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

Top News: New offensive by Assad’s forces overshadows Syria peace talks

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.

Read More

Top News: New offensive by Assad’s forces overshadows Syria peace talks

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

Top News: New offensive by Assad’s forces overshadows Syria peace talks

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

Stay Updated


Content

MENASource

Feb 3, 2016

Top News: New offensive by Assad’s forces overshadows Syria peace talks

By MENASource

Rebels said the new assault on Aleppo, backed by heavy Russian air strikes, was unprecedented and that the divided northern city might soon be encircled. Russia will not stop its air strikes on Syria until armed groups are defeated, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

MENASource

Feb 3, 2016

Top News: Rights Group Says Violations Against Journalists Doubled in Second Half of 2015

By EgyptSource

Violations against the press and media personnel in Egypt doubled over the second half of 2015 compared to the first half, according to the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE).

MENASource

Feb 3, 2016

EconSource: Minister Says UAE GDP Growth Seen at 3.5 Percent in 2016

By EconSource

The economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is expected to grow about 3.5 percent in 2016 as the country moves forward with strategic projects despite the global drop in oil prices, Economy Minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said.

MENASource

Feb 2, 2016

Top News: US envoy meets PYD in Syria

By MENASource

A delegation, which included President Barack Obama’s Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Brett McGurk, met in Syria on Sunday with the leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the armed wing of the PKK-linked Democratic Union Party (PYD).

MENASource

Feb 2, 2016

Top News: Egypt’s Sisi Says Open to Criticism, Admits Deficiency in Dealing with Youth

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Monday that he does not mind criticism, stressing that it is his job to placate disgruntled youth, a day after a cartoonist was arrested for what critics suggest was retaliation for caricatures mocking the former army chief. “I’m not upset at Gawish or anyone … No one can speak […]

MENASource

Feb 2, 2016

EconSource: Industry to Start Producing in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone in 2020

By EconSource

Egypt is working on infrastructure at the Suez Canal Economic Zone that will allow industry investing in the area to start production by 2020, Head of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone Ahmed Darwish said.

MENASource

Feb 1, 2016

Top News: Syria peace talks hit trouble after Damascus blast kills 60

By MENASource

Syria’s main opposition group met UN mediator Staffan de Mistura for the first time on Sunday, but the peace process ran straight into trouble after Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) bombers killed more than 60 people near the country’s holiest Shia shrine.

MENASource

Feb 1, 2016

Top News: Cartoonist Released After One Night in Detention; NGO Founder Detained at Airport

By EgyptSource

Cairo prosecutors ordered on Monday the release of Egyptian cartoonist Islam Gawish without filing charges against him a day after he was arrested. The Ministry of Interior said Gawish, the owner of a satirical caricature Facebook page, was arrested Sunday at the headquarters of the news website, Egypt News Network (ENN), which they raided after […]

MENASource

Feb 1, 2016

EconSource: Baghdad and KRG Agree to Cooperate on Economic Reform

By EconSource

A delegation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) met Sunday with the Iraqi government and agreed to cooperate on reforms aimed at addressing an acute economic crisis.

MENASource

Feb 1, 2016

Can Tourism Save Oman from Cheap Oil?

By Giorgio Cafiero

Of all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, non-OPEC Oman is most vulnerable to low oil prices. In the 1990s, the sultanate discovered that its oil reserves were substantially smaller than previously thought and Oman’s sovereign wealth fund is a fraction of the size of other GCC nations.

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy
Load More