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.

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Tunisia’s Ruling Party Crisis

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.

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Tunisia’s Ruling Party Crisis

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
Tunisia’s Ruling Party Crisis

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

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MENASource

Nov 19, 2015

Tunisia’s Ruling Party Crisis

By Katherine Wolff and Elissa Miller

Nidaa Tounes may have to answer to a jaded constituency in the elections for failing its voters. While the current crisis is unlikely to trigger government collapse, it hampers the party’s ability to serve as a unified countervailing force to Ennahda and underscores the fragile nature of Tunisia’s balance of political power.

Democratic Transitions
Middle East

MENASource

Nov 19, 2015

Top News: Egypt Says State Department Human Trafficking Report Lacks Credibility

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s Justice Ministry denounced in a statement on Wednesday the annual report issued by the US Department of State on “Trafficking in Persons,” describing it as lacking credible sources on actual efforts taken by the government to combat the problem.

MENASource

Nov 18, 2015

Red-Teaming ISIS

By Bilal Y. Saab

If the Islamic State’s (ISIS or ISIL) intent behind the deadly attacks in France was to cause death, pain, and panic among Western societies (what transnational jihadists call “the far enemy”) then mission accomplished. But more importantly, what is ISIS’s ultimate purpose for this act of mass murder in Paris and possibly others in the […]

MENASource

Nov 18, 2015

Top News: French, Russia Raids in Syria Kill 33 ISIS militants; ISIS Stiffens Defenses in Raqqa

By MENASource

French and Russian air strikes in northern Syria have killed at least thirty-three ISIS fighters in the last 72 hours according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

MENASource

Nov 18, 2015

EconSource: World Bank Expects to Pay $1 Billion Loan to Egypt

By EconSource

The World Bank expects to make a $1 billion development policy loan available to Egypt in December, the Bank’s Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Hafez Ghanem said.

MENASource

Nov 18, 2015

Top News: Egypt Says Reason for Plane Crash Unconfirmed; Russian Newspaper Says Bomb Was in Main Cabin

By EgyptSource

Egypt said on Tuesday it would take into account Russia’s conclusion that a bomb brought down a passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula last month but its investigation had so far found no evidence of criminal action.

MENASource

Nov 17, 2015

What’s Wrong with the Egyptian Pound?

By Mohsin Khan and Elissa Miller

Recent movements in the exchange rate have generated considerable commentary and speculation in the media  and the public about what’s going on with the Egyptian pound and where it is headed. Historically, Egyptian policymakers, and in particular the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), have placed a high premium on the stability of the values of […]

North Africa

MENASource

Nov 17, 2015

Top News: United States and Turkey Launch Operation to Take Border with Syria

By MENASource

US President Barack Obama rejected calls for a US-led ground invasion in Syria on Monday. In the wake of the deadly attacks in Paris on Friday, public pressure for a strong military intervention in Syria has risen steeply. The president insisted that a patient approach was needed and committed the United States only to “intensify” […]

MENASource

Nov 17, 2015

ISIS and the Paris Attacks, ‘An Act of War’

By Nabeel Khoury

The words of French President Francois Hollande, commenting on the Paris attacks still unfolding at the time of his statement, resonated with many here in the United States where similar words were used after 9/11. Those in Washington will recall telling the White House that what happens in Syria (and the Middle East) does not […]

Middle East
Syria

MENASource

Nov 17, 2015

The Motives behind Salah Diab’s Arrest and Release

By Khaled Dawoud

Four days after Salah Diab’s surprising arrest, the Egyptian businessman and co-founder of one of Egypt’s largest daily newspapers was released. The decision came just one day after the courts had ordered Diab, together with his son Tawfik, detained for another fifteen days on charges of possession of unlicensed weapons. The questions remain: why was […]

North Africa
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