Crown Event: Reporting the Middle East After 9/11
Recording coming soon.
Featured Content Slideshow
Our 2027-28 Faculty Leave Fellowship Application Is Now Open!
The Crown Center invites applications for a one-year faculty leave residential fellowship for scholars of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa. For more information about eligibility, requirements, and important deadlines, click below.
Recording Now Available: Did 9/11 Make Today's Middle East?
For our annual Fall Kickoff, the Crown Center brought together experts on Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and U.S. foreign policy to ask: Did 9/11 make today’s Middle East? And how? Watch the recording now.
New Crown Conversation — The Iran War: What Has Changed and What Comes Next for the Middle East?
In this three-part Crown Conversation, nine regional experts analyze the ongoing war from the perspectives of Iran, Israel and the United States, and the Gulf.
U.S.-Israel Strikes on Iran — Crown Center Resources
Crown Center research and analysis to help contextualize the escalating conflict involving Iran, Israel, and the United States.
The Crown Center for Middle East Studies is committed to conducting balanced and dispassionate research of the modern Middle East that meets the highest academic standards. The Center seeks to help make decision- and opinion-makers better informed about the region. The scope of the center's research includes the 22 members of the Arab League as well as Turkey, Iran and Israel. The Crown Center's approach is multidisciplinary in its study of the politics, economics, history, security, sociology and anthropology of the region's states and societies.
Upcoming Events
Beyond Escalation: Redefining Security and Peacemaking
in the Post-October 7 Middle East
A Crown Conference
November 6, 2026 — 8:30-4:00 PM
In Person and Online
Yazidis on the Margins of Humanity: Internally Displaced in Iraqi Kurdistan
A Crown Seminar with Houman Oliaei
December 2, 2026 — 11:00 AM-12:15 PM
Online
Latest Crown Publication
In this three-part Crown Conversation, nine regional experts analyze the ongoing war from the perspectives of Iran, Israel and the United States, and the Gulf. Together, they assess how the conflict is reshaping the Iranian state and society, nuclear diplomacy and Israeli politics, the U.S.–Israel relationship, and the evolving regional security order in the Gulf, including the future of the Strait of Hormuz. This conversation was finalized on July 21, 2026, and may not reflect subsequent developments.
Crown Center Analyses on Hamas and Israel
The Crown Center is dedicated to sharing balanced and dispassionate research on the Middle East. Please see the Crown Center analyses which delve into the roots and evolution of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Image credit: Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo
Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast
Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast is produced by the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University. Through conversations with scholars and practitioners encompassing a variety of disciplines and perspectives, each episode will debunk key misconceptions about the contemporary Middle East. "Counter/Argument" is committed to a balanced and dispassionate approach to the region and to making scholarship more widely accessible. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Download, subscribe, rate and review, and most importantly, please share with a friend!
Image credit: Chae Lee
