Babel: Translating the Middle East

In seven episodes, the Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East podcast miniseries will take a closer look at two decades of heightened U.S. engagement in the region. Over seven weeks, Babel will cover how the United States has used its military, economic, diplomatic, and soft power tools in the Middle East—and how the Middle East has responded.  In part five, Jon takes a look at U.S. soft power in the Middle East, and just what makes American culture, ideals, and institutions enduringly attractive in the region—and around the world. He talks with Paul Salem, president of the Middle East Institute; Lisa Anderson, who served as the president of the American University in Cairo from 2011 to 2016; and Alanoud Alsharekh, a Kuwaiti women's rights activist and an associate fellow at Chatham House. Paul Salem, "Why the Arab Spring Failed—And Why It May Yet Succeed," TIME, January 5, 2021. Lisa Anderson, "Is There a Future for American Universities in the Middle East?" Foreign Affairs, March 22, 2019. Alanoud Alsharekh, Angry Words Softly Spoken: A Comparative Study of English and Arabic Women Writers, 2006. Transcript, "U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part Five," CSIS, April 5, 2022.

In seven episodes, the Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East podcast miniseries will take a closer look at two decades of heightened U.S. engagement in the region. Over seven weeks, Babel will cover how the United States has used its military, economic, diplomatic, and soft power tools in the Middle East—and how the Middle East has responded.  In part four, Jon analyzes U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East, and how U.S. policymakers have thought about U.S. diplomatic power in the region. He talks with Ambassador Thomas Pickering, a career diplomat with over four decades of experience, including as U.S. ambassador to the UN and to six other countries, and as the undersecretary of State for political affairs; Nathalie Tocci, an Italian scholar who served as a key advisor to the European Union’s chief diplomat; and Brian Katulis, senior fellow and vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute who served in the National Security Council, the State Department, and the Department of Defense during the Clinton administration. Brian Katulis and Peter Juul, “Seeking a New Balance for U.S. Policy in the Middle East,” Center for American Progress, September 7, 2021. Nathalie Tocci, "Transatlantic Action Plan: Middle East and North Africa," Harvard Belfer Center, February 2021. Thomas Pickering, “Keynote remarks: the geopolitics of the Gulf from an American perspective,” Gulf International Forum, October 23, 2019.   Transcript, "U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part Four," CSIS, March 29, 2022.

In seven episodes, the Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East podcast miniseries will take a closer look at two decades of heightened U.S. engagement in the region. Over seven weeks, Babel will cover how the United States has used its military, economic, diplomatic, and soft power tools in the Middle East—and how the Middle East has responded.  In part three, Jon looks at how the United States has used its economic toolkit in the region, and how successful sanctions and development aid have been in advancing U.S. interests in the Middle East. He speaks with Howard Shatz, a senior economist at RAND who served with the Bush administration’s Council of Economic Advisors in 2007-2008; Amy Hawthorne, the deputy director for research for the Project on Middle East Democracy who served as a senior advisor for Near Eastern Affairs in the State Department during the Arab Spring; and Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group’s Iran project director.   Howard Shatz. "The Power and Limits of Threat: The Caesar Syrian Civilian Protection Act at One Year,” Real Clear Defense. July 7, 2021.   Amy Hawthorne, "Egypt: Trends in Politics, Economics, and Human Rights," Before The House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and International Terrorism, 116th Congress, 2020. Ali Vaez and Naysan Rafati, “U.S. Maximum Pressure Meets Iranian Maximum Pressure,” International Crisis Group, November 5, 2019.  Transcript, "U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part Three," CSIS, March 22, 2022.

In seven episodes, the Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East podcast miniseries will take a closer look at two decades of heightened U.S. engagement in the region. Over seven weeks, Babel will cover how the United States has used its military, economic, diplomatic, and soft power tools in the Middle East—and how the Middle East has responded.  In part two, Jon traces the story of the last two decades of heavy U.S. military involvement in the Middle East, identifying how it’s changed the U.S. military and the way that the United States engages in the region. He speaks with Gen. Joseph Votel, a career army officer with over 40 years of service, most recently as commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) from 2016 to 2019; Eliot Cohen, the Arleigh A. Burke chair in strategy at CSIS who served as counselor for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the height of the surge in Iraq; and Kori Schake, a member of the National Security Council during President Bush’s first term and the deputy director of policy planning at the State Department in his second term. Kori Schake, Jim Mattis, Jim Ellis, and Joe Felter, “Defense in Depth: Why U.S. Security Depends on Alliances—Now More Than Ever,” Foreign Affairs, November 23, 2020.  Joseph Votel, "Between Then and Now, They Did Not Die in Vain," Defense One, September 9, 2021. Eliot Cohen, The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force (New York: Basic Books, 2016).   Transcript, "U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part Two," CSIS, March 15, 2022.

