Research Library

On Monday, February 6, 2023 a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria. It is the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade. The latest reports from the two countries put the death toll at 22,375, with thousands more injured. Rescue workers are now racing against time to pull survivors from the rubble of collapsed buildings in freezing winter conditions‚ but hopes are fading. 

Visiting scholar Osamah Alsayegh explores the water and energy challenges of GCC states and offers three key policy recommendations that could help to build the region’s resilience and sustainability.

How durable is the Saudi-Russian relationship, and what are its implications for the longstanding energy-for-security arrangement between Saudi Arabia and the U.S.?

Information and cyber action have been important but ancillary components of the Ukraine war since its outbreak on February 24, 2022. We offer a set of observations:

President Biden’s visit was a disappointment for those advocating major changes in U.S. policy toward the Middle East.

A report from center experts on the evolution of Islamist politics, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, security in the Persian Gulf and displacement in the Middle East.

This report explores the current situation in Palestinian-Israeli dynamics and concludes that the only real solution is a return to the two-state paradigm. Peace and security — for both Israelis and Palestinians — will come through mutual recognition of statehood and clearly defined and respected international borders, the author writes.

Amid recent disputes on oil trade, "fractious Saudi-UAE relations are ... better understood as a return to the pre-2015 status quo than a unique diplomatic breach," write Jim Krane and Kristian Coates Ulrichsen.

This brief explores pressing issues the Biden administration should address in developing a strategy for the Middle East. It provides analysis and policy recommendations related to the GCC states, U.S.-Iran relations, Islamist groups, and refugees and migration. Further CME publications will address issues such as the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace and the crisis in Lebanon.

This brief assesses the strategic and economic challenges of energy security amid a transition to a lower-carbon energy future.