MEI Senior Fellow Fadi Nicholas Nassar joins host Matthew Czekaj to share expert insights and personal reflections on Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Lebanon from November 30 to December 2. Nassar unpacks the significance of the visit, part of the pontiff’s first overseas tour since assuming office, and its potential...

In this episode of Middle East Focus, hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj sit down with MEI Visiting Scholar F. Gregory Gause, III, to analyze the policy implications of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud’s (MBS) first visit to the US in seven years. What do US and Saudi officials hope to...

In this episode of Middle East Focus, hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj are joined by MEI Senior Fellow Charles Lister to unpack the historic November 10 meeting between US President Donald Trump and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in the Oval Office as well as assess post-Assad Syria's evolution over the past...

In this episode of Middle East Focus, hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj are joined by MEI Senior Fellow Gönül Tol to discuss democratic backsliding in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The conversation explores how Erdoğan’s crackdown against Turkey’s opposition has reached new heights, with...

In this episode of Middle East Focus, hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj are joined by MEI Senior Fellow Intissar Fakir to discuss Morocco’s recent “GenZ 212” protest movement, which gripped multiple cities around the country for weeks. What prompted young Moroccans to take to the streets? Fakir breaks down...