, and shifting Western interests, they are increasingly vulnerable to sectarian violence. On two occasions since the fall of the Assad regime, the community has faced attacks from forces associated with the new authorities in Damascus. Many lives have been lost. What path forward remains for this small but resilient community, and what do their choices mean for the balance of power in the Levant?Ahmad Sharawi is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, focusing on Middle East affairs, specifically the Levant, Iraq, and Iranian intervention in Arab affairs, as well as U.S. foreign policy toward the region. Previously, Sharawi worked at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he focused mainly on Hezbollah. He holds a B.A. in international relations from King’s College London and an M.A. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.