Middle East Program

Grave at the Fatimid cemetery in Aswan, Egypt.

The CSIS Middle East Program covers all aspects of U.S. policy toward the Middle East and develops opportunities for positive change.

About Our Program

The CSIS Middle East Program covers all aspects of U.S. policy toward the region, concentrating especially on identifying new voices, framing emerging challenges, and developing opportunities for positive change in the Middle East. To the greatest degree possible, we seek to be "opportunity driven" rather than "threat driven."

Our work is intended to:

Identify and understand the drivers of social and political change in the Middle East, concentrating on relatively poorly understood issues such as information and communications technologies, demographics, and the regional media.
Create partnerships between academics and policy professionals in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East to frame and address questions in such a way as to promote the creation of new, constructive, and innovative solutions to problems.
Focus on activities that add value, follow from CSIS's regional and functional strengths, build on its comparative advantages over other think tanks and government efforts, and extend CSIS's core competencies.

In addition, the Middle East Program pursues an active, "traditional" think tank agenda of concentrating on key states (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran) and key conflicts (Arab-Israeli, U.S.-Iranian, U.S.-Iraqi), holding periodic meetings and seminars, appearing on leading national and international news outlets, and publishing in both the academic and popular press.

Publications and Multimedia

Middle East Notes and Comment is the program's monthly electronic newsletter, designed to provide insight into developments in the region and alert readers to program events and recent publications. Click HERE to read the latest issues and HERE to subscribe for free by email. A podcast version of the newsletter is also available on iTunesU and the program's website.

The program also publishes original analyses as well as event summaries and conference reports on important regional trends and developments.

Middle East Program Projects

The Changing Gulf
The Changing Gulf Project frames the changing realities of the Gulf region through a roundtable series, larger conferences, and publications.
Middle East Notes and Comment
Middle East Notes and Comment is the program's monthly e-newsletter.
Gulf Security Project
The Middle East Program is evaluating different strategies the United States can pursue to maintain its security interests in the Gulf after its combat presence in Iraq has ended.
The Turkey, Russia, Iran Nexus
This project will develop a comprehensive assessment of the emerging nexus of relations between each of these three pivotal countries.
North Africa
The Middle East Program examines emerging trends and developments in North Africa.
Egypt Health Project
The Egypt Health Project analyzes the U.S. government's relationship with Egypt's health sector over the last three decades.
Middle East Program Past Projects
The Middle East Program is continually realigning its research focus but remains informed by its previous work.