Middle East Program

Providing fresh analysis of the drivers of change in the Middle East

The CSIS Middle East Program is dedicated to producing “opportunity driven” research rather than “threat driven” commentary. Rather than merely reacting to crises, the program seeks to understand how emerging trends, opportunities, and pressures affect the choices people and their leaders make, with an eye toward contributing to the policy debate in the United States and abroad. 

Our work ranges from detailed reports to brief analysis papers and can be found in both the academic and popular press. We frequently host roundtables and conferences inviting dignitaries and thought leaders to join us in unpacking the Middle East. You can follow our latest work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Our research is broad, fitting mostly into four sub-regions and four thematic areas:

Sub-Regions

Warfare, volatile oil prices, economic and social reform, and environmental change are shifting the strategic logic of the Arabian Peninsula. The Middle East Program works with others to understand the new challenges and opportunities on the Arabian Peninsula and their impacts on regional affairs and global politics. The program’s Arabian Peninsula work includes the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, and adjoining Iraq. Find out more here. 

Iran and its allies across the region will play a crucial role shaping future regional conflicts and coloring the region’s geopolitics. Questions and uncertainty continue to surround the future of U.S. engagement with Iran. The Middle East Program examines evolving domestic trends within Iran, Iran’s regional engagement, and U.S. policy toward Iran. Find out more here.

The Israel-Hamas war has emerged as a defining moment for the region, Syria’s decades-long conflict continues to fester, and Egypt and Lebanon’s simmering economic stressors threaten to tip over into a broader crisis. The Middle East program analyzes the political, geopolitical, and humanitarian dynamics across Egypt and the Levant. Find out more here.

Migration, environmental degradation, and socio-political change have drawn the Maghreb—defined by the program as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya—from the margins of U.S. Middle East policy toward mainstream concerns. The Middle East Program is examining the changing political, economic, and security trends in the region. Find out more here.

Themes

Russia and China are expanding their presence in the Middle East, while global trends that put new emphasis on middle powers and the Global South are reshaping the strategic approach of Middle Eastern states. The Middle East Program is examining key trends in Great Power engagement with the Middle East and the region’s evolving geostrategy. Find out more here.

For more than a decade, calls for social, political, and economic change have reshaped the region. The Middle East Program is tracking key socio-political dynamics to identify the trends that will continue to shape the region over the next decades. Find out more here.

The Middle East contains both the world’s largest energy reserves, as well as some of the most water-scarce nations in the world. As the region grapples with the global energy transition and accelerating climate change, the Middle East Program is exploring how these dynamics are restructuring state-society relationships and how governments and civic groups can respond. Find out more here.

From Gaza to Syria to Yemen, the Middle East is home to some of the world’s most complex humanitarian emergencies. The region receives billions of dollars in aid every year, but international donors are rethinking how best to scale and direct their assistance. The Middle East Program is investigating key trends in aid and reconstruction to inform international assistance. Find out more here.

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Featured Analysis

Photo: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Photo: ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images

Seizing Middle East Opportunities

U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has so far failed to avert regional escalation, but the assassination of Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah offers a new opportunity for U.S.-led diplomacy at a critical juncture.

Listen to Article

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — September 30, 2024

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See all analysis by the Middle East Program

Featured Projects

Babel: Translating the Middle East

Babel will take you beyond the headlines to discuss what’s really happening in the Middle East and North Africa. It features regional experts who explain what’s going on, provide context on pivotal developments, and highlight trends you may have missed. Jon Alterman, senior vice president, Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, and director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts the podcast along with his colleagues from the Middle East Program. This podcast is made possible through the generous support of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates. All views, positions, and conclusions expressed here should be understood to be solely of those of the speaker(s). Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Podcast Series by Jon B. Alterman, Will Todman, and Natasha Hall

All Middle East Program Content

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A Region Aflame: October 7 A Year Later

The CSIS Middle East Program and International Security Program host a roundtable on the social, political, and security challenges facing the Middle East in the year since the October 7 attacks.

Event — October 7, 2024

The Truth of the Matter

Pins and Needles in the Middle East

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.

Podcast Episode by H. Andrew Schwartz and Jon B. Alterman — October 2, 2024

CSIS the truth of the matter
Babel: Translating the Middle East

Peter Schwartzstein: Climate Violence in the Middle East

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Peter Schwartzstein, an environmental journalist who reports on water, food security, and the conflict-climate nexus in around 30 countries, mainly in the Middle East and Africa. Together, they discuss Mr. Schwartzstein's new book, The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence, as well as the outlook for climate adaptation in the Middle East, and the ways in which environmental initiatives can build peace in the region. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman, Natasha Hall, Will Todman, and Leah Hickert — October 1, 2024

CSIS Babel
Audio Briefs

Seizing Middle East Opportunities

An audio version of “Seizing Middle East Opportunities,” a new commentary by CSIS’s Jon B. Alterman. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman — September 30, 2024

Audio Briefs

Seizing Middle East Opportunities

U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East has so far failed to avert regional escalation, but the assassination of Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah offers a new opportunity for U.S.-led diplomacy at a critical juncture.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — September 30, 2024

Audio Briefs

Israel-Hezbollah Escalation

An audio version of “Israel-Hezbollah Escalation,” a new Critical Questions by CSIS’s Jon B. Alterman. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs.

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman — September 24, 2024

Audio Briefs
Babel: Translating the Middle East

Analysis: Israel-Hezbollah Escalation

On September 23rd, Israeli airstrikes killed more than 180 Lebanese in the country’s deadliest day of conflict since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. This is one of the most recent developments in the ongoing escalation between Israel and Hezbollah. Leah Hickert speaks with Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program, about why this escalation is occurring and possible off-ramps for the violence. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman and Leah Hickert — September 24, 2024

CSIS Babel

Israel-Hezbollah Escalation

CSIS Middle East Program director Jon B. Alterman answers critical questions about the escalating attacks between Israel and Hezbollah.

Critical Questions by Jon B. Alterman — September 24, 2024

The Middle East’s View of the “China Model”

China does not seek to replace or outcompete the United States in the Middle East. Instead, China is working to untie the Middle East from the United States and make the region and the world more receptive to China through its model of political and economic development.

Report by Jon B. Alterman — September 19, 2024