The Saudi Climbdown and the Iranian Shakedown

Talk of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel has been heating up in recent weeks, with American officials visiting Riyadh to hammer out the terms of an agreement and Saudi and Israeli leaders sounding optimistic. But how close to such a deal are we really? Joshua Teitelb ...  Show more

After the Islamic State seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2013-14, the United States led a yearslong effort to roll back the group’s gains. Journalist and author Michael Gordon has written four books on the wars in Iraq, and in his latest, Degrade and Destroy, he takes us ...  Show more

Month by month, US President Joe Biden is shifting away from Trump-era foreign policy positions. But how dramatic will the pivot be? In the Middle East, there are signs of a changed approach to the region's two oil-rich adversaries Saudi Arabia and Iran; more pressure on the Saud ...  Show more

Following President Biden’s first Middle East trip and on the eve of President Putin’s trip to Tehran, Fareed asks Vali Nasr, Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins University if new cold war divisions are solidifying in the Middle East. Then, ...  Show more

It's a moment of change in the Middle East. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in retreat in Lebanon. Iran and its proxies are weakened and Syria has slipped from its grasp. Now, with President Trump officially installed in the White House, what impact mi ...  Show more

The assassination of the Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh appears to have made life more difficult for President-elect Biden - yet another event to weigh up as he considers what to do about Donald Trump’s legacy across the Middle East. Over the last four years the Rep ...  Show more