On this episode, Garrison is joined by Mohammed Soliman of the Middle East Institute to discuss his vision for the Middle East. Or more specifically, why he has argued that the Middle East as an American strategic concept should be replaced with his concept of "West Asia". The two discuss the intellectual origins and foundations of West Asia as a historically relevant framework built on Indo-Abrahamic transregional order. Mohammed further explained how this new order is being developed and deployed into the new "I2U2" group of nations, how the Abraham Accords paved the way for these ideas, and what Iran and China, respectively, will do about these developments (and what could happen next).
Mohammed's two landmark publications outlining his vision for West Asia and Indo-Abrahamic relations can be found here at the MEI, and in National Interest.
Mohammed Soliman is a Non-Resident Scholar with MEI's Cyber Program and Egypt Program, and a Senior Associate at McLarty Associates’ Middle East and North Africa Practice. His work focuses on the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and business in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Mohammed frequently appears on Arabic- and English-language television to provide commentary on unfolding events in the Middle East.
A native of Cairo, Mohammed started his career as an engineer and worked as a consultant, providing strategic advisory services for local and international businesses. In Washington, DC, he has also served as a country analyst for the Peace Tech Lab at the US Institute of Peace, as a Huffington Fellow at Georgetown’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, and as a Junior Centennial Fellow at Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service.
Mohammed is a 2017 recipient of the Open Society Foundation's Civil Society Leadership Award. In 2021, he was selected by the Middle East Policy Council (MEPC) as one of their 40 Under 40 Professionals Making a Difference in US-Middle East Relations. That same year, Mohammed was named to the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) 2021 U.S. National Security & Foreign Affairs Leadership List, which honors the contributions of diverse practitioners in U.S. national security and foreign policy.
Garrison Moratto is the founder and host of The New Diplomatist Podcast; he earned a M.S. of International Relations as well as a B.S. in Government: Public Administration (Summa Cum Laude) at Liberty University in the United States. He has had the privilege of interviewing some of the leading policymakers and experts of our time, including Robert B. Zoellick, Elbridge Colby, Richard Fontaine, Andrew Roberts, Ivan Briscoe, Vishnu Prakash, Rajiv Bhatia, Aparne Pande, and many others.
Guest opinions are their own. Originally recorded Aug. 8, 2022.
