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: Investigators Have War Crimes Case on Bashar al-Assad

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: Investigators Have War Crimes Case on Bashar al-Assad

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: Investigators Have War Crimes Case on Bashar al-Assad

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

May 13, 2015

Top News: Investigators Have War Crimes Case on Bashar al-Assad

By MENASource

A three-year operation to smuggle official documents out of Syria has produced enough evidence to indict President Bashar al-Assad and twenty-four senior members of his regime, according to the findings of an international investigative commission.

MENASource

May 13, 2015

Top News: President Sisi Delivers Comprehensive Speech on Governance, Security, and Development

By EgyptSource

During what was announced as a monthly speech to the nation on Tuesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addressed a number of the country’s developmental issues, providing statistics for each. Sisi refrained from going into detail on many of the government’s current projects, “because evil forces are trying to put a stop to the march […]

MENASource

May 13, 2015

EconSource: Gulf Petrochemical Producers to Push for EU Trade Deal

By EconSource

The main trade body representing petrochemicals producers in the Gulf, the Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA), plans to put pressure on European Union (EU) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) negotiators to reach a trade deal.

MENASource

May 13, 2015

Assessing Iran’s Strategy Toward the Arab World

By Richard LeBaron

Richard LeBaron delivered the following remarks at a discussion hosted by the Middle East Institute in Washington DC on March 27, 2015.

International Organizations
Iran

MENASource

May 13, 2015

A New Saudi Foreign Policy for a New Era

By Bilal Y. Saab

Bilal Y. Saab spoke to a military audience at the National Defense University’s Near East and South Asia Center on May 5, 2015. Please read his remarks below. 

Iran
Saudi Arabia

MENASource

May 12, 2015

Top News: Saudi King Calls Obama to Express Regret

By MENASource

Saudi King Salman phoned US President Barack Obama on Monday to “express his regret” for missing a high profile summit at the White House and Camp David this week and review the agenda for the meeting with Gulf leaders, the White House said.

MENASource

May 12, 2015

Top News: Justice Minister Resigns Amid Criticism over Classist Remarks

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s Justice Minister resigned on Monday after raising a public uproar by saying in a TV interview that the children of sanitation workers are too lowly to become judges.

MENASource

May 12, 2015

EconSource: Western Allies Warn of Conflict Over Control of Libya’s National Resources

By EconSource

The United States and five European countries warned that Libyan state institutions that control billions of euros of national assets risked being exploited by rival forces wrestling for control of the country.

MENASource

May 12, 2015

The Gulf Gulf

By Thomas O. Melia

When President Barack Obama welcomes leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to Camp David later this week for the rare honor of a two-day gathering at the presidential retreat, he will be hosting representatives of an unusual collection of hereditary monarchies.

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

May 12, 2015

Iran’s Influence is Tied to Assad’s Future

By Nicholas Blanford

A string of defeats for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad since late March in north and south Syria has broken the stalemate that existed for more than a year and potentially opens up space for the West and its regional partners in the Arab world to pursue a negotiated solution to a war now […]

International Organizations
Iran
Load More