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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Rare Acquittal Renews Protest Law Debate

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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Rare Acquittal Renews Protest Law Debate

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

Rare Acquittal Renews Protest Law Debate

MENASource
Jan 12, 2026

The Venezuela-Iran connection and what Maduro’s capture means for Tehran, explained 

By
Joze Pelayo, Kirsten Fontenrose, Ellie Sennett 

Our experts break down Iran’s ties to Venezuela and the impact Maduro’s capture could have on Tehran’s interests in and outside of its own borders. 

Iran
Oil and Gas

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Content

MENASource

May 28, 2015

Rare Acquittal Renews Protest Law Debate

By Khaled Dawoud

The dozens of lawyers crammed in a small room at Abdin’s Courthouse on May 23 were unable to contain their shock when the judge ruled to acquit all seventeen defendants charged with holding an illegal protest on January 24. The defendants, accused of breaking Egypt’s restrictive protest law, were facing up to five years in […]

North Africa

MENASource

May 28, 2015

Top News: Airstrikes Kill At Least Eighty in Deadliest Bombings of Yemen War

By MENASource

Saudi-led airstrikes killed at least eighty people near Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia and in the capital Sana’a on Wednesday, residents said, the deadliest day of bombing in over two months of war in Yemen.

MENASource

May 28, 2015

Top News: Parliament Before End of 2015, Sisi Tells Political Party Heads

By EgyptSource

After a three-hour meeting with the heads of the country’s mainstream political parties Wednesday, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi stressed that the long-delayed parliamentary elections will be held at the nearest possible time and that Egypt will have a new parliament before the end of 2015.

MENASource

May 28, 2015

EconSource: Even with Billions in Gulf Aid, Egypt May Still Turn to IMF

By EconSource

Egypt’s on-and-off talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may be back on again, as investors say IMF loans offer a stronger platform for reviving the Egyptian economy than the Gulf money currently keeping it afloat.

MENASource

May 28, 2015

Lebanonizing Yemen May Save It

By Nabeel Khoury

The Lebanese governance system, known as the National Pact of 1943, consists of a power-sharing formula based on a sectarian quota system, an agreement to forgo regional affiliations in favor of a Lebanon-first policy, and a pledge to seek consensus on any decision of national import.

Yemen

MENASource

May 27, 2015

Top News: Turkey Begins Training of Moderate Syrian Rebels with United States

By MENASource

Turkey and the United States have started training moderate Syrian rebels on Turkish territory to prepare them to fight the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL), the Turkish Foreign Minister said Tuesday.

MENASource

May 27, 2015

The New Old Wafd

By Nervana Mahmoud

Egypt’s oldest nationalist party, the Wafd Party, is facing a deep and challenging internal conflict. Despite intervention by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a new internal election, and a formal announcement that the crisis is over, the party’s internal problems are unlikely to heal soon. 

North Africa

MENASource

May 27, 2015

EconSource: Iraq About to Flood Oil Market in New Front of OPEC Price War

By EconSource

Iraq plans to boost crude oil exports by about 26 percent to a record 3.75 million barrels per day (bpd) next month, according to shipping programs, signaling an escalation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) strategy to undercut US shale drillers in the current market rout.

MENASource

May 27, 2015

Top News: Egyptian Court Issues Second Death Sentence for Sinai Militant Habara

By EgyptSource

A terrorism department at Egypt’s Criminal Court sentenced late Tuesday Sinai-based militant Adel Habara and eight others to death on charges related to the killing of seven soldiers in an attack in the Nile Delta in early 2014.

MENASource

May 27, 2015

A Better Solution to the Kurdish Arms Issue

By Daniel R. DePetris

Should the United States arm the Kurdish Peshmerga directly, without the consent and participation of the government in Baghdad?

Iraq
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