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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Top News: Sisi First Egyptian President to Attend Coptic Christmas Mass

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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Top News: Sisi First Egyptian President to Attend Coptic Christmas Mass

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: Sisi First Egyptian President to Attend Coptic Christmas Mass

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

Jan 7, 2015

Top News: Sisi First Egyptian President to Attend Coptic Christmas Mass

By EgyptSource

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made a quick appearance at Cairo’s Abbasseya Cathedral on Tuesday evening, making him the first Egyptian president to attend Christmas Eve mass.

MENASource

Jan 7, 2015

Top News: Car Bomb Kills Thirty-Five Outside Yemen Police College

By MENASource

A car bomb exploded outside a Yemeni police college in Sanaa on Wednesday, killing at least thirty-five people and wounding at least sixty-eight others, less than a week after a devastating suicide bombing south of the capital.

MENASource

Jan 7, 2015

Jailing Democracy Activists Increases Anger Ahead of Parliamentary Elections

By Khaled Dawoud

A two-year prison term issued by a Cairo Appeals Court on December 28 against twenty-three activists is likely to have a negative impact among youth on the upcoming parliament elections. Convicted with organizing an illegal protest in front of the Ittihadeya Presidential Palace in Heliopolis six months ago, the activists were sentenced on the basis […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jan 6, 2015

EconSource: Egypt’s foreign reserves fall to $15.33 billion

By EconSource

According to the Egyptian Central Bank, Egypt’s foreign currency reserves fell to $15.33 billion at the end of December from $15.88 billion the previous month. Foreign reserves fell sharply after the 2011 uprising but had risen again with the inflow of billions of dollars of aid from the Gulf countries. In November, Egypt repaid to […]

MENASource

Jan 6, 2015

Top News: Obama Invites New Tunisian President to Washington

By MENASource

President Barack Obama called newly elected Tunisian President Béji Caïd Essebsi to congratulate him and invite him to visit Washington, DC and the White House.

MENASource

Jan 6, 2015

Top News: Two Policemen Killed in Minya Church Attack

By EgyptSource

Unknown assailants killed two policemen on Tuesday during an attack on a church in the Upper Egyptian province of Minya. 

MENASource

Jan 5, 2015

Top News: Former Regime Official Nominated as New Tunisian Prime Minister

By MENASource

Habib Essid, a former Tunisian interior minister, has been nominated as prime minister to form a new government after an agreement among political parties in the newly elected parliament.

MENASource

Jan 5, 2015

Syria: The Gutman Report

By Frederic C. Hof

Turkey-based, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Roy Gutman of McClatchy closed out 2014 with a dispatch that would be shocking if only there were still capacity for shock when it comes to Washington’s Syria policy. Gutman reported being told by Syrian opposition leaders of being ignored by the Obama administration last April when they warned of […]

Syria

MENASource

Jan 5, 2015

Top News: Egyptian Court Orders Retrial of Al Jazeera Journalists

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s highest court has ordered a retrial of three jailed journalists working for Al Jazeera television, citing procedural flaws in last year’s trial, defense lawyers said on Thursday.

MENASource

Jan 5, 2015

EconSource: Egypt’s current account hits deficit of $1.4 billion in first quarter

By EconSource

Egypt’s current account recorded a $1.4 billion deficit from July to September, in contrast to a $610 million surplus in the same period last year when Gulf states provided billions of dollars in aid. According to a statement by the Egyptian central bank, the deficit was driven by a wider trade gap and a contraction […]

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