{
"authors": [
"Jihad Azour",
"Ghassan Salameh",
"Paul Salem",
"Sinan Ülgen",
"Hamidreza Azizi",
"Nicole Grajewski",
"Steven Feldstein",
"Rym Momtaz",
"Marwan Muasher",
"Maha Yahya",
"Yezid Sayigh",
"Mohanad Hage Ali",
"Tong Zhao",
"Ali al-Mawlawi ",
"Avril Haines",
"Nabil Fahmy",
"Mustafa Al‑Kadhimi",
"Manal Radwan",
"Azeema Cheema",
"Yael Lempert",
"Amer Bisat",
"Hamza Meddeb",
"Sumantra Bose"
],
"type": "conference",
"centerAffiliationAll": "",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
],
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"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
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}
Global Shifts, Regional Stakes: Looking Ahead to 2027
Wed, December 9th, 2026 - Thu, December 10th, 2026
Virtual
The Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center's annual conference will bring together scholars from Carnegie's global centers in Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Beijing, New Delhi, and Washington, alongside leading policymakers and outside experts, to examine the forces reshaping the Middle East and the international order.
Against the backdrop of ongoing conflict in the Middle East and shifting regional alignments, renewed great-power competition, technological transformation, and growing economic uncertainty, the conference will explore how states and societies are adapting to a rapidly changing strategic landscape. Discussions will address the future of U.S. foreign policy, global economic and trade networks, China's and India's growing international roles, emerging regional alliances, the changing nature of warfare, artificial intelligence, nuclear risks, post-conflict reconstruction, and Lebanon's future.
The conference, which will encompass regional and international perspectives, will seek to move beyond immediate crises to assess the broader transformations that are likely to shape the Middle East and the international system in 2027 and beyond.
Event Speakers
Jihad Azour
Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund
Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund where he oversees the Fund’s work in the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Caucasus.
Ghassan Salameh
Minister of Culture of Lebanon
Ghassan Salameh is the minister of culture of Lebanon.
Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute
Paul Salem is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute.
Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe
Sinan Ülgen is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, where his research focuses on Turkish foreign policy, transatlantic relations, international trade, economic security, and digital policy.
Hamidreza Azizi
Visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
Hamidreza Azizi is a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).
Nonresident Scholar, Nuclear Policy Program
Nicole Grajewski is a nonresident scholar in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Steven Feldstein
Senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.
Steven Feldstein is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program.
Editor in Chief, Strategic Europe
Rym Momtaz is the editor in chief of Carnegie Europe’s blog Strategic Europe. A multiple Emmy award-winning journalist-turned-analyst, she specializes in Europe and the Middle East and the interplay between those two spaces.
Vice President for Studies
Marwan Muasher is vice president for studies at Carnegie, where he oversees research in Washington and Beirut on the Middle East. Muasher served as foreign minister (2002–2004) and deputy prime minister (2004–2005) of Jordan, and his career has spanned the areas of diplomacy, development, civil society, and communications.
Director, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Maha Yahya is director of the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, where her research focuses on citizenship, pluralism, and social justice in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings.
Senior Fellow, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Yezid Sayigh is a senior fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, where he leads the program on Civil-Military Relations in Arab States (CMRAS). His work focuses on the comparative political and economic roles of Arab armed forces, the impact of war on states and societies, the politics of postconflict reconstruction and security sector transformation in Arab transitions, and authoritarian resurgence.
Deputy Director for Research, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Mohanad Hage Ali is the deputy director for research at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center.
Senior Fellow with the Nuclear Policy Program and Carnegie China
Tong Zhao is a senior fellow with the Nuclear Policy Program and Carnegie China, Carnegie’s East Asia-based research center on contemporary China. Formerly based in Beijing, he now conducts research in Washington on strategic security issues.
El-Erian Fellow, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center
Ali al-Mawlawi is the El-Erian Fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center and director of Horizon Advisory Group.
President
Avril Haines is the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She served as U.S. Director of National Intelligence and a cabinet member from 2021 to 2025, following decades of public service in senior national security, policy, and legal roles across all three branches of government.
Nabil Fahmy
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt
Nabil Fahmy is an Egyptian diplomat, academic, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt.
Mustafa Al‑Kadhimi
Former Prime Minister of Iraq
Mustafa Al‑Kadhimi, is an Iraqi independent politician, lawyer, former intelligence director, and journalist who served as Prime Minister of Iraq.
Manal Radwan
Special envoy and advisor to the minister of foreign affairs for negotiations and peace efforts at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Manal Radwan is the special envoy and advisor to the minister of foreign affairs for negotiations and peace efforts at Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Azeema Cheema
Founding Director at Verso Consulting
Azeema Cheema is a Founding Director at Verso Consulting where she leads the portfolio on Conflict, Fragility and Violence.
Yael Lempert
Vice President for Outreach, Middle East Institute
Ambassador (ret.) Yael Lempert joined the Middle East Institute as the vice president for Outreach in September 2025. Previously, Ambassador Lempert served for over 27 years as an American diplomat, including as the U.S. ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from 2023 to 2025. Her other previous positions include acting assistant secretary of state and principal deputy assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs from 2021 through 2023. She served in 2021 as the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in London, and as the deputy chief of mission for the two years prior. She was acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Egypt and North Africa from 2017 to 2018.
Amer Bisat
Minister of Economy and Trade of Lebanon
Amer Bisat is the Minister of Economy and Trade of Lebanon.
Fellow, Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center, Director, Political Economy Program
Hamza Meddeb is a research fellow at the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center and director of its Political Economy Program.
Sumantra Bose
Professor of International and Comparative Politics at Krea University
Sumantra Bose is the Professor of International and Comparative Politics at Krea University.