Babel: Translating the Middle East

This week, Jon talks with Tarik Yousef, a senior fellow in the global economy and development program at Brookings and director of the Brookings Doha Center. They discuss where countries in the region were several months ago, where they are now, and what that means for their futures. Then, Jon, Will, and McKinley talk about how the spread of COVID-19 will affect middle income countries in the Middle East.Jon Alterman, “How Will the Middle East Cope with COVID-19?” Center for Strategic and International Studies, March 26, 2020.Tarik M. Yousef et al. “Brookings experts on the implications of COVID-19 for the Middle East and North Africa,” Brookings, March 26, 2020.Jon Alterman, “Add coronavirus to other crises, and the Middle East faces a catastrophe,” The Hill, March 22, 2020.Tarik M. Yousef et al. “The Middle East and North Africa over the next decade: Key Challenges and policy options,” Brookings, March 3, 2020.

From dens of snakes attacking Iraqi villagers to a swarm of locusts descending on Baghdad, a changing climate has unleashed plagues of biblical proportions on Iraq in recent years.

In this special episode of Babel, McKinley Knoop interviews Jon Alterman about how COVID-19 is exacerbating a series of existing crises in the Middle East. The episode includes the current status of COVID-19 in the region, how states with various capabilities are reacting, and what could come next. Jon also explores potential areas for U.S. involvement in the region, and why it’s important that we pay attention.

This week, Jon Alterman, Will Todman, and McKinley Knoop talk about who joins militant jihadi groups and why. Then, Jon talks with Elisabeth Kendall, an Oxford University-based scholar of Arabic literature who has focused on poetry among Yemeni jihadis. They discuss poetry in Yemen, what makes “good” jihadi poetry, and differences between al Qaeda and ISIS poetry. Jon B. Alterman, Religious Radicalism After the Arab Uprisings, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2015.Elisabeth Kendall, “Militant Jihadist Poetry and the Battle for Hearts and Minds,” The Anglo-Omani Society, 2019. Elisabeth Kendall, “Contemporary Jihadi Militancy in Yemen: How is the Threat Evolving,” Middle East Institute, July 2018.  

Solar panels are giving Yemenis access to affordable power solutions, even as traditional electric grids are failing.

We start the second season of Babel: Translating the Middle East with a conversation with Hanin Ghaddar, a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute who focuses on Shia politics throughout the Levant. Jon and Hanin discuss sectarianism in Lebanon, the changing role of Hezbollah, and what’s next for a country mired in economic troubles.Jon Alterman, “Iran is not one crisis, but three, for the US,” The Hill, January 10, 2020.Jon Alterman, “Lebanon’s Government Collapses,” CSIS, October 20, 2019.Hanin Ghaddar, “Here’s how the US can pressure Lebanon’s new government to tackle corruption,” The Hill, January 26, 2020.Hanin Ghaddar, “Iran is Losing the Middle East, Protests in Lebanon and Iraq Show,” Foreign Policy, October 22, 2019.

In the sixth and final episode of our podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman looks at the future of China in the Middle East with Nadège Rolland and Deborah Lehr. They discuss the community of common destiny, political warfare, and opportunities for private company growth in the region. Jon explains why countries roll out the literal red carpet for foreign heads of state, and what that symbolism means for foreign powers acting in the region.China in the Middle East is a six-part miniseries that is part of our regular series podcast, Babel: Translating the Middle East. We release new episodes every Tuesday.Deborah Lehr, “Green Financing in Egypt,” Middle East Institute, February 11, 2020.Deborah Lehr, “How the U.S.-China Tech Wars Will Impact the Developing World,” The Diplomat, February 23, 2019.Nadège Rolland, “China’s Vision for a New World Order,” The National Bureau of Asian Research, January 27, 2020.Nadège Rolland, “A Concise Guide to the Belt and Road Initiative,” The National Bureau of Asian Research, April 11, 2019.

In the fifth episode of our podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman looks at U.S.-Chinese cooperation and competition in the region with Robert Manning and Dawn Murphy. They discuss how the United States is changing its traditional role in the Middle East, and what that means for China’s role in the region. Jon also discusses how Somali pirates have brought China closer to multilateral military cooperation.China in the Middle East is a six-part miniseries that is part of our regular series podcast, Babel: Translating the Middle East. We release new episodes every Tuesday.Robert Manning, “The beginning of the end of a US role in the Middle East?” The Hill, October 15, 2019.Robert Manning, “AI ripe for US-China cooperation,” Global Times, October 6, 2019.Dawn Murphy, “China’s Approach to International Terrorism,” United States Institute of Peace, September 2017.Dawn Murphy, hearing on “China and the Middle East,” testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, June 6, 2013.

In the fourth episode of our podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman explores the Middle East’s perspectives on China with Mohammed Sudairi and Ariane Tabatabai. They talk about how the Middle East holds high hopes for China’s future role in the region and focus on Iran and the Gulf as examples. They also discuss the myth of Chinese workers speaking fluent Arabic and what Iranian storekeepers tell shoppers about bicycles made in China.China in the Middle East is a six-part miniseries that is part of our regular series podcast, Babel: Translating the Middle East. We release new episodes every Tuesday.Mohammed Sudairi, The Communist Party of China’s United Front Work in the Gulf: The “Ethnic Minority Overseas Chinese” of Saudi Arabia as a Case Study, Dirasat, March 2018.Mohammed Sudairi, China as the New Frontier for Islamic Da‘wah: The Emergence of a Saudi China-Oriented Missionary Impulse, Journal of Arabian Studies, September 2018.Ariane Tabatabai, The Islamic Republic’s Foreign Policy at Forty, Atlantic Council, February 8, 2019.Ariane Tabatabai, Don’t Expect a Thaw in Iran, Foreign Policy, December 10, 2019.

In the third episode of our podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman explores China’s security interests in the Middle East. Jon also talks to Dean Cheng, Evan Medeiros, and Andrew Scobell about China’s current security capacity in the region, and how China is using a blend of military, economic, and technological capacities to advance China’s interest in stability and security in the region.China in the Middle East is a six-part miniseries that is part of our regular series podcast, Babel: Translating the Middle East. We release new episodes every Tuesday.Dean Cheng, Middle East Lessons for China: Internal Stability, The Heritage Foundation, March 21, 2011.Evan S. Medeiros, The Changing Fundamentals of US-China Relations, The Washington Quarterly, October 11, 2019.Andrew Scobell and Alireza Nader, China in the Middle East: The Wary Dragon, RAND Corporation, December 5, 2016.