In seven episodes, the Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East podcast miniseries will take a closer look at two decades of heightened U.S. engagement in the region. Jon Alterman, senior vice president, Zbigniew Brzezinski chair in global security and geostrategy, and director of the Middle East Program, sits down with some of the preeminent foreign policy experts and former policymakers who have helped shape U.S. policy in the region. Over the next seven weeks, Babel will cover how the United States has used its military, economic, diplomatic, and soft power tools in the Middle East—and how the Middle East has responded.   In this first episode, Jon explores how the United States became more deeply enmeshed in the Middle East, how its role in the region has changed, and how some people think it needs to change a lot more. He talks with Ambassador Anne Patterson, a career diplomat with more than 40 years of experience in the Middle East and around the globe, most recently as assistant secretary of state for the Near East and North Africa from 2013 to 2017; Andrew Bacevich, a retired army officer, former West Point professor, and the president of the Quincy Institute; and Karim Makdisi, a professor of international relations at the American University of Beirut.  Anne Patterson, "We Have to Be There," The Foreign Service Journal, September 2019.  Karim Makdisi, "Teaching Trump's America First in/from Beirut," Political Science and Politics (vol 53:2), April 2020.  Andrew Bachevich, America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History. Random House, 2016.  Transcript, "U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part One," CSIS, March 8, 2022.

This week on Babel, I speak with Jane Arraf, the Baghdad bureau chief for the New York Times. She's spent more than a quarter-century as a journalist in the Middle East, working for National Public Radio, CNN, the Christian Science Monitor, and other leading outlets. I talk with Jane about the way that Iraq is becoming surprisingly normal, how Iraqis think about sectarianism now, and the way in which corruption affects nearly every aspect of society in Iraq.  Then, Will Todman, Danny Sharp, and I continue the conversation about corruption in Iraq and across the Middle East.  Jane Arraf, “Reveling in the Joys of Books, and Reading, at a Baghdad Book Fair,” New York Times, December 18, 2021.   Jane Arraf, “After Years as a Battleground, Investment Boom Lifts Iraqi City,” New York Times, July 10, 2021.   Transcript, "Not Your Mother's Iraq," CSIS, March 1, 2022.

Conflicts in the Middle East lead to increased demand for cosmetic surgery, and for some the results are tragic.

This week on Babel, we're doing things a bit differently. Freeing ourselves from the world of Zoom and time zones, Jon sat down in person this week with Middle East Program senior fellow Natasha Hall, whose report "Rescuing Aid in Syria" was released yesterday. They recorded their conversation on Natasha's report in a new CSIS studio, and you can watch it here. After Jon's discussion with Natasha, he continued the conversation on the report with Jake Kurtzer, senior fellow and director of the CSIS Humanitarian Agenda, and Sara Kayyali, the Syria researcher in the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa Division.Natasha's report explores the challenges of meeting Syrians’ humanitarian needs while ensuring that the government does not profit from the exercise. You can read it here. We have also prepared a short one-pager of the report's key findings, which you can find here. Natasha Hall, "Rescuing Aid in Syria," CSIS, February 14, 2022. Natasha Hall, "The Implications of the UN Cross-Border Vote in Syria," CSIS, June 4, 2021. Transcript, "Rescuing Aid in Syria," CSIS, February 15, 2022.

In Morocco, the same industry that is helping to construct new tourism developments is also depleting the very coastline that those developments rely upon. A New Mezze from the Middle East Program.This episode was adapted from our monthly Mezze series, shining a spotlight on under-discussed trends and debates shaping the Middle East. You can read past examples of our Mezzes on the CSIS website.

This week on Babel, Jon speaks with Jason Rezaian, an Iranian-American journalist who grew up in California and moved to Iran to report in 2009. In 2012, he joined the Washington Post, and in 2014, he was arrested and spent 544 days in Iran's Evin Prison. Jon and Rezaian talk about why he went to Iran, what the U.S. government gets wrong about Iranians, and how Iranian leaders think about hostage-taking and its role in Iranian foreign policy. Then, Jon, Will Todman, and Caleb Harper continue the conversation about what some Iranians get wrong about Americans and how decisionmakers should think about public opinion in Iran and other states in the region. Jason Rezaian, “Iran is spinning a fairytale that there’s no place like home. No one’s buying it.” Washington Post, January 12, 2022.  Jason Rezaian, “Four decades of ignorance have led to this U.S.-Iran standoff,” Washington Post, December 28, 2021.  Podcast, "Karim Sadjadpour: Iran's Future," CSIS, July 13, 2021. Jon Alterman, "Iran Will Still Be a Slog," DefenseOne, January 23, 2021. Transcript, "What We Get Wrong About Iran," CSIS, February 1, 2022.