Middle East Focus Podcast
1) Bonus Episode: Tehran's Brewing Troubles
This bonus episode of Middle East Focus features a conversation from MEI's Virtual Briefing Series. Director of Communications Zeina Al-Shaib is joined by Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow Alan Eyre and...Show More
2) What 2025 Has Wrought... and What 2026 May Bring
In the final episode of 2025, MEI Senior Fellow Paul Salem joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to unpack the major developments that shaped the Middle East over the past year and to look ah...Show More
3) What does Trump's new National Security Strategy mean for the Middle East?
In this episode, MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow Ambassador David Hale joins host Alistair Taylor to unpack the Trump administration's new National Security Strategy (NSS). Released on December 4,...Show More
What does Trump's new National Security Strategy mean for the Middle East?
40:45 | Dec 11th, 2025
4) Soft Power in Hard Times: Pope Leo XIV's Visit to Lebanon
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 ...Show More
5) MBS's Visit and the Future of US-Saudi Relations
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 Princ...Show More
6) From War to Reconstruction: Syria's Next Chapter
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 Tru...Show More
7) Erdogan Forever?
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 Erdoğa...Show More
8) Can Morocco Placate Its Frustrated Youth?
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 mul...Show More
9) Trump 2.0 and the Middle East: Taking Stock of the First Nine Months
In this episode of Middle East Focus, hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj speak with MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis about US policy in the Middle East under Donald Trump's second administra...Show More
10) The Gaza Cease-Fire and a Region Reshaped by War
Two years after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks and Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, the two sides have agreed to a new cease-fire. But can it last, and what kind of Middle East has emerged from the ...Show More