This week on Babel, Jon talks with Robert Springborg, a long-time scholar of the Middle East who has advised governments and international organizations working in the region for decades on issues of economics, politics, and foreign assistance. We discuss shared aspects of political economy in the Middle East, how political economies of the region differ, an ... Show More
May 2025
Babel Special: Jon Alterman's Next Chapter
This week on a special edition of Babel, Will Todman speaks with Jon Alterman, the creator of Babel and the show’s host since it began in 2019. They discuss Jon’s reflections on 22 years directing the CSIS Middle East Program, his analysis of how the Middle East policy ecosystem ... Show More
34m 59s
May 2025
Mohanad Hage Ali: Hezbollah and the Captagon Trade
This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Dr. Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Mohanad's latest paper for Carnegie investigates the rise of a new form of drug smuggling in Lebanon. Together, they discuss Hezbollah’s i ... Show More
50m 16s
May 2025
Analysis: Will Trump’s Houthi Deal Stick?
On Tuesday, May 6, President Trump declared that the United States would immediately halt its bombing of Houthi targets, bringing an end to months of intensified U.S. strikes across Yemen. The president linked the policy reversal to what he described as the Iran-backed Houthis’ c ... Show More
6m 13s
Jan 2025
Shifting Landscape of Middle East Cooperation
In this episode of MEnbar, host Marc Owen Jones welcomes Galip Dalay, a nonresident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, to explore the shifting landscape of Middle East cooperation. Dalay discusses regional integration efforts, from the Abraham Accords to ... Show More
52m 11s
Feb 2021
Lessons From The Arab Spring
Sir John Jenkins, formerly the UK's ambassador to Iraq, Libya and Saudi Arabia, joins Emily Tamkin in Washington DC and Ido Vock in Berlin to look at the decade that's passed since the Arab Spring, and what lessons have been learnt in both the region and the wider international c ... Show More
28m 47s
Jun 2021
Policy-Making & Shaping the Future of the Middle East Through Dialogue & Research | Paul Salem
We talked to Paul Salem, President of The Middle East Institute, on the work of the Middle East Institute including his career working in economic, social, and foreign policy studies. Created & Hosted by Mikey Muhanna, afikra Edited by: Ramzi RammanTheme music by: Tarek Yamani ht ... Show More
55m 46s
Jan 2024
Episode 21 - Coalition Governments in the MENA with Dr Francesco Cavatorta & Dr Hendrik Kraetzschmar
In this episode, Ezra Karmel speaks with Francesco Cavatorta and Hendrik Kraetzschmar about their recent special issue in MELG examining multiparty coalition government in the Arab MENA. We discuss key features of coalition formation, composition, and duration/durability, why the ... Show More
49m 11s