Middle East Center

The China, India, and the Middle East project produces innovative and anticipatory analysis to assist U.S. policymakers in navigating the growing economic, physical, and diplomatic presence of both China and India in the Middle East and North Africa. As these powers deepen their engagement across the region through trade, infrastructure investment, and strategic partnerships, the competitive landscape for U.S. influence continues to evolve. The project delivers forward looking assessments that identify emerging trends, evaluate their implications for U.S. interests, and offer actionable recommendations for policymakers seeking to adapt American strategy to a multipolar regional environment.

The Geopolitics of the Levant project explores the regional alignments, state capacity challenges, and dynamics of conflict shaping the Levant. This region exhibits distinct political and security dynamics that warrant focused analytical attention separate from broader Middle East analyses. By specifically analyzing the Levant, the project provides U.S. policymakers with comprehensive analysis and targeted policy recommendations that address the subregion's unique social, security, and political realities. This focused approach enables more precise understanding of how local developments intersect with regional and great power competition, informing U.S. engagement strategies calibrated to Levantine conditions.

The Inclusion in the Middle East Project treats inclusive politics as both a precursor to regional stability and a U.S. national security interest. Marginalization of minority communities has historically fueled grievances, enabled extremist recruitment, and undermined state legitimacy across the region. The project's aim is to make minority rights and inclusive governance a central pillar of U.S. Middle East policy, embedding them in the architecture of diplomacy, reconstruction, and development assistance. This approach links the United States' values to its strategic objectives in the region, recognizing that durable stability depends on political systems that incorporate rather than exclude diverse populations.

The Iran Insights Project provides U.S. policymakers with an extensive reserve of research, analysis, and policy recommendations on Iran. Understanding Iranian decision making requires sustained engagement with the historical, geographical, and cultural factors that shape the country's geopolitical orientation and domestic politics. The project delivers rigorous analysis across economic, security, and humanitarian dimensions, equipping policymakers with the contextual depth necessary to navigate one of the most consequential and complex bilateral relationships facing the United States. By integrating multidisciplinary perspectives into policy relevant research, the project advances U.S. interests across diplomatic, economic, and security domains.

The Israel Palestine project forces fresh thinking on one of the world's longest running and most tragic conflicts, which has been a central pillar of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Decades of diplomatic initiatives have failed to produce a durable resolution, and the political, demographic, and security landscape continues to evolve in ways that demand updated analytical frameworks. By producing rigorous and comprehensive analysis, the project provides policymakers with forward looking policy recommendations and disruptive ideas that move past previous approaches to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. This work challenges conventional assumptions and identifies pathways that account for current realities.

The Lebanon After Assad project aims to support Lebanese development and stability while securing U.S. interests in the region through timely, actionable analysis and innovative policy recommendations. The fall of the Assad regime in neighboring Syria has fundamentally altered the strategic environment in which Lebanon operates, creating both opportunities and risks that require careful assessment. The project equips policymakers with insights to navigate these shifting regional dynamics and the unique security challenges facing Lebanon in this new context.

The Non State Actors project analyzes how diverse actors beyond the state shape the contemporary dynamics of the Middle East. This includes nonviolent mass movements for social and political change, civil society organizations, trade unions, professional associations, tribal and clan groups, and armed non-state actors. Each operates according to distinct logics, pursues different objectives, and interacts with local and regional orders in ways that carry significant implications for stability, governance, and U.S. policy. The project provides policymakers with nuanced understanding of the goals and strategies of various non-state actors in the region, informing timely and relevant policy action calibrated to the complex realities on the ground.

The North Africa Futures project examines often overlooked political, economic, and security trajectories across North Africa. The region's strategic importance to U.S. interests, including its proximity to Europe, role in migration dynamics, and significance for energy and security partnerships, warrants sustained analytical attention that it does not always receive. By assessing how demographic change, governance challenges, climate pressures, migration patterns, and local innovation are reshaping these societies, the project provides policymakers with comprehensive analysis and strategic recommendations. This forward looking approach aims to strengthen U.S. policy toward the region by anticipating developments rather than reacting to crises after they emerge.

The Post-Assad Syria project works to develop U.S. policy on Syria, supporting the recovering nation while advancing U.S. regional interests. After more than a decade of devastating conflict, Syria faces the immense challenges of rebuilding governance structures, addressing widespread displacement, and forging a viable political future from deeply fractured conditions. Policy within the project is crafted through multifaceted analysis and rigorous research revolving around the central themes of equitable governance, transitional justice, reconstruction, and the Kurdish question. The project works toward building a stable Syrian nation in the best interests of the Syrian people who have endured unimaginable tragedies, while ensuring that U.S. engagement supports both humanitarian outcomes and strategic objectives.

The Saudi Arabia and the Gulf project focuses on the intersection of economics, soft power, and regional relationships through the lens of U.S. policy enrichment. The Gulf states have emerged as central hubs of commerce, technology, and innovation, forging relationships that extend their influence across multiple continents. As the birthplace and heartland of Islam and home to multiple geopolitically rising powers, the Gulf occupies a unique position in global affairs. Understanding the strategic ambitions, economic transformations, and regional dynamics of these peninsular nations is essential for crafting effective U.S. policy in the Middle East.