The Middle East Forum presents this week's podcasts.

“The U.S. and the Turbulent Middle East: Threats and Opportunities”

with Ambassador John Bolton

Iranian nuclear ambitions, the Hamas-Israel conflict, Red Sea shipping crisis, a rogue Türkiye, growing Chinese influence: as usual, the United States and its allies face many major problems in the Middle East. How can Americans develop a comprehensive and intelligible policy? How do the U.S. presidential elections impact regional calculations? What can be learned from past, bitter experience?


Monday, July 15, 2024
1:00pm - 1:30pm ET


John Bolton is an attorney, diplomat, author and political commentator. He served as the 25th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2005 to 2006, and as the 26th United States National Security Advisor from 2018 to 2019. He is the author of The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir (Simon & Schuster, 2020). Mr. Bolton holds a BA and a JD from Yale University.

Israel Insider

with Ashley Perry

The Knesset is about to go on summer recess and Prime Minister Netanyahu will address the U.S. Congress. Does this mean he might enjoy a breathing space from domestic problems? Or will those pursue him and perhaps bring down his government?


Wednesday, July 17, 2024
3:00pm - 3:30pm ET

Ashley Perry is an advisor to the Middle East Forum’s Israel office. He served as adviser to Israel's minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister in 2009-15, and has also worked with Israel's Ministers of Intelligence, Agriculture and Rural Development, Energy, Water and Infrastructure, Defense, Tourism, Internal Security, and Immigrant Absorption and as an advisor to The Negev Forum. Originally from the UK, he moved to Israel in 2001. He holds a BA from University College London and an MA from Reichman University (IDC Herzliya).

“Türkiye’s Occupation of Cyprus: 50 Years On”

with Michael Rubin, Mine Balman, and Marios Lyssiotis


July 20 marks the 50th anniversary of Türkiye’s invasion of Cyprus. Ankara initially justified it on the grounds of protecting the island’s Turkish minority and preventing its annexation by Greece. That justification, however, when the Greek junta fell ended less than a week later, Greece reverted to democracy and dropped all claims to Cyprus. Against this backdrop, Türkiye invaded a second time, seizing in all nearly 40 percent of the island’s territory.


The status quo is increasingly untenable. Türkiye created a puppet government, stations troops on the island, and transfers its own citizens to settle on. Energy companies discover nearby gas deposits which Ankara claims for itself, even threatening to attack Americans workers. Hezbollah threatens to attack. Money laundering thrives and Iran increasingly sinks roots.


This special, hour-long podcast looks at Cyprus since July 20, 1974, issues arising from Europe’s oldest unresolved occupation, and future prospects.


Friday, July 19, 2024
1:00pm - 2:00pm ET

Mine Balman worked in 2006-20 as first assistant to the Turkish Cypriot member of the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus. As a filmmaker, she has produced films and documentaries that contribute to peace-building, reconciliation, and conflict-resolution between Cypriot Greeks and Turks. She holds a BS from Essex University and a MS from the University of Surrey.


Marios Lyssiotis is a former Cypriot ambassador to the United States. He also served as ambassador to France, Austria and the Council of Europe. He holds a BA and an MA, both from the Institute d’Études Politiques, Grenoble, France.


Michael Rubin is director of policy analysis at the Middle East Forum and a past editor of the Middle East Quarterly. He also serves as a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Mr. Rubin has lived and traveled legendarily throughout the Middle East, including Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. He holds a BS in biology and history and an MA and PhD in history, all from Yale University.

Catch up with our previous podcast episodes!

All podcasts are recorded for viewing after the event. To view past episodes, please visit our YouTube channel or our website.

The Middle East Forum

An activist think tank, deals with the Middle East, Islamism, U.S. foreign policy, and related topics, urging bold measures to protect Americans and their allies. Pursuing its goals via intellectual, operational, and philanthropic means, the Forum recurrently has policy ideas adopted by the U.S. government.

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