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: Militant Group Leaves Signed Note on Eighth Decapitated Body Found in Sinai

MENASource
Nov 20, 2025

Saudi Arabia’s next horizon: Building human capital beyond Vision 2030

Riyadh still needs to take fully support small and medium-sized enterprises—the true engines of job creation.

Read More

Top News: Militant Group Leaves Signed Note on Eighth Decapitated Body Found in Sinai

Trackers and Data Visualizations
Nov 9, 2025

Tracking Iraq’s 2025 elections and coalition building

By
Victoria J. Taylor, Nibras Basitkey, and Daniah Jarrah

Keep up with what our experts want you to know about the Iraqi elections and the coalition building that follows.

Elections
Iraq

Top News: Militant Group Leaves Signed Note on Eighth Decapitated Body Found in Sinai

MENASource
Nov 10, 2025

The Nile at a crossroads: Navigating the GERD dispute as Egypt’s floodwaters rise

By
Alessia Melcangi

The latest escalation between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia coincides with a diplomatic shift from the United States.

Africa
Climate Change & Climate Action

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Content

MENASource

Sep 11, 2014

Top News: Militant Group Leaves Signed Note on Eighth Decapitated Body Found in Sinai

By EgyptSource

Residents in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula said on Wednesday they found a beheaded corpse bearing a note signed by an Islamist militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, linked to the Syria and Iraq-based Islamic State in Syria and al-Sham (ISIS), accusing the victim of being an Israeli spy.

MENASource

Sep 11, 2014

Top News: Obama Presents ISIS Strategy; Allies Balk at Airstrikes

By MENASource

In a nationally televised address. President Barack Obama on Wednesday laid out his four-point strategy to “degrade and destroy” the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS or Islamic State). (Full text here.) While ruling out the deployment of US combat troops, the president has authorized US airstrikes for the first time in Syria. The […]

MENASource

Sep 11, 2014

EconSource: Tunisia–WB to Provide $1 Billion a Year in 2015 and 2016

By EconSource

Follow the latest in economic news and developments about the Arab transition countries. 

MENASource

Sep 10, 2014

A Real Anti-ISIS Coalition Would Not Be Regional, But Local

By Faysal Itani

The United States government has repeatedly called for a regional coalition to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). In reality, such a coalition would be difficult to assemble and is unlikely to destroy the group. This is especially true in Syria, where ISIS can retreat and regroup at will, and where there […]

Syria

MENASource

Sep 10, 2014

Egypt’s Options in Dealing with the Libyan Crisis (Part II)

By Nader Bakkar

As was discussed in the first part of this article, Cairo has several choices to consider when determining how to deal with the Libyan crisis, which continues to deteriorate on Egypt’s western border.  Among the options available to Cairo are: direct military intervention, either unilaterally or jointly with other parties; indirect military intervention, either unilaterally […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 10, 2014

Top News: Blast Decimates Ahrar al-Sham Leadership; New Chief Named

By MENASource

An explosion tore through a secret meeting of Ahrar al-Sham, killing nearly fifty of its top leaders, including its head. The blast on Tuesday hit a basement in Idlib Province where the leaders of the group, one of Syria’s strongest and most enduring rebel groups, had collected to plot strategy. It remained unclear who had […]

MENASource

Sep 10, 2014

Top News: US Top Diplomat Arrives in Cairo for Talks

By EgyptSource

State Department Counselor Thomas Shannon arrived in Cairo on Wednesday morning, ahead of talks hosted by Saudi Arabia to discuss means of combating extremist groups within the region.

MENASource

Sep 10, 2014

EconSource: Gulf Urged to Fund ‘Arab Marshall Plan’ to Contain Unrest

By EconSource

Follow the latest in economic news and analysis about the Arab transition countries. 

MENASource

Sep 10, 2014

PM Haider al-Abadi: A New Era in Iraq?

By Daniel R. DePetris

The announcement of a new government in Iraq represents perhaps the best news out of the country since former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki relinquished power peacefully. Political players set aside a highly partisan dynamic, in part to address the existential terrorist threat facing Iraq.

Iraq

MENASource

Sep 10, 2014

TODAY: Tackling Egypt’s Economic Dilemma with Egypt’s Former Finance Minister Ahmed Galal

By EgyptSource

Three years of political turmoil since the 2011 uprising in Egypt have crippled economic growth, reduced productivity, and led to rising poverty and inequality rates. Although it will take both structural and institutional economic reforms to effectively address this challenging mix of socioeconomic grievances and to increase growth, the country must implement an economic plan […]

North Africa
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