MENASource

As the MENA region continues to be the epicenter of news headlines, the Atlantic Council’s MENASource is a hub for thought-provoking and hard-hitting analyses about the latest trends, ideas, and debates. This online publication provides fast reactions and in-depth commentary on breaking news and key regional topics by a diverse team of experts and contributors.

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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Tunisia’s political landscape a decade after the Jasmine revolution

MENASource Mar 26, 2026

As Iran attacks, the US should provide air defense for Iraqi Kurdistan

Washington faces a choice: Continue to defer to Baghdad’s procedural objections while Iran conducts unimpeded strikes on Kurdish territory or acknowledge the strategic reality and take decisive action.

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Tunisia’s political landscape a decade after the Jasmine revolution

MENASource Mar 17, 2026

A crisis in Egypt could be a warning sign for the global economy 

By Khalid Azim

Market watchers should keep an eye on Egypt as an oil shock could cause financial turmoil.
Economy & Business International Financial Institutions
Tunisia’s political landscape a decade after the Jasmine revolution

MENASource Mar 11, 2026

Three lessons from Libya for the war in Iran

By Frank Talbot

Any outside power using force to attain a political outcome must define the end state it seeks, align coalition partners around a shared strategy, and establish credible escalation controls.
Conflict Iran

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Content

Arab Spring

Dec 17, 2020

Tunisia’s political landscape a decade after the Jasmine revolution

By Dario Cristiani

As Tunisia approaches the tenth anniversary of its revolution, it faces a pandemic that has induced a historical economic crisis with significant social and political ramifications in the years to come.

Middle East North Africa

MENASource

Dec 14, 2020

Russian aid in Syria: An underestimated instrument of soft power

By Jonathan Robinson

Free from needing outside help by the international community, Russia’s self-sufficient aid ecosystem undermines, devalues, and rivals UN-led efforts in Syria, threatens to erode trust in the wider aid system, and provides a dangerous alternative narrative about the humanitarian environment in Syria for the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

Dec 14, 2020

Is Jordan’s workforce ready for emerging opportunities in digital entrepreneurship?

By Nicole Goldin

By tapping into its large, tech-savvy youth population, which makes up more than half of its citizens, and its markedly underutilized female labor force, Jordan can position itself for dynamic post-COVID economic expansion.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

Dec 11, 2020

How Palestine refugees cope during the coronavirus

By UNWRA

While access to free healthcare, education, relief, and social services have been a mainstay of its operations from day one, UNRWA has adapted its presence on the ground in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the occupied Palestinian territory—including East Jerusalem—to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

Dec 10, 2020

Experts react: What the Morocco-Israel deal means for the Middle East

By Atlantic Council

Atlantic Council experts react to the normalization of ties between Morocco and Israel and what it means for the wider region.

Africa Israel

MENASource

Dec 10, 2020

Pity the nation: Assessing a half century of Assadist rule

By Steven Heydemann

The Syrian uprising is a more damning referendum on the Assad family legacy than any judgement that might be rendered by outsiders.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

Dec 9, 2020

How the agri-food sector can turn Iraq’s economy around

By Hadi Fathallah and Timothy Robertson

Amidst Iraq’s economic meltdown, agri-food can play a pivotal role in turning the economy around and putting it back on a sustainable growth track.

Iraq Middle East

MENASource

Dec 9, 2020

The GCC’s digital economy is growing, but risks must be managed

By Dominik Treeck

Gulf Cooperation Council governments need to establish effective protections for the digital economy to gain scale and become sustainable.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

Dec 8, 2020

To move forward, US policy on Iraq requires balancing confrontation with Iran

By C. Anthony Pfaff

If Washington wants to shape Iranian behavior relative to Iraq—or anywhere for that matter—it has to give Tehran alternatives it can accept.

Iran Iraq

MENASource

Dec 4, 2020

Biden administration should act fast to bolster people-to-people exchanges with the Middle East

By Richard LeBaron and Dan Sreebny

While US policy toward individual MENA countries will be hammered out in the interagency process through the first year of the new Joe Biden administration, we recommend action in the first months employing existing Public Diplomacy programs to reinforce support for unlocking human potential.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy
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