Babel: Translating the Middle East

This week on Babel, Jon talks with Chloe Cornish, the outgoing Middle East correspondent at the Financial Times, where she covered Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. They discuss sectarianism in Lebanese and Iraqi politics, similarities and differences between protests in Iraq and Lebanon, and why people-led political change is so difficult in a sectarian system. Then, Jon, Will Todman, and Caleb Harper continue the conversation about the nature and implications of sectarian politics in Iraq and Lebanon.

• Chloe Cornish, “Young Iraqis voice frustration ahead of polls: ‘They want rapid change’,” Financial Times, October 8, 2021.
• Will Todman, “Lebanon’s New Government,” CSIS, September 10, 2021.
• Chloe Cornish, “Lebanon’s year from hell: a diary,” Financial Times, July 29, 2021.
• Jon Alterman, Natasha Hall, and Will Todman, “Sustainable States: Environment, Governance, and the Future of the Middle East,” CSIS, May 18, 2021.
• Transcript, “Levantine Contrasts,” CSIS, October 19, 2021.

Morocco debates how to integrate young African migrants into Moroccan society. A New Mezze from the CSIS Middle East Program.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Emile Hokayem, a senior fellow for the Middle East at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). They discuss changing Middle Eastern views of the United States, the United States’ focus on “defense diplomacy” with regional partners, and the implications of his conversations with regional actors for policymakers in Washington Then, Jon, Natasha Hall, and Danny Sharp, continue the conversation about competing visions of the United States in the Middle East and how they might influence each other.

• Emile Hokayem, “Reassuring Gulf Partners While Recalibrating U.S. Security Policy,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, May 18, 2021.
• Jon Alterman “Focus on Influence, Not Power, in the Middle East,” Defense One, March 25, 2021.
• Emile Hokayem and John Raine, “The Strategic Implications of COVID-19 for the Middle East,” IISS, December 2020.
• Transcript, “Competing Views of the United States,” CSIS, October 5, 2021.

Crowdsourcing of female roles is rising in Egypt driven by the digital revolution. A New Mezze from the CSIS Middle East Program.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Dr. Monica Marks, a professor of Middle East politics at NYU Abu Dhabi who has been thinking about Tunisia for almost 15 years. They discuss Tunisian President Kais Saied’s recent moves to consolidate power, why Tunisians seem to support him, what’s at stake for Tunisia’s democracy, and what role Western donors and institutions can play in the country. Then, Jon, Will Todman, and Caleb Harper continue the conversation about the nature of popular authoritarianism and how we should think about popular despots in Tunisia and the rest of the Arab world.

Monica Marks, “An Interview with Hamma Hammami of the Tunisian Worker’s Party,” Jadaliyya, August 20, 2021.
Will Todman, “A Coup in Tunisia?” CSIS, July 27, 2021.
Will Todman, “Challenging Authority in Post-Revolution Tunisia,” CSIS, January 22, 2020.
Monica Marks, “‘Letting go of every principle’: Tunisia’s democratic gains under threat,” Middle East Eye, July 24, 2017.
Monica Marks, “Tunisia’s Unwritten Story,” The Century Foundation, March 14, 2017.
Episode Transcript, “Tunisia’s Popular Authoritarian,” CSIS, September 21, 2021.

Recent moves by two food delivery services in Qatar highlight that in the struggle for both labor rights and sustainability, Qatar’s challenge is both establishing its priorities and prioritizing between them. A new Mezze from the Middle East Program at CSIS.

This week on Babel, Jon talks with Colin Clarke, a senior research fellow and the director of policy and research at The Soufan Center. They discuss what Iran is set to gain in Afghanistan, Iran’s relationship with al Qaeda and the Taliban, and potential areas of cooperation or conflict between Iran and the United States as the U.S. withdraws from the region. Then, Jon, Natasha, and Danny continue the conversation about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and its implications for great power competition and cooperation in the Middle East.

• Colin P. Clarke, “The U.S. Doesn’t Have to Choose Between Counterterrorism and Great Power Competition,” World Politics Review, August 23, 2021.
• Jon Alterman, “Stories of Afghans left behind will hurt America around the world,” The Hill, August 18, 2021.
• Colin P. Clarke and Asfandyar Mir, “Making Sense of Iran and al-Qaeda’s Relationship,” Lawfare, March 21, 2021.
• Colin P. Clarke and Ariane Tabatabai, “What Iran Wants in Afghanistan,” Foreign Affairs, July 8, 2020.
• Episode Transcript, “Iran’s Interests in Afghanistan,” CSIS, September 7, 2021.

For agricultural workers laboring on large tomato farms in Morocco, low wages keep many living hand-to-mouth, while a few large tomato companies—many with foreign ties—have continued to grow. As a result, for many rural Moroccans, the government’s commercial agricultural policies are leading to a mixed harvest. A new Mezze from the Middle East Program at CSIS.

This week on Babel, Jon talks with Daniel Yergin, the vice-chairman of IHS Markit and author of the new book, The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations. They discuss the global energy transition and the longevity of oil, the effects of the shale revolution on U.S. foreign policy, and how states such as China will think about energy security moving forward. Then, Jon Natasha Hall, and Danny Sharp continue the conversation about the energy transition and its implications for oil producers in the Middle East.

• Jon Alterman, “A New Revolution in the Middle East,” CSIS, July 22, 2021.
• Daniel Yergin, “How will the pandemic affect the sprint away from fossil fuels?” The Guardian, October 8, 2020.
• Daniel Yergin, “How the shale revolution has redrawn the global political map,” The Dallas Morning News, September 20, 2020.
• Daniel Yergin, “The New Geopolitics of Energy,” The Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2020.
• Episode Transcript, “The Global Energy Transition,” CSIS, August 24, 2021.

If there is one thing Abu Dhabi has in abundance, it’s sunlight. But investors in the UAE are pouring millions of dollars into farming enterprises that don’t use any sunlight at all. Find out why with a new Mezze from the Middle East Program.