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 October episode brought together Patrick Costello (Kofi Annan Foundation Senior Advisor) and Daniel Levy (US/Middle East Project President). They examined the results of the U.S. midterm elections and Israel's recent elections, exploring what these political developments could mean for the U.S.–Israeli war with Iran, the future of Israel and Palestine, and the broader geopolitical landscape of the Middle East and North Africa.
Daniel Levy is a political commentator and president of the US/Middle East Project (USMEP). He previously served as MENA director for the European Council on Foreign Relations and head of the Middle East Taskforce at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC. He also served as a senior advisor in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and to the justice minister during the government of Ehud Barak from 1999 to 2001. Earlier in his career, he was a member of the official Israeli delegation to Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at Taba under Barak and at Oslo B under Yitzhak Rabin from 1994 to 1995. Mr. Levy has briefed the UN Security Council on four occasions in the past six years.
Patrick Costello is a non-resident fellow at the Institute for Middle East Options and a senior advisor to the Kofi Annan Foundation. He is also a trustee of Mines Advisory Group and a member of the advisory boards of the Swedish MENA Dialogue Institute, European Partnership for Democracy, and Election-Watch.EU. He served as an EU official for 27 years, working at the European Parliament, European Commission, and European External Action Service (EEAS). His roles included head of division for democracy and electoral observation and head of division for the Middle East at the EEAS, as well as diplomatic advisor to European Parliament President Josep Borrell and positions in the cabinets of Chris Patten, Margot Wallström, and Karmenu Vella.
