The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss the security of offshore gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the state of the international gas market given the ongoing tension and conflict in the Middle East.
Mirette F. Mabrouk, Guled Ahmed, and Thomas Halvorsen
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:
The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss the ways in which the Houthis, Al Shebab, Somali pirates, and others are collaborating to undermine maritime security and limit the free flow of commerce in the Red Sea.
Topic:
Security, Non State Actors, Maritime, Al Shabaab, Houthis, and Commerce
On this week's episode, President and CEO of the Middle East Institute Paul Salem and Director of MEI’s Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program Randa Slim speak to MEI's Editor-in-Chief Alistair Taylor about growing concerns over the potential for large-scale regional escalation as the Gaza war continues.
*Note: This episode was recorded before drone attacks that killed US soldiers in Jordan on 1/28. *
Topic:
Non State Actors, Conflict, Escalation, and Regional Politics
Marwa Al Khalifa, Mashael Alsaie, and Jaafar Al Oraibi
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:
The Middle East Institute Arts and Culture Center invites you to a panel conversation about the arts in Bahrain with three artists featured in its current exhibition, The Sea of Life: Modern and Contemporary Art from The Kingdom of Bahrain. The panel is part of the ongoing programming around the exhibition, which runs until March 26, 2024.https://youtu.be/yVusVFiYmbo?si=hFNLCpbgB6cDWt9v
Marwa Al Khalifa, Mashael Alsaie and Jaafar Al Oraibi will discuss their work, the vision that drives their practice and how their art is part of a conversation that is shaping Bahrain's local arts scene, pushing its boundaries and exploring new artistic expressions.
The Sea of Life features fourteen artists spanning different generations and art forms exploring their connection to their natural and built environment through painting, photography, sculpture, video and installation, co-curated by Bahrain-based Hayfa Aljishi and MEI Arts and Culture Center Director Lyne Sneige.
The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss the highly volatile situation between Israel and Hezbollah across the Israeli-Lebanese border.
Topic:
Security, Non State Actors, Hezbollah, and Armed Conflict
Sahar Aziz and Mitchell Plitnick discuss their study "Presumptively Antisemitic: Islamophobic Tropes in the Palestine Israel Discourse" with MEI's Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs Program Director Khaled Elgindy.
Topic:
Politics, Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, and Discourse
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, North America, and United States of America
The Middle East Institute (MEI) hosted an on-the-record briefing to discuss the Houthis’ escalatory military activity in the Red Sea and what it means for the future security of merchant vessels in this key waterway.
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
State fragility has received increasing attention in recent decades as a result of the nexus between
development and international stability. This study investigates the empirical drivers of state fragility
in sub-Saharan Africa from 2007 to 2019. We shed light on the explanatory variables of government
effectiveness, political stability, per-capita GDP, grow GDP%, International Monetary Fund loans, and
official development assistance. Using panel data analysis and a 39-country sample, our study finds
that government efficiency and political stability, in contrast to foreign aid, has a significant effect
on reducing fragility in sub-Saharan Africa. In light of these findings, the article proposes delivering
foreign aid in ways that strengthen state capacity.
Topic:
Foreign Aid, Econometrics, International Institutions, and Fragility
International Relations Council of Turkey (UİK-IRCT)
Abstract:
In his book, The Party and the People: Chinese Politics in the 21st Century, Bruce Dickson,
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at George Washington University,
thoroughly scrutinizes China’s domestic political system and the inner structure of the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP). Dickson largely limits his primer to the post-Mao period, with each of
the book’s sections answering specific research questions: “What Keeps the Party in Power?”,
“How Are Leaders Chosen?”, “How Are Policies Made?”, “Does China Have a Civil Society?”,
“Do Political Protests Threaten Political Stability?”, “Why Does the Party Fear Religion?”,
“How Nationalistic Is China?” and “Will China Become Democratic?”. Each question he seeks
answers to sheds light on the relationship between the CCP and Chinese society. Dickson
argues that the CCP has exercised unopposed authority throughout the country since 1949
despite many elite conflicts, economic catastrophes and social unrests. Nevertheless, the party
has not always resorted to repressive methods to stay in power. Rather, it is the author’s main
argument that the main survival policy is the party’s ability to be responsive to the demands
of Chinese people. For Dickson, the repression-responsiveness dichotomy is the core strategy
that made it possible for the CCP to rule China as a single party for decades.
Topic:
Politics, History, Book Review, and Political Parties