Analysis

In a new commentary, Jon Alterman discusses five major factors that place Middle Eastern governments in a weaker position today than in 2011. He explains how their position is likely to decline even further and what this means for the future of the region.

Jon Alterman reflects on the role of the United States in the Middle East, explaining why the United States has failed to achieve many of the goals it set out in the post-9/11 world and how to apply these lessons.

In mid-2022, Iranian authorities accused Israel and the United Arab Emirates of stealing their rain. This claim continued Iran’s long history of making wild accusations to deflect from government mismanagement.

Middle East Program senior fellow and deputy director Will Todman argues that international donors should advance renewable energy technologies in conflict-affected environments to prevent the entrenchment of vested interests that profit from the electricity crisis.

For more than three-quarters of a century, diplomats have worked to prevent international water disputes from provoking violence across and within borders. Their tasks are growing harder, especially in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin.

With limited government capacity to drive climate action in the Middle East and insufficient climate financing, greater international support can allow local entrepreneurs to lead the search for innovative and realistic solutions to the region’s mounting climate crisis.

Water insecurity in the Middle East is destroying livelihoods, forcing migration, and fostering instability, with ripple effects on the political, economic, and environmental future of the region.

Libyan authorities are trying to silence independent voices in the run-up to planned elections, but the crackdown undermines the work of civil society more broadly. Lubna Yousef and Will Todman argue that this strategy is self-sabotaging.

The U.S. military should realign its Middle East policy to be in step with the region's multipolar worldview and must recognize countries' concerns over internal threats and interest in strategic partnerships with China and Russia.