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 July episode brought together Adel Hamaizia (Highbridge Advisory Managing Director and Harvard Kennedy SchoolMiddle East Initiative Non Resident Fellow) and Dr. Helima Croft (RBC Capital Markets Managing Director and Head of Global Commodity Strategy and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Research). Through the prism of key headlines, they explored the geopolitical and geoeconomic developments reshaping the Middle East, examining the evolution of the U.S.–Iran conflict, the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz and global energy markets, the resilience of GCC economies amid regional conflict, Saudi Arabia's civil nuclear ambitions, developments in Gaza, regional dynamics across North Africa—including Ceuta—and the growing importance of connectivity and trade corridors. Throughout the conversation, they considered how conflict, diplomacy, economic transformation, and strategic competition are reshaping regional security, investment, and the global energy landscape.
Adel Hamaizia is managing director of Highbridge Advisory, a strategic advisory firm specializing in geopolitical risk, policy development, and strategic advisory services for governments and organizations working across the Middle East, the Balkans, and Africa. He is also a senior advisor at the Milken Institute, a fellow with the Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, and a senior visiting fellow at Harvard's Public Impact Analytics Lab.
Mr. Hamaizia specializes in Middle East geopolitics, regional security, and economic development, with extensive experience advising governments, international organizations, and the private sector on strategic and political developments across the region. He previously served as a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an associate fellow with Chatham House's MENA Programme. He also served as vice chairman of the Oxford Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Forum (OxGAPS), where he co-founded and co-edited Gulf Affairs, the forum's flagship quarterly publication.
Dr. Helima Croft is managing director and head of global commodity strategy and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) research at RBC Capital Markets, where she leads research on global energy markets, commodities, and the geopolitical developments shaping them. She is widely recognized for her expertise on energy security, geopolitical risk, and Middle East affairs, and is a CNBC contributor and frequent commentator on the intersection of global politics and commodity markets.
Prior to joining RBC Capital Markets, Dr. Croft served as managing director and head of North American commodities research at Barclays. Earlier in her career, she worked in Lehman's Business Intelligence Group, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Central Intelligence Agency, where she focused on geopolitics and commodities. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Council and holds a PhD in Economic History from Princeton University.
