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.

Learn more about the Middle East

Libya: A Political and Economic Trainwreck

MENASource
Jul 31, 2026

Why GCC integration matters more than ever

Gulf countries can’t build their knowledge economies of the future on their own.

Read More

Libya: A Political and Economic Trainwreck

MENASource
Jul 13, 2026

Israel’s next government must prioritize the Abraham Accords

By
Amit Yarom and Itai Melchior

The fall election could open a narrow window for Israel to reset its regional strategy and create momentum to expand normalization.

Israel
Politics & Diplomacy

Libya: A Political and Economic Trainwreck

MENASource
Aug 3, 2026

Can al-Zaidi separate the sects from the state in Iraq?

By
Munqith Dagher

The biggest challenge facing Iraq’s prime minister is how to curb the role of sectarian institutions in shaping Iraq’s state decisions.

Conflict
Iran

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Content

MENASource

Jun 21, 2017

Libya: A Political and Economic Trainwreck

By Mohsin Khan and Karim Mezran

Libya is in a Catch-22 situation—political agreement cannot be reached without economic improvement and political stability is necessary to revive the economy. Turning the economy around is contingent on oil production and exports coming back on line, at least in its initial phase. In order to produce and export at full capacity, the country requires […]

Libya

MENASource

Jun 19, 2017

Report Summary “Wilting in the Kurdish Sun: The Hopes and Fears of Religious Minorities in Northern Iraq”

By Emelie Chace-Donahue

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom recently published its 2017 report on Iraqi Kurdistan, for which the commission conducted in-field interviews with minority community leaders and spokesmen over several months. The report highlights the successes of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) in upholding the freedoms of its religious and ethnic minorities yet also […]

Iraq

MENASource

Jun 19, 2017

Why Inflation is So High in Egypt

By Mohsin Khan and Elissa Miller

Over the past decade or so, Egypt has consistently experienced relatively high rates of inflation. But since the advent of the Arab Spring in 2011, the increase in consumer prices steadily accelerated. During 2011-2015, the average rate of inflation was close to ten percent a year, which was well above the corresponding rate of six […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jun 16, 2017

Reform is the Best Option for USAID

By Rao Komar

The Trump Administration intends to shrink the United States’ foreign aid budget in 2018, cutting the amount of money available for foreign development and humanitarian aid. President Trump’s proposed cuts come amid a shift to national security focused foreign policy, known by the administration as the “America First” policy. Under this framework, money currently allocated […]

MENASource

Jun 13, 2017

The Rift with Qatar as Seen in Riyadh

By Mohammed Alyahya

What US security agencies now consider a hack of Qatar’s news agency ostensibly sent the GCC into a diplomatic whirlwind. The fallout was swift, and reconciliation remains elusive. As Kuwait, the UN General Secretary, and others try to mediate between the two sides, it is worth asking what Saudi Arabia, as the central power behind […]

Saudi Arabia The Gulf

MENASource

Jun 8, 2017

Factbox: Migrant Workers and the Qatar Rift

By Emelie Chace-Donahue

On June 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain severed ties with Qatar amid accusations of supporting terrorism. The Gulf countries closed off borders and airspace to Qatar, and deported Qatari nationals living in their countries, while Qatar’s stock markets plunged in the wake of the rift. The immediate effects on Qatari […]

North Africa The Gulf

MENASource

Jun 7, 2017

Despite Successive Blows, Muslim Sisters Keep the Brotherhood Alive

By Abdelrahman Youssef

In a continuation of their confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood, the Egyptian authorities arrested two Muslim Sisters, Dr. Hana Badr al-Din and Sara Abdul Moneim, during their visit to al-Qanater prison with the family of one of its prisoners. Recently, the Brotherhood’s Fund Inventory Committee has included the names of several women with relatives among […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jun 7, 2017

Retreating from the Middle East Is Not the Solution

By Frederic C. Hof

Ambassador Frederic Hof contributed to NSI’s recent Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) report titled “US Foreign Policy as a Global Power.” SMA is a “multidisciplinary, multi-agency portfolio of projects that assesses and studies challenging problems associated with planning and operations of DoD, military services, and Government agencies,” and delivered to the commander of US Central Command. […]

MENASource

Jun 6, 2017

Latest ISIS Attack in Egypt Leaves Christians Feeling Out of Place at Home

By Jihad Abaza

“Girgis and I used to go to the monastery together. It was a getaway, and we enjoyed serving the priests and volunteering our time. We would rent a small truck, or a motorcycle, and we would go once every week, or every ten days,” Eid Ishak says, as he recalled the trips he and his […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jun 6, 2017

Haftar and Salafism: A Dangerous Game

By Ahmed Salah Ali

There is a contradiction in General Khalifa Haftar’s narrative. Although he denounces his opponents as “takfiri terrorists and Kharijites” and accuses Misrata of employing political Islam, turning to takfiri groups for help, embracing the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh), and supporting Ansar al-Sharia, he also has strong ties to Salafist […]

Libya
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