With curated multimedia series focused on hard hitting issues such climate change as well as current events, MENASource seeks to explore all facets of life in the region as affected by political, security, economic, and cultural issues.

Of particular focus and interest are the minorities, women, and the youth populations across the region and how they are affected by the changing environments.

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

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Al-Nadeem Center for Torture Victims Fights its Closure in Cairo

MENASource
Jul 12, 2025

Netanyahu’s trip to Washington ends with conflicting signals

The moment of truth may yet come when Trump’s leverage on Netanyahu, which is considerable, may not be expressed only in private settings.

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Al-Nadeem Center for Torture Victims Fights its Closure in Cairo

MENASource
Jul 7, 2025

Unpacking Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court chaos

By
Safwan al-Amin

Regardless of the reasons behind initial mass resignations, the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Supreme Court is serious.

Iraq
Middle East

Al-Nadeem Center for Torture Victims Fights its Closure in Cairo

MENASource
Jun 26, 2025

Dispatch from Damascus: Church attack shows transition’s fragility

By
Ibrahim Al-Assil

The bombing at Mar Elias Church is more than an isolated tragedy. It is a signal that Syria’s transition remains vulnerable to sabotage.

Democratic Transitions
Middle East

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Content

MENASource

Feb 15, 2017

Al-Nadeem Center for Torture Victims Fights its Closure in Cairo

By Jihad Abaza

On Thursday, February 9th, the doctors and lawyers working in the Al-Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims found that “a huge police force” had sealed their center and clinic with red wax and took their porter to the police station for questioning, the co-founders said in a statement.  Al-Nadeem is an NGO founded […]

North Africa

MENASource

Feb 9, 2017

How Trump’s Executive Order Played Out in Cairo

By Jihad Abaza and Muhammed Al Kashef

US President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) on January 27, barring refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries—Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Iran, and Iraq—from entering the United States for at least 90 days, leaving refugee and immigrant communities in limbo. Trump’s Executive Order also suspends the US refugee resettlement program for 120 […]

North Africa Syria

MENASource

Feb 9, 2017

Strategic Thinking About the Middle East

By Stephen Blank

In its first weeks, the Trump Administration openly castigated terrorism as America’s primary threat and underlined it anti-Iranian orientation. It also announced its intention to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem and its readiness for a partnership with Russia against the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL). Unfortunately, taken together these moves are mutually contradictory. If […]

Iran Middle East

MENASource

Feb 6, 2017

Putting Institutions First

By Salam Fayyad

While initiating political reform is difficult, sustaining it is even more so. This is not unique to Arab societies. Rather, it is a challenge that today’s well-functioning democracies had to contend with in their often-turbulent formative years. The answer is a process of smart incrementalism, which establishes and safeguards state institutions while creating the potential […]

MENASource

Feb 3, 2017

Rethinking Transitional Justice in Yemen

By Tarek Radwan

Six years ago today, the Yemeni people erupted in a Day of Rage against a corrupt regime to demand equal rights, but the transitional process faltered leading to the now nearly two-year-old conflict between Houthi rebels allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and the government-in-exile led by President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi backed by Saudi […]

Yemen

MENASource

Feb 1, 2017

Trump’s Executive Order by the Numbers

By Emily Burchfield and Rachel Kreisman

On January 27, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on immigration, titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” The order places a ban on the entry of foreign nationals from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen for 90 days; suspends all refugee admissions for 120 days; and […]

Iraq Libya

MENASource

Jan 30, 2017

The Executive Order

By Frederic C. Hof

Tailors understand the necessity of measuring at least twice before cutting.  Good leaders and managers customarily apply the same procedure to decision-making.  “Act in haste, repent at leisure” is not just an aphorism.  It is a lesson often learned the hard way by those who cut carelessly.  Although White House reactions to the confusion and […]

MENASource

Jan 30, 2017

Colleges Must Find Ways to Serve Students Shut Out by the Ban

By Jessica Ashooh and Richard LeBaron

Regardless of whether it stands up in court, President Trump’s executive order banning the entry of refugees and nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries into the United States has done enormous harm to Muslim students who are studying or aspire to study here. American colleges and universities must react quickly and effectively to limit the damage, which reverberates […]

Middle East

MENASource

Jan 26, 2017

Stability in Europe’s Southern Neighborhood: A Priority for Malta’s EU Presidency

By Matthew Lowell and Frank Talbot

The recent ripples of insecurity across the southern Mediterranean have presented profound challenges for the European Union (EU).  While Libya and Syria continue to experience protracted violence and lawlessness, many other countries in the region face acute economic and social difficulties.

Libya

MENASource

Jan 25, 2017

Why Libya’s Stability Matters to the Region

By Elissa Miller

As it enters its sixth year, the crisis in Libya shows no signs of abating. The UN-backed unity government seems to be teetering on the edge of collapse, and clashes threaten to escalate between eastern and western forces. Withdrawal from Libya could have negative consequences for western interests, and the United States—under the Trump administration—could […]

Libya North Africa
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