Iraq’s Geopolitical Tightrope: Balancing Iran, Turkey, and US Pressures
Iraq’s struggle to assert its sovereignty is increasingly complicated by its entanglements with Iran and Turkey and a persistent terrorist threat.
Iran-Afghanistan Relations under Iran’s New President
The Charisma Dilemma: Al-Qaeda’s Struggles After Bin Laden’s Death
Hezbollah’s strategy against Israel since October 2023
The constant evolution of Russia-Turkey relations
Reimagining the contours of Russia-Middle East relations
How Europeans can help de-escalate tensions between Hezbollah and Israel
Erdogan’s Reconciliation with Reality: Back to Rapprochement with Assad
Harakat Hezbollah Al-Najuba: Iran’s Next Top Proxy Group?
Recent Initiatives
Women's Leadership Initiative
Directed by the award-winning author and activist Dr. Nina Ansary, the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) promotes open, inclusive dialogue between scholars, activists, thought leaders, business leaders, and policy practitioners about women’s rights issues in the Middle East and North Africa region.Â
Mahsa Jina Amini Fellowship
Dedicated to supporting emerging female scholars, policymakers, leaders and advocates who are committed to driving change in Iran and across the Middle East and North Africa region, advancing the cause of women’s rights, gender equality and social justice.
Applied History Initiative
The Applied History Initiative (AHI) is a response to the need to inform Middle East policy with deep historical insight. The AHI serves as a hub for historically-minded research into the Middle East’s most pressing diplomatic and strategic issues. Its work is to encourage historians to apply their work to Middle East policy, and to support policymakers with historical insight as they approach the region’s key issues.Â
Strategic Brief
The Strategic Brief is a concise news summary of the past week’s events complete with forward-looking projections on what’s next in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Publications
First edition: July 2024
Publicly available: October 2024
This paper analyses the policy issue of the official recognition of the Kingdom of Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara by His Majesty’s Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the implications of the potential implementation of Morocco’s 2007 Autonomy Plan for the territory, seeking to lay out the benefits for UK foreign policy interests in the short, medium and long term.
Upcoming Events
From keynote speeches, through expert panel debates, to roundtable discussions, the Forum hosts a variety of events throughout the year.
Browse among the lineup of events we hosted in the past.
Previous Events
The Hamas-Israel War: Regional Perspectives
31 October 2023
2023 Turkish Elections: 5 More Years of Erdogan?
7 March 2023
Domestic and Foreign Policy Under Israel's New Government
13 February 2023
In Conversation with Brian Hook
14 December 2022
Find complete event recordings featured on YouTube
MENAF is not only an excellent forum for the dispassionate discussion of the current Middle East, but the fastest-growing such venture in Cambridge.
Professor Brendan Simms, University of Cambridge
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