MENASource

As the MENA region continues to be the epicenter of news headlines, the Atlantic Council’s MENASource is a hub for thought-provoking and hard-hitting analyses about the latest trends, ideas, and debates. This online publication provides fast reactions and in-depth commentary on breaking news and key regional topics by a diverse team of experts and contributors.

MENASource brings you up-close to a region at the epicenter of geo-political headlines. It is the Atlantic Council’s hub for in-depth commentary about breaking news, key topics, and trends from our team of experts on the Middle East and North Africa.

The views expressed in MENASource are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

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What can we expect of Iraq’s parliamentary elections?

MENASource Jan 14, 2026

Voices from Iran: As rejection of government reaches all-time high, Iranians also wary of foreign intervention

If Trump is serious about peace, stability, and a lasting legacy, the path forward does not run through air strikes or transactional deals with a failing theocracy.

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What can we expect of Iraq’s parliamentary elections?

MENASource Jan 28, 2026

Trump’s National Security Strategy doesn’t downgrade the Middle East, it redefines it

By Kristian Alexander

Trump’s strategy is a sophisticated refinement of “America First.” For the Gulf, the implications are significant, but manageable.

Middle East National Security
What can we expect of Iraq’s parliamentary elections?

MENASource Jan 13, 2026

Eight questions (and expert answers) on the SDF’s withdrawal from Syria’s Aleppo

By Atlantic Council experts

Our experts unpack why violence erupted, what it means for Kurdish safety and integration in Syria, and how Washington is engaging.
Civil Society Conflict

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Content

MENASource

May 9, 2018

What can we expect of Iraq’s parliamentary elections?

By MENASource

Iraqis will go to the polls for the first time in four years on May 12. The vote will determine Iraq’s next prime minister at a critical time for the country as it emerges from a three-year war with the Islamic State (ISIS). Will the significant shifts in electoral lists bring about change for the […]

Iraq

MENASource

May 8, 2018

Factbox: Iraq’s 2018 parliamentary elections

By Audrey Bolus and Savannah Carter

Iraqi citizens will vote in their fourth parliamentary election on May 12th, 2018, since the 2003 US invasion to remove Saddam Hussein from power. There is an increase of cross-sectarian and pro-reform parties this election. Experts predict this will prevent a single coalition from winning an outright majority in parliament, and that alliances will likely be formed after […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

MENASource

May 7, 2018

A national conference for Libya’s future

By Karim Mezran & Erin A. Neale

In the ongoing effort by international and domestic actors to solve the political deadlock in Libya, the spotlight is on UN Special Envoy Ghassan Salame. Since the second anniversary of the signing of the Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) in the Moroccan city of Skhirat in December 2015, Salame’s well-thought and defined Action Plan for Libya […]

International Organizations Libya

MENASource

May 2, 2018

Hopes and challenges as Tunisia goes to the polls

By Elissa Miller

Tunisians will go to the polls to vote in the country’s first municipal elections on May 6. The vote is an important milestone in the country’s democratic transition and decentralization process; which aims to bridge the gap between the central government in Tunis and the Tunisian people. Since Tunisia’s constitution was passed in 2014, municipal […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

MENASource

May 1, 2018

The problem with humanitarian assistance in Yemen

By Afrah Nasser

An international fundraising conference for Yemen took place at the United Nations (UN) offices Geneva in early April. Co-chaired by Sweden, Switzerland, and the UN, the conference succeeded in securing humanitarian funding worth over $2 billion, doubling the previous year’s pledges of $1.1 billion. Despite optimism that the donations represent a “success of international solidarity […]

International Organizations

MENASource

Apr 25, 2018

An advance look at Iraq’s 2018 elections

By Rend Al-Rahim

Iraq’s 2018 parliamentary elections, simultaneously embodying continuity and change, will be held in a particularly divisive atmosphere. The elections are taking place in the shadow of the devastation left behind by the conflict with ISIS and serious splits within the governing Shia party. As a result, voting on May 12 will be a litmus test […]

Democratic Transitions Elections

MENASource

Apr 16, 2018

Can Libya survive without Haftar?

By Elissa Miller & Tarek Radwan

Libya was thrown into further flux this past week amid reports of the death of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. His exact condition remains unclear; Haftar was reportedly hospitalized in Jordan after suffering a stroke before falling into a coma after his transfer to a hospital in France. Other sources reported that eastern strongman passed away […]

Libya

MENASource

Apr 13, 2018

Turkey’s transactional engagement with Russia

By Aaron Stein

In August 2013, then Turkish Prime Minister Recep, Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters that a coalition of states should force Syria’s Bashar al-Assad from power, following the regime’s use of chemical weapons in Eastern Ghouta. At a reception in Istanbul, Erdogan was clear, saying reprisal strikes “can’t be a 24 hours hit-and-run …What matters is stopping […]

Russia Security Partnerships

MENASource

Apr 11, 2018

North African winds

By Karim Mezran

Challenged by the Libyan crisis and the consequent threats that derive from its instability—continuing violence, expanding terrorism, and flourishing organized crime—it could be reasonably expected that a more assertive cooperation would incur among the North African countries.

North Africa

MENASource

Apr 11, 2018

Libya: permanent limbo or refreshed hope?

By Karim Mezran and Erin A. Neale

The situation in Libya seems irrevocably stalled. The internationally recognized government headed by Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli and the Abdullah al Thinni government in al Beida—supported by the legitimately elected parliament of 2014, now residing in Tobruk—are as distant as ever. The Libyan Political Agreement (LPA) is only as good as the effort invested in […]

Libya
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