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

Competing Politics and Claims of Sunnism

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

Competing Politics and Claims of Sunnism

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

Competing Politics and Claims of Sunnism

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

Sep 19, 2016

Competing Politics and Claims of Sunnism

By H.A. Hellyer

This Hajj season, the modern religious culture wars among Muslims were prominent again, and are set to continue. With the Syrian quagmire deepening, such conflicts have deep consequences; one could imagine a way to traverse through that set of profoundly sectarian questions – but the answers are acutely political. Without that political settlement – which […]

Iran Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Sep 19, 2016

Jump Starting Tunisia’s Economic Growth

By Ouiem Chettaoui and Mohamed Malouche

Youssef Chahed, the Arab world’s youngest head of government and a 41-year-old PhD holder in agricultural economics, led the decentralisation program as Tunisia’s Minister of Local Affairs under the government of his predecessor, Habib Essid. This experience arms him in his new role as prime minister with an understanding of Tunisia’s deep bureaucracy and uneven […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 14, 2016

The Future of Secularism in Iraq

By Safwan Al-Amin

In today’s Iraq, political movements and politicians shy away from promoting secularism or proclaiming to be secularists. The reasons for this—and the reasons for the rise of religious (and religious identity) politics in Iraq after the 1958 coup in which the Hashemite monarchy was overthrown—are numerous and complex. Some of the main factors that may […]

Iraq

MENASource

Sep 12, 2016

Libya’s Future and Haftar’s Oil Grab

By Karim Mezran and Mattia Toaldo

The situation in Libya seems to be heading toward a military confrontation between forces loyal to the UN-sponsored Government of National Agreement (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) forces of General Khalifa Haftar. The General is nominally under the authority of the House of Representatives (HoR), the parliament seated in Tobruk and of the […]

Libya

MENASource

Sep 9, 2016

Will Increased US Attention on Yemen Help End the War?

By Jillian Schwedler

US Secretary of State John Kerry met two weeks ago with Gulf Cooperation Council representatives, officials from the United Kingdom, and the UN special envoy in Jeddah to discuss the war in Yemen and the desperate need to advance the peace talks. He pledged $189 million in humanitarian aid and called for a new peace initiative.  […]

Yemen

MENASource

Sep 7, 2016

Regional Priorities for Egypt and the Next US Administration

By Zack Gold and Elissa Miller

In a series of interviews with state media at the end of August, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gave insight into his views toward foreign policy, economics, and domestic politics. Sisi’s remarks on Libya and Syria in particular reflect the threat perceptions to national security driving Egypt’s foreign policy in the region and should be carefully […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 2, 2016

Challenges Facing the New Tunisian Government

By Fatim-Zohra El Malki

In a context of economic woes, Youssef Chahed’s proposed cabinet received overwhelming support in a vote of confidence on August 26, with 167 of Tunisia’s members of parliament voting in its favor. The early vote, which took place prior to the September 1 legal deadline to form a new government, allowed the newly appointed 26 […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 2, 2016

A Blow to Tunisia’s Democratic Process?

By Karim Mezran and Elissa Miller

Much has been made of the recent resignation by Tunisia’s former prime minister Habib Essid and the appointment and parliamentary approval of his replacement Youssef Chahed as damaging to Tunisia’s political stability. In the aftermath of these changes, one former member of Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly wrote, “Within the last 18 months, the parliament has […]

North Africa

MENASource

Aug 25, 2016

Egypt and Ethiopia: Fears of Drought and Dreams of Development

By Mohamed Mahmoud

The sign above a modest, one-story shop features a photo of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam next to an image of gold and dollars: revenue expected from the dam, the great dream in Ethiopia’s imagination. For Egyptians, that same dream stirs fears of drought. Tsegaab Getachew, a 29-year old Ethiopian tour organizer, hopes that the […]

Ethiopia North Africa

MENASource

Aug 24, 2016

Can Tunisia’s New Government Deliver?

By Karim Mezran and Elissa Miller

On August 20, Tunisia’s new Prime Minister-designate Youssef Chahed announced his new cabinet. Almost three weeks earlier, Prime Minister Habib Essid had been ousted in a vote of no-confidence. President Beji Caid Essebsi and his supporters, displeased with Essid’s performance and worried by the country’s economic downturn and political tensions, decided to change course and […]

North Africa
Load More