Not a Separatist Movement but a Safe Haven
Undercover Report Shows Imam Endorsing Marriage of Nine-Year-Old Girls
Residents report intense bombing as missile launches decline and Iranian forces scramble to reorganize inside the capital.
Is the Diplomatic Blitz on Ethiopia Redrawing the Horn of Africa’s Security Map?
First, Congress Should Satisfy the $1.45 Billion Judgment for the Family of Former Hostage Robert Levinson
An Iranian Missile Strike Has Reopened the Debate Over Whether Defensive Success Can Substitute for Strategic Victory.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler’s Letters Put Ankara’s Syria Strategy on the Record.
Residents Report Hearing Loud Explosions but Say Most Strikes Are Precise, Targeting the Regime
Ruling a Judicial Deathblow to Backdoor Islamic Blasphemy Law
History Shows That Kurdish Movements Suffer Most When They Enter Power Confrontations Between States
The Death of Ali Khamenei and the End of Political Islam’s Century-Long Experiment in Power
The Future Leader Will Inherit a State in Which Real Power Has Already Shifted Toward a Consolidated Security Elite
While Publicly Claiming Non-Alignment, Algiers Has Leaned Heavily on a Shared ‘Resistance’ Vocabulary with Tehran
Spotlight on Striking Iran
Operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion by the United States and Israel have deal a massive blow to the Iranian regime’s leadership and military capabilities. The initial military action seems to have been a success.

Khamenei and many others were killed How did the attacks unfold, what are the results so far and what targets may be nest on the list. MEF fellows and experts weigh in on all of this.
As unrest spreads across Iran, the regime and the opposition both face narrowing choices.
The Post–9/11 AUMF for Operations in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Beyond, Remains Operative
It Is Clear That the Islamic Republic’s Strategy Will Simply Be to Survive
Reports of Xi Jinping Authorizing the Transfer of ‘Carrier-Killer’ Missiles to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Created an Untenable ‘Ticking Clock’ for the Trump Administration
Khamenei’s Death Creates a Power Vacuum in Iran: Constitutional Succession May Stall, the IRGC Could Seize Control, and Opposition Leaders May Need Protection to Govern
Spotlight on Iran’s Future
The kinetic action is a start but what will be the result? Will the Islamic Republic fall? Will the people of Iran get to choose their own government?

The damage to the leadership was extensive, but can the opposition rise up to take control? How will the other countries who were attacked react to the Iranian strikes against them? The future of the region hangs in the balance.
The Regime May Still Hold the Center, but Holding the Center Is Not the Same as Maintaining State Capacity
Proxy Militias Whose Creation Predates the Islamic Republic Will Need a Concerted Effort to Combat
The Strikes Were a Military Success. Will They Be a Political One?
Those Who Have Endured the Regime’s Oppressive Policies Must Secure Recognition and the Right to Self-Determination
A New Regional Alignment Against Tehran Has Formed, While Iranian Missiles Were Still in Flight
Even If Tehran and Washington Were to Reach a New Nuclear Agreement, Such Participation Would Remain Unrealistic
Middle East Quarterly - Current Issue
Founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, MEQ is the Middle East Forum’s journal intended for both scholars and the educated public. Policymakers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists write for and read the Quarterly, which is known for exclusive interviews, in-depth historical articles, and book reviews on subjects ranging from archaeology to politics and on countries from Morocco to Iran.


Spring 2026 Volume 33: Number 2
  1. As the Islamic Republic Cracks, the Iran Freedom Congress in London Races to Build the Framework Tehran Prayed Would Never Exist
  2. New Israel Fund-Backed Initiative, Inserted into U.S. Policy, Created Systematic Loopholes to Shield Anti-Israel Actors from Accountability
  3. House Judiciary Committee cites MEF findings as Texas lawmakers move to investigate Islamist-linked institutions
  4. Lawmakers from Israel, U.S., Greece, and Cyprus Launch Caucus to Strengthen Ties and Contain Ankara
  1. Iran’s Regime Has Schemed to Expand the Islamic Revolution Since the Ayatollahs Seized Power in November 1979
  2. The India of 1949 Was ‘Postcolonial, Post-British, Post-Partition, Post-Traumatic’
  3. Savagery and Hostage-Taking Has Been Used to Reframe the Palestinian Arab-Israeli Conflict and Unleash a Torrent of Antisemitism
  4. Policymakers May Consider Middle East Islamism in Decline, but They Ignore the Fact That in South Asia and the Far East, Islamism Is in Ascendance
Middle East Forum Observer
Founded in 2024, the Observer provides rapid analysis on leading Middle East developments, from Marrakech to Mashhad and the Bab el-Mandeb to the Black Sea.
Launched in 2006, Islamist Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum. We work to combat the ideas and institutions of lawful Islamism in the United States and throughout the West. Arguing that “radical Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution,” we seek to expose the Islamist organizations that currently dominate the debate, while identifying and promoting the work of moderate Muslims.
CAMPUS WATCH, a project of the Middle East Forum, reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds.
Antisemitism
  1. Nexus Project’s Mission to Sanitize Anti-Zionist Hate
  2. Eighth-Graders Are Told That Moses and Jesus Are ‘Islamic Prophets’ and That Christians Will Be Punished for Believing in the Trinity
  3. Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine Operate as Interchangeable Parts of the Same Network
  4. Israeli Christians and Islamic Converts Blast Declaration for Adopting a Submissive Posture Toward Islam
Gaza
  1. The ‘Popular Army,’ Led by One Ashraf Al-Mansi, Is Notable for Its Presence in the Northern Part of the Strip
  2. Antisemitic Textbooks Assert the Bible is Distorted and Paint ‘Paul the Jew’ As the Corruptor of Christianity
  3. For Decades, the International Community Remained Stubbornly Wedded to a ‘Top-Down’ Fantasy
  4. Reconstruction Talk That Races Ahead of Security Realities Risks Freezing Conflict Rather than Resolving It
Islam
  1. For Decades, the Israeli Security Establishment Operated Under a Self-Imposed Psychological Constraint Known Informally as the ‘Ramadan Veto’
  2. Religious Labeling Does Not Change Destructive Capacity, but It Changes Perceived Authority
  3. State Centralization Transformed the Waqf Into a Regulatory Instrument That Retained the Name but Lost Its Substance
  4. How Islam Severed Itself from the Biblical World That Once Made Its Scripture Intelligible
Muslims in the US
  1. In a Highly Anticipated Move, the Trump Administration Designated Factions of the Global Muslim Brotherhood as Terrorist Organizations Last Month
  2. The West, in Its Universalist Hubris, Imports Incompatible Paradigms, Believing That Liberal Democracy Can Digest Everything, like an Omnivorous Leviathan
  3. And While We’re at it, Think Twice About Offering Him Another Post