Babel: Translating the Middle East

In the first episode of our new podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman gives an overview of Chinese ... Read more

In the second episode of the podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman looks at China’s economic intere... Read more

How and why are Arabs shifting their loyalty away from traditional networks? In the latest episode, Vivian Salama, White... Read more

In the third episode of our podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman explores China’s security interes... Read more

In the sixth and final episode of our podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman looks at the future of ... Read more

This December, Iranians of all faiths gather to admire Christmas trees and Santa figurines, despite governmental restric... Read more

What is the relationship between the environment and conflict in the Middle East? Peter Schwartzstein, an environmental ... Read more

In the fifth episode of our podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman looks at U.S.-Chinese cooperation... Read more

In this episode, Jon Alterman discusses the prospects for Syria’s political negotiations with Syrian journalist Ibrahim ... Read more

In the fourth episode of our podcast miniseries, China in the Middle East, Jon Alterman explores the Middle East’s persp... Read more

This week, Jon Alterman, Will Todman, and McKinley Knoop talk about who joins militant jihadi groups and why. Then, Jon ... Read more

Young people across the Arab World are resorting to extreme measures—like cutting off limbs, or faking being kidnapped—t... Read more

From dens of snakes attacking Iraqi villagers to a swarm of locusts descending on Baghdad, a changing climate has unleas... Read more

In this episode, Jon Alterman talks to Aisha Jumaan about her efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance to Yemenis in n... Read more

We start the second season of Babel: Translating the Middle East with a conversation with Hanin Ghaddar, a visiting fell... Read more

This week, Jon talks with Tarik Yousef, a senior fellow in the global economy and development program at Brookings and d... Read more

The Egyptian government seems to be using horoscopes as a new avenue for disseminating pro-regime messages.

Russia is spreading disinformation in the Middle East, especially in Syria, in order to discredit its critics and advanc... Read more

Soaring fuel prices are leading Yemenis to chop down trees, and this is only adding to the humanitarian crisis.

In this special episode of Babel, McKinley Knoop interviews Jon Alterman about how COVID-19 is exacerbating a series of ... Read more