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

Behind Erdogan’s Dismissive Statements to Iraq’s Prime Minister

MENASource
Mar 26, 2026

As Iran attacks, the US should provide air defense for Iraqi Kurdistan

Washington faces a choice: Continue to defer to Baghdad’s procedural objections while Iran conducts unimpeded strikes on Kurdish territory or acknowledge the strategic reality and take decisive action.

Read More

Behind Erdogan’s Dismissive Statements to Iraq’s Prime Minister

MENASource
Mar 17, 2026

A crisis in Egypt could be a warning sign for the global economy 

By
Khalid Azim

Market watchers should keep an eye on Egypt as an oil shock could cause financial turmoil.

Economy & Business
International Financial Institutions

Behind Erdogan’s Dismissive Statements to Iraq’s Prime Minister

MENASource
Mar 11, 2026

Three lessons from Libya for the war in Iran

By
Frank Talbot

Any outside power using force to attain a political outcome must define the end state it seeks, align coalition partners around a shared strategy, and establish credible escalation controls.

Conflict
Iran

Stay Updated


Content

MENASource

Oct 12, 2016

Behind Erdogan’s Dismissive Statements to Iraq’s Prime Minister

By Aaron Stein

Turkey’s Iraq policy changed considerably in the past half-decade. Turkey has implicitly broken with its “one Iraq” policy and, since 2010, has taken steps to deepen alliances with political actors, committed to the further decentralization—and, in the longer term, break-up—of the Iraqi state. This policy is a sharp departure from Turkey’s history of advocacy for […]

Iraq Turkey

MENASource

Oct 6, 2016

Saving Libya to Defend NATO’s Southern Flank

By Karim Mezran

Roughly 20 years ago, Carlo Maria Santoro, a professor of international relations at Milan and one of Italy’s foremost experts on geopolitics, wrote a book titled, The Risk from the South. He warned of Libya’s centrality to the stability of North Africa and the countries of Southern Europe. He was, at the time, referring to […]

Libya NATO

MENASource

Oct 5, 2016

Morocco’s Upcoming Elections: Gradual Change or More of the Same?

By Sabina Henneberg

Parliamentary elections scheduled for October 7 mark the end of the five-year mandate of Morocco’s current government led by the Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD). Approximately 30 political parties will compete for seats in the directly-elected House of Representatives. The secular Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) represents the PJD’s main rival. While important for […]

Morocco

MENASource

Oct 3, 2016

What Egypt’s Assassination Attempts Say about its Islamist Insurgency

By Mokhtar Awad

An attempted assassination at the end of September on Egypt’s assistant prosecutor general, Zakaria Abdul Aziz, highlights the capability and determination of militant Islamist actors in the Egyptian mainland to wage terror in the mainland.

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 30, 2016

Egypt’s Currency Catch 22

By H.A. Hellyer

The board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is due to meet sometime in the next two to three weeks, at which point it will formally sign off on the deal for Egypt. It’s a deal wrought with challenges, but is likely to go forward anyway. Cairo insists that the IMF deal ties in well […]

Economy & Business North Africa

MENASource

Sep 29, 2016

Kuwaiti-Iranian Relations: The Energy Angle

By Giorgio Cafiero and Cinzia Miotto

Although oil-rich, Kuwait has modest gas reserves. Consequently, the Arab Gulf state has been a net importer of the resource since 2008, and in 2009 Kuwait became the first Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). As a host of obstacles (contract structures, geological challenges, etc.) have hindered rapid expansion of […]

Iran The Gulf

MENASource

Sep 28, 2016

Shimon Peres: RIP

By Frederic C. Hof

Although age and infirmity had already curtailed the impact of Shimon Peres on Israel and its neighbors, his passing nevertheless measures high on the Richter scale of Israeli and regional affairs. For decades he represented his country and its citizens with great skill and impressive finesse. Yet the polish and sophistication he projected masked underlying toughness […]

Israel

MENASource

Sep 27, 2016

Yemen Heightens Tension in Saudi’s International Relations

By Tarek Radwan

The relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia has witnessed considerable strain over the past few years, but increasing reports documenting poor targeting practices and disproportionate collateral damage in the Saudi-led coalition’s conduct of the war in Yemen has sparked an unprecedented outcry in the US Congress.

Saudi Arabia Yemen

MENASource

Sep 22, 2016

Neither Washington Nor Riyadh’s Peace Plans Will Work in Yemen

By Bilal Y. Saab

On May 1, 2003, then-President George W. Bush stood in front of a large crowd aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of San Diego and famously pronounced with a draped “Mission Accomplished” banner behind him the end of US combat operations in Iraq. The declaration, it turned out, was wildly premature, for Washington’s […]

Saudi Arabia Yemen

MENASource

Sep 21, 2016

Factbox: Egypt’s Sisi Meets with Trump, Clinton in New York

By Jenna Amlani and Elissa Miller

On the sidelines of the 71st session of the United States General Assembly on September 19, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met with US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Sisi’s meetings with Trump and Clinton sparked considerable discussion around what the US-Egyptian relationship would look like under either presidency. Meanwhile, as in 2015, […]

North Africa
Load More