Conflict and Humanitarian Crises

The CSIS Humanitarian Agenda works with the Africa Program, Food and Water Security Program, Global Health Policy Center, Middle East Program, and Sustainable Development and Resilience Initiative on the intersection between global conflict and addressing humanitarian crises around the world.

Photo: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Photo: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Is Food Security National Security?

Advocates of U.S. food aid claim “food security is national security” without explaining possible links between food insecurity abroad and U.S. national security at home. Links may be indirect, but rationales for U.S. leadership on global food security remain strong.

Commentary by Caitlin Welsh — May 21, 2025

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Hadeil Ali

Hadeil Ali

Chief of Staff, Global Development Department and Director, Diversity and Leadership in International Affairs Program
Noam Unger

Noam Unger

Director, Sustainable Development and Resilience Initiative and Senior Fellow, Project on Prosperity and Development
Jon Alterman

Jon B. Alterman

Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy
Caitlin Welsh

Caitlin Welsh

Director, Global Food and Water Security Program

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Is Food Security National Security?

Advocates of U.S. food aid claim “food security is national security” without explaining possible links between food insecurity abroad and U.S. national security at home. Links may be indirect, but rationales for U.S. leadership on global food security remain strong.

Commentary by Caitlin Welsh — May 21, 2025

Babel: Translating the Middle East

Mohanad Hage Ali: Hezbollah and the Captagon Trade

Jon Alterman speaks with Dr. Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for research at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. Together, they discuss Hezbollah’s involvement in these drug networks, as well as the opportunities to bolster Lebanese sovereignty and state institutions as a result of the group’s weakened standing.

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman, Mona Yacoubian, and Asher Grant-Sasson — May 15, 2025

CSIS Babel
Babel: Translating the Middle East

Analysis: Will Trump’s Houthi Deal Stick?

On May 6, President Trump declared that the United States would immediately halt its bombing of Houthi targets. Asher Grant-Sasson speaks with Jon Alterman about the core drivers behind this policy shift and the implications it might bear.

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman and Asher Grant-Sasson — May 8, 2025

CSIS Babel
Babel: Translating the Middle East

Craig Larkin: The Politics of Memory, From Mosul to Beirut to Gaza

Jon Alterman speaks with Dr. Craig Larkin to unpack different approaches taken to reconstruction and reconciliation after violence in the Middle East. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman, Ninar Fawal, Martin Pimentel, and Will Todman — April 17, 2025

CSIS Babel
Babel: Translating the Middle East

Analysis: Trump Takes on the Houthis

Asher Grant-Sasson speaks with Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program, about the current state of play and the dilemmas confronting U.S. policymakers in dealing with the Houthis.

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman and Asher Grant-Sasson — March 27, 2025

CSIS Babel
Babel: Translating the Middle East

Alessandro Accorsi: Disinformation Warfare in the Middle East

This week on Babel, Jon Alterman speaks with Alessandro Accorsi, a senior analyst for social media and conflict at the International Crisis Group. Prior to joining ICG, he worked for five years at the European External Action Service, where he led a taskforce countering foreign interference and information manipulation in the Middle East. He also worked for five years as a freelance journalist in Cairo.

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman, Natasha Hall, and Martin Pimentel — February 13, 2025

CSIS Babel