{
"authors": [
"Jihad Azour",
"Sigrid Kaag",
"Ghassan Salameh",
"Paul Salem",
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"Nicole Grajewski",
"Steven Feldstein",
"Rima Maktabi",
"Rym Momtaz",
"Marwan Muasher",
"Maha Yahya",
"Yezid Sayigh",
"Mohanad Hage Ali"
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"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"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.
Sigrid Kaag
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.
Rima Maktabi
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.