The MENA Mix: Regional Recap is a monthly video podcast, produced by the Institute for Middle East Options (IMEO). Each episode features rotating experts who unpack and analyze key news stories shaping the Middle East and North Africa.
Our June episode brought together Kahina Bouagache (Manaar Legal Senior Counsel and IMEO Non-Resident Fellow) and Hiwa Osman (+964 Media Director General). They examined how shifting security dynamics in the Gulf are reshaping regional politics, with particular attention to energy security, strategic competition, and the growing interdependence of diplomacy, economics, and defense. Through discussions on the Gulf states, Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, maritime chokepoints, and global energy supply routes, they explored how regional conflicts increasingly influence international markets and geopolitical decision-making. The conversation concluded by considering the links between conflict, energy security, and climate change, highlighting the need for long-term regional cooperation to address increasingly interconnected security and environmental challenges.
Kahina Bouagache is senior counsel at Manaar Legal Consultancy, a Track 2 diplomacy expert, a certified executive coach with more than 20 years of experience working across the Middle East and North Africa, and an IMEO Non-Resident Fellow. Her work spans governance, mediation, institutional reform, access to justice, women’s rights, youth inclusion, migration governance, climate resilience, and countering violent extremism. She has advised international organizations, corporations, and civil society actors on complex legal and policy challenges, and has led initiatives focused on dialogue, legal reform, ethics, compliance, and leadership development. She previously held senior legal roles in multinational companies, led regional programs with AMIDEAST and the American Bar Association, and has lectured in corporate and international business law in major universities. She has also contributed to gender-based violence prevention and regional justice reform initiatives and represented Algeria in “195 Women for Equality,” a Guinness World Records–recognized global campaign launched in Davos in 2025.
Hiwa Osman is an award-winning Iraqi journalist, analyst, and media expert with extensive experience covering Iraqi politics, governance, and regional affairs. He is the director general of +964 Media, an Iraq-based news agency providing local reporting and analysis from across the country in Arabic, Kurdish, and English. Mr. Osman previously served as media advisor to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani from 2005 to 2008. Earlier in his career, he worked with the BBC in the United Kingdom and as a media development specialist with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, supporting independent journalism and media capacity-building. He is a frequent commentator on political developments in Iraq and the wider Middle East.
