Economic Implication of COVID-19 in the Middl...

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

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

Given the turbulence across Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Iran, conversations at this year’s Doha Forum highlighted a Middle East region, and a world order, in flux. Now the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and the upcoming Donald Trump administration will shape American ...

Fareed talks to Joanne Lipman, former Editor-in-Chief of USA Today, on how the pandemic has made us rethink the workplace and our work-life balance. Then, former U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, tells Fareed how the transition to digital school came with a big learning c ...  Show more

A year removed from a massive explosion in Beirut, Middle East expert Hilal Khashan discusses the dire situation in Lebanon and its larger impact on the region's geopolitics. Analysts Allison Fedirka and Phillip Orchard share insight into the forecasting process her ...

CSIS's Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program, joins the podcast to discuss Iran's missile strikes in Israel, Israel's entry into Lebanon, attacks on Hezbollah, and more as the conflict in the Middle East continues to expand.