• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "H. A. Hellyer"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "North America",
    "United States",
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media

Can Biden Bring Anything New at All to the Middle East?

A Biden administration is going to be expressing a lot of public dissatisfaction with different elements of the powers struggling for influence in the Middle East–and that will be a significant difference from the Trump era.

Link Copied
By H. A. Hellyer
Published on Nov 20, 2020
Program mobile hero image

Program

Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

Learn More

Source: Newsweek

I've been researching different parts of the wider MENA region as an "outsider-insider" for some two decades. A few days after the Biden administration takes office, it will be the 10th anniversary of the Egyptian revolutionary uprising of 2011 – an uprising I experienced, during which Joe Biden was Vice-President. A decade on from that, the region's politics are now deeply impacted by a new geopolitical 'cold war' – the MENA's own sluggish struggle between two axes struggling for dominance in the region, alongside older rivalries. Against the backdrop of those enmities, one may ask: what's the likely meaning of a Biden-Harris administration for the region itself? What can American allies inside, and outside, the region expect? A decade on from the uprising, can activists on the ground expect anything new?

Read Full Text

This article was originally published in Newsweek.

About the Author

H. A. Hellyer

Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program

Dr. H.A. Hellyer was a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He serves as a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies in London, and as a Cambridge University fellow.

    Recent Work

  • Commentary
    The Sinwar Delusion

      H. A. Hellyer

  • Commentary
    Why Gaza Forces Europe to Act

      H. A. Hellyer

H. A. Hellyer
Former Nonresident Scholar, Middle East Program
H. A. Hellyer
Political ReformForeign PolicyNorth AmericaUnited StatesMiddle East

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Snubbed by United Russia as Elections Loom, Medvedev Looks Condemned to Eternal Obscurity

    Medvedev’s defeat in the battle for the position of speaker appears to signal that the long process of his marginalization in Russian politics has passed the point of no return.

      Andrey Pertsev

  • Commentary
    Sada
    A New Patrimonialism is Undermining Syria’s Transition

    Syria's transition promised a fresh start. But are old habits of power making a comeback? This analysis looks at the warning signs and what it will take to build a more accountable state.

      Sima Beitinjaneh

  • 1990s USS Pennsylvania United States Navy Nuclear Powered Ohio-Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Cruising On Ocean Surface
    Paper
    Nuclear Weapons and the Future of American Power

    It seems likely that, no matter what, the power of the U.S. nuclear arsenal will face erosion, not least in the credibility of its commitments to defend allies and the political durability of those alliances.

      James M. Acton, Ankit Panda

  • Commentary
    Strategic Europe
    Taking the Pulse: Has Meloni Broken MAGA’s Civilizational Axis?

    When Giorgia Meloni very publicly rebuked Donald Trump’s disparaging remarks about her, it surprised many who saw her as a European extension of Trumpism. Is the spat a sign of trouble in the radical right’s transatlantic axis?

      • Rym Momtaz

      Rym Momtaz, ed.

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Lukashenko’s Concessions to Kyiv Reflect Russia’s Weakness

    The recent damage inflicted by Ukrainian drones and missiles on Russia has made Belarus aware of its own vulnerabilities—and surprisingly amenable to Kyiv’s demands.

      Artyom Shraibman

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.