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: Tunisian MPs Denounce Light Verdicts for Ben Ali Officials

MENASource
Dec 16, 2025

What will 2026 bring for the Middle East and North Africa?

As 2025 comes to a close, our senior analysts unpack the most prominent trends and topics they are tracking for the new year.

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Top News: Tunisian MPs Denounce Light Verdicts for Ben Ali Officials

MENASource
Dec 7, 2025

One year after Assad’s fall, here’s what’s needed to advance justice for Syrians

By
Elise Baker and Ahmad Helmi

The second year of a post-Assad Syria requires structural reform, victim-centered leadership, and international reinforcement.

Democratic Transitions
International Norms

Top News: Tunisian MPs Denounce Light Verdicts for Ben Ali Officials

MENASource
Nov 20, 2025

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

By
Khalid Azim

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

Economy & Business
Middle East

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MENASource

Apr 15, 2014

Top News: Tunisian MPs Denounce Light Verdicts for Ben Ali Officials

By MENASource

On Monday, a Tunisian military court announced that two former Ben Ali officials, the former head of presidential security and the former interior minister, would only serve three year sentences. Jalel Boudriga, former chief of Tunisia’s special brigades, had his sentence commuted from ten to three years.

MENASource

Apr 15, 2014

Top News: Justice Ministry to Review Anti-Terrorism Bill; Cairo University Clashes Results in Student Death

By EgyptSource

Two controversial counter-terrorism bills are scheduled for review by the Justice Ministry, the state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram reported on Monday.

MENASource

Apr 15, 2014

Remembering Patrick Seale and the Syria He Loved (Foreword by Frederic Hof)

By Walid Joumblat

The passing of author Patrick Seale offers an opportunity to reflect on what has become of the country he loved and whose history he chronicled: Syria. The Struggle for Syria, first published in 1965, was and remains a classic: essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Syria—even, or perhaps especially, the Syria of 2014.

Syria

MENASource

Apr 14, 2014

YemenSource | New Model for Yemen’s Interior Ministry

By MENASource

Yemen’s interior ministry, in an attempt to fill leadership roles, is experimenting with a new way of vetting and promoting officers to senior posts, one not prone to cronyism or other forms of corruption. An evaluation committee has been formed to assess applications. As part of the process, applicants are required to submit an autobiography […]

Yemen

MENASource

Apr 14, 2014

The Week in Egypt – April 14, 2014

By Daniel Stoker

Catch up on the latest out of Egypt every week, with analysis, news updates, photos, videos, and more.

North Africa

MENASource

Apr 14, 2014

Top News: Libyan Prime Minister Quits After One Month

By MENASource

On Sunday, interim Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinnni resigned after one month, saying gunmen had tried to attack his family. The General National Congress (GNC) will have to recognize Thinni’s resignation. They are scheduled to do so at the next GNC session on Tuesday. Thinni was appointed as interim prime minister in March after former Prime […]

MENASource

Apr 14, 2014

Syria: “Unbelievably Small” Confirmed

By Fred C. Hof

Secretary of State John Kerry’s Syria-related testimony of April 9th to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee attracted the attention of many at the Lebanese Army’s Fourth Annual Strategic Conference in Beirut.  Kerry confirmed in his testimony that his September 2013 characterization of pending American airstrikes as an “unbelievably small, limited kind of effort” was literally […]

Syria

MENASource

Apr 14, 2014

Top News: Amnesty International Urges Interim President to annul anti-Terrorism Laws

By EgyptSource

Amnesty International issued a statement on Friday denouncing a counter-terrorism law drafted by the Egyptian government, saying that it must be scrapped or fundamentally revised.

MENASource

Apr 14, 2014

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families in Moadamiya, Syria

By Matthew Hall

Philip Gourevitch had the terrible duty to chronicle the spasm of genocidal violence that visited Rwanda twenty years ago. His work captured in intimate detail not only the gruesome action of machetes but also victims’ unheeded appeals for help. In a tragic episode that gave Gourevitch’s book its title, a group of community leaders huddled […]

Syria

MENASource

Apr 11, 2014

EconSource: Egypt approves draft law barring challenges to contracts

By EconSource

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

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