Near East Policycast

For years, Jordan has been surrounded by an arc of instability, from Iraq to Syria to Lebanon to the West Bank. Yet the kingdom remains, for now, an island of relative calm. Institute scholar David Schenker discusses how the kingdom has weathered regional storms and what the future holds for this vital American friend in the Middle East. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Donald Trump is making his first foreign trip as president to the Middle East, with his initial stop in Saudi Arabia. President Trump will arrive in a kingdom on the precipice of major changes, including a youth boom, technological revolutions, a possible succession to a younger generation of royal leadership, and an ambitious economic reform program dubbed “Vision 2030.” Gulf and energy policy scholar Simon Henderson explains thepolitical, economic, and social changes facing Saudi Arabia, and what the future holds for the kingdom, for its Arab neighbors, and for Washington’s relations with Riyadh. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

To assess the new U.S. administration's approach to Middle East policy at the conclusion of its first 100 days in office - and on the eve of a presidential trip to the region - The Washington Institute hosted a keynote conversation at its 2017 Soref Symposium on Middle East policy between Gen. John M. "Jack" Keane, USA (ret.), Adm. James G. Stavridis, USN (ret.), and Institute Executive Director Robert Satloff. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The Soref Symposium is an annual conference of Institute experts, supporters, and policymakers to explore U.S. policy in the Middle East. Gen. John M. "Jack" Keane, USA (ret.), is a retired general and former vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army. Adm. James G. Stavridis, USN (ret.), is a retired U.S. Navy admiral who served as NATO's supreme allied commander. Robert Satloff is executive director of The Washington Institute and Howard P. Berkowitz chair in U.S. Middle East Policy.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is in Washington, DC, for only the second time since 2010, and meets with President Trump at the White House on May 3. How should the U.S. administration approach Abbas as they begin to lay the groundwork for a new push to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Can Turkish democracy - and Turkey's strategic relationships with Europe and the United States - survive Recep Tayyip Erdogan's increasing consolidation of domestic political power? Three Turkish experts, including the author of a timely new book on Erdogan's rise and ambitions, discuss the country's likely future. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Defending against terrorism requires more than stopping or catching terrorists. Just as important as military and law-enforcement actions against active terrorists are broader government and community efforts to prevent individuals from adopting extreme ideologies in the first place, and countering the attraction of violent methods for those already radicalized. Counterterror expert Matthew Levitt discusses a new bipartisan report that aims to help the new U.S. administration improve and broaden our efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism (PCVE). Read their report at http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/pcve. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The countries of northwest Africa – Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria – may look like islands of stability in a sea of Middle East turmoil. But perhaps better to see them as low coral atolls – and the sea around them is rising fast. Soref Fellow Sarah Feuer, coauthor of a presidential transition study of American challenges and policy options in northwest Africa talks about why these countries matter to the United States, what Washington can do to help preserve reform and democracy there, and what the stakes are should these islands of regional stability sink below the waves of chaos lapping at their shores. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Less than a month into the new U.S. administration, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will be the fourth foreign leader to confer with President Trump in Washington. How will the bilateral relationship change in the Trump administration? What is on the Israeli premier’s agenda on this first visit to the Trump White House? And how does the alliance with Israel serve America’s broader interests in the Middle East? Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Join us as two veteran observers preview the Trump-Netanyahu visit and the near-term agenda for bilateral relations.

A veteran American diplomatic and strategic advisor to presidents of both parties, Ambassador James Jeffrey discusses the vital U.S. interest in the Middle East and how the Trump administration can protect and advance them. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

If the Trump administration follows through on campaign commitments to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, how should it proceed? How will America's Arab partners respond? And could an embassy relocation play a positive role in reinvigorated American engagement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Join us for a conversation with the scholars David Makovsky and Ghaith al-Omari about a potential American embassy in Jerusalem. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

After a surprising presidential election, Americans and foreign leaders have closely watched the executive transition for clues to American priorities and policy under the Trump administration. What does Donald J. Trump’s victory tell us about American politics – and how will our allies and adversaries respond? Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Where does the Middle East fit into America's global strategy, and is the rise of Russian and Chinese great-power competition in the region a permanent new reality or an anomaly that the next president can reverse? We talk with Michael Singh, the National Security Council's former senior director for Middle East affairs about regional challenges to America's interests, the policy choices necessary to overcome them, and the personnel and management decisions that can help the next president avoid the foreign policy blunders common to most new administrations. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

From al-Qaeda to the Islamic State, the global terrorist threat has evolved rapidly in recent years, and will likely change further still in the next president’s term. Counterterrorism expert Matthew Levitt looks ahead to the next administration and the choices the 45th president will have to face to keep Americans safe from this adaptive global menace. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"Syria is going to hit the next president very hard," warns Ambassador Dennis Ross. A veteran of five administrations, under presidents of both parties, Ross shares his insights into the decisions that will face the next commander in chief as well as the planning that must take place before Inauguration Day to create an orderly process for making choices. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Politics has become a life-or-death struggle for several of America's important partners in the Middle East, says Eric Trager, and their leaders increasingly perceive even mild U.S. encouragement on human rights issues as support for domestic enemies. The next president will face a decision about how to prioritize America's strategic and security interests against our commitment to liberal and democratic values in countries such as Egypt, Turkey, and Iraq. Eric Trager is the Esther K. Wagner Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and an expert on Egyptian politics and the Muslim Brotherhood. His new book is titled, "Arab Fall: How the Muslim Brotherhood Won and Lost Egypt in 891 Days," on bookshelves now. Near East PolicyCast: Conversations on Middle East issues from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

How the next president deals with the conflict in Syria will shape American foreign policy in the Middle East for years to come, says Andrew Tabler, and American decisions in Syria will determine the course of American relations with our regional allies, with Iran, and even with Russia. Join us for the latest in our Middle East 2017 series with Syria expert Tabler's insights into why Syria in the late 2010s will likely resemble Iraq in the 1990s, with Libya right behind it.

When the forty-fifth president of the United States gets down to work on January 21, 2017, the new commander in chief will face life-or-death decisions that will shape America’s role in the Middle East for years to come. In this podcast series, Washington Institute scholars explore those historic challenges. As former high-level officials in Democratic and Republican administrations, our experts know the issues, the stakes, the leaders and the players on the ground. Ambassador James Jeffrey is Solondz Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute and former United States ambassador to Iraq and Turkey. His most recent publication, coauthored with Michael Eisenstadt, is "U.S. Military Engagement in the Broader Middle East," a comprehensive study of American involvement in the region since World War II.

A leading humanitarian criminal justice advocate and a journalist who's helped uncover the Assad regime's atrocities in Syria explain why bringing war criminals to justice matters, and what must be done now to make later prosecutions possible.

A former State Department counterterrorism official outlines the gaps in European efforts to fight violent extremisms: Why they exist, what needs to change, and how they make it harder for U.S. officials to do their job of defending the American homeland.

Diplomat-in-residence Olivier Decottignies from the French Foreign Ministry share an insider’s view of the jihadist threat facing Europe – how the Islamic State seeks to exploit economic, cultural, and political crises facing the European Union and what EU leaders are and should be doing about it.