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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Facing up to Fear

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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Facing up to Fear

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

Facing up to Fear

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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Content

MENASource

Aug 24, 2015

Facing up to Fear

By Amr Hamzawy

I face up to it, this fear that day in, day out curses my family – our security, stability, and happiness – and my own wellbeing. This fear might silence my outspoken opposition to the increasing injustice holding us under siege on all fronts. It might compel me to disregard the moral and social imperative […]

North Africa

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Aug 24, 2015

Top News: Egypt Arrests Three Under New Terrorism Law

By EgyptSource

Egyptian police have arrested, under a new anti-terrorism law, three individuals who are accused of spreading Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) propaganda through Facebook.

MENASource

Aug 24, 2015

Top News: ISIS Blows Up Ancient Temple At Palmyra

By MENASource

The Islamic State (ISIL or ISIL) set off explosions at a temple in the ancient ruins of Palmyra in Syria on Sunday, continuing a pattern of destruction that they have visited upon historical sites across the territory they control there and in Iraq.

MENASource

Aug 24, 2015

EconSource: Fitch Revises Saudi Arabia’s Outlook to Negative From Stable

By EconSource

Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on Saudi Arabia to “negative” from “stable,” citing lower oil prices and increased spending tied to the accession of King Salman.

MENASource

Aug 21, 2015

Tunisia Needs Entrepreneurs

By Mohsin Khan and Hanane Lahnaoui

The lack of jobs was one of the most important factors in creating the conditions for the uprising in January 2011 in Tunisia that launched the so-called Arab Spring. In the decade 2000-2010, with the economy growing at an average annual rate of 4.5 percent, overall unemployment averaged nearly 14 percent and youth unemployment hovered […]

North Africa

MENASource

Aug 21, 2015

Top News: Israeli Air Raids On Syria Kill Five People

By MENASource

Syrian state television reported Friday that Israel’s air force carried out a drone strike in the village of Kom in southern Syria’s Quneitera province killing five people. One soldier was killed and seven others wounded in a separate Israeli air raid overnight.

MENASource

Aug 21, 2015

Top News: HEC Approves Foreign, Local Organizations to Monitor Parliamentary Elections

By EgyptSource

Khalid Sultan, head of the Solidarity Ministry’s Central Administration of NGOs, said that forty-five NGOs received approvals to monitor the parliamentary elections after they fulfilled conditions set by the ministry.

MENASource

Aug 21, 2015

EconSource: Tunisia to Adopt Investment Code in Early October

By EconSource

Tunisia’s House of People’s Representatives (HPR) will adopt a set of economic bills at the beginning of October, Minister of Communication Technology and Digital Economy Noomen Fehri said, including an investment code.

MENASource

Aug 20, 2015

The Republic of Fear

By Amr Hamzawy

The Egyptian government issued a decree in July placing regulatory and independent agencies under the auspices of the president of the country, authorizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to replace the agencies’ leaders. This move effectively puts an end to the agencies’ independent regulatory role by threatening their ability to both ensure the executive authority does […]

North Africa

MENASource

Aug 20, 2015

Top News: SOHR Documents 36,000 Civilian Deaths in Syria Over Past Ten Months

By MENASource

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group reported on Thursday that it has documented 33,376 air strikes carried out by Syrian regime forces in the past ten months since October 20, 2014, including 18,038 barrel bombs and 15,338 air raids.

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