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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US Gulf Allies Out on a Limb As Prospect of US Use of Force in Syria Recedes

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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US Gulf Allies Out on a Limb As Prospect of US Use of Force in Syria Recedes

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

US Gulf Allies Out on a Limb As Prospect of US Use of Force in Syria Recedes

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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MENASource

Sep 11, 2013

US Gulf Allies Out on a Limb As Prospect of US Use of Force in Syria Recedes

By Richard LeBaron

Foreign ministers of the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) were likely shaking their heads in amazement, disappointment, and perhaps even disgust as they met in private in during their meeting in Jeddah on September 10.

Syria

MENASource

Sep 11, 2013

Hariri Center Experts React to President Obama’s Speech on Syria

By MENASource

President Barack Obama presented his case regarding US policy in Syria the evening of September 10, 2013. In it, he outlined his awareness of American war weariness in looking back on a decade of wartime engagement in the region, but warned against the strategic and moral dangers of doing nothing in the face of Syrian […]

Syria

MENASource

Sep 10, 2013

The Nour Party’s Gamble on the Interim Government

By Sarah El-Rashidi

While emerging unexpectedly in the wake of the January 25 revolution, the Salafist political trend is one of the few Islamist movements still involved in the current political process, in the form of one of one of the largest Salafi political parties – the Nour Party. While giving cover to the current government, with a […]

North Africa

MENASource

Sep 10, 2013

Top News: Ministry Revokes Licenses for Thousands of Imams

By EgyptSource

Egyptian authorities will bar 55,000 unlicensed clerics from preaching in mosques in the latest move against sympathizers of deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, the minister of religious endowments said on Tuesday.

MENASource

Sep 10, 2013

Egypt’s Draft Constitutional Amendments (Part I)

By Yussef Auf

The process of creating Egypt’s 2012 constitution was accompanied by considerable debate—from the formation of the constituent assembly tasked with drafting it to its ratification last December. Up until his ouster, the constitution was one of the major crises facing former President Mohamed Morsi’s regime, so it comes as no surprise that it is a […]

North Africa

Libya Working Group

Sep 10, 2013

Renewing US Engagement with Libya

By MENASource

The Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East together with the Project on Middle East Democracy and Freedom House lead the Libya Working Group, which convenes regular roundtables with experts to discuss a range of political, security, and economic issues in post-Qaddafi Libya.

Libya

MENASource

Sep 10, 2013

Syria: Russia’s Eleventh Hour Chemical Proposal

By Fred Hof

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, either seizing on an off-handed comment by his US counterpart at a press conference in London, or thinking creatively on his own, has proposed that Syria’s chemical stockpile be placed under international supervision and ultimately destroyed.

Syria

MENASource

Sep 9, 2013

Kerry’s “Hypothetical” in Syria: Checking Congress?

By Anthony Elghossain

Congress needs to check itself. As it considers the use of force in Syria, Congress will enjoy considerable control over the authorizing resolution’s language. To begin with, under the US Constitution, Congress has the power to declare war, to raise and maintain armed forces, to control the purse.

Syria

MENASource

Sep 9, 2013

Top News: “Expect everything” if US strikes Syria, Assad says

By MENASource

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Washington on Monday to brace for retaliation if US forces attacked his war-torn country, as he denied using chemical weapons against his people.

MENASource

Sep 9, 2013

Top News: Constitution Panel Elects Moussa Head, Sets 75 Percent Vote to Approve Articles

By EgyptSource

Former liberal-leaning presidential candidate Amr Moussa has been elected ٍas head of Egypt’s fifty-strong constitution-drafting committee.The committee agreed on Monday that controversial articles will be settled by a 75 percent vote if their initial referral to a specialized ‘consensus committee’ fails to garner the agreement of all members. 

North Africa
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