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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How the US military should leave Iraq

MENASource Jul 31, 2026

Why GCC integration matters more than ever

Gulf countries can’t build their knowledge economies of the future on their own.

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How the US military should leave Iraq

MENASource Jul 13, 2026

Israel’s next government must prioritize the Abraham Accords

By Amit Yarom and Itai Melchior

The fall election could open a narrow window for Israel to reset its regional strategy and create momentum to expand normalization.
Israel Politics & Diplomacy
How the US military should leave Iraq

MENASource Aug 3, 2026

Can al-Zaidi separate the sects from the state in Iraq?

By Munqith Dagher

The biggest challenge facing Iraq’s prime minister is how to curb the role of sectarian institutions in shaping Iraq’s state decisions.
Conflict Iran

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MENASource

Apr 23, 2020

How the US military should leave Iraq

By Barbara Slavin

It is still possible to retain US influence in Iraq and to offer Iraqis an alternative to complete domination by Iran.

Iraq Middle East

MENASource

Apr 22, 2020

Challenges for Iraq’s new government under Mustafa Al-Kadhimi

By Abbas Kadhim

The protests that started in October 2019 ushered in a new political era in Iraq. For the first time in the post-2003 process of democratic transition, a government was forced to resign due to popular pressure. The resignation of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi’s cabinet forced the Iraqi political leadership to face contentious constitutional and procedural […]

Iraq Middle East

MENASource

Apr 21, 2020

Lessons the US can learn from the UAE about the decontamination of COVID-19

By Theodore Karasik

Since Gulf countries faced the imported coronavirus prior to it reaching the United States, they were weeks ahead in their thinking on how to prevent a second spike in infection. The UAE has taken a blended civil-military approach that is worth watching.

Coronavirus Middle East

MENASource

Apr 16, 2020

Lebanon and Israel: Blue line tensions

By Frederic C. Hof

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL)—now beginning its forty-third year of “interim” service in southern Lebanon—recently intervened to defuse an armed standoff between Israeli and Lebanese soldiers along the “Blue Line:” The line of Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon demarcated by the United Nations in 2000. These confrontations occur periodically. Why?

Israel Lebanon

MENASource

Apr 16, 2020

China’s soft power during the coronavirus is winning over the Gulf states

By Jonathan Fulton

As COVID-19 continues to batter the world, China has managed an impressive transition. A recent article in the New York Times notes that, through the short life of the coronavirus crisis, China has been able to reposition itself not as “the authoritarian incubator of a pandemic but as a responsible global leader at a moment […]

China Coronavirus

MENASource

Apr 7, 2020

Lebanon’s collapse is Hezbollah’s slow unraveling

By Mona Alami

Hezbollah has been working for years on integrating itself into the Lebanese state. Now that the country is falling apart, Hezbollah’s assimilation into the state apparatus, which was initially meant to protect the organization against international pressure, could pose a direct threat to the group’s future.

Coronavirus Lebanon

MENASource

Apr 3, 2020

Oman’s handling of the coronavirus

By Marc J. Sievers

Oman appears to be managing the spread of coronavirus effectively, so far at least with the lowest numbers of deaths and infected persons in the Gulf. Testing is also ramping up, and the controls imposed between regions and the sustained messaging of the public to stay home and maintain social distancing are also likely to produce positive results, especially since over half the number of total cases are within the greater Muscat area.

Coronavirus Middle East

MENASource

Apr 2, 2020

Isolated Gaza reaches out for help to battle coronavirus

By Jonathan H. Ferziger

2 million Gazans are burrowing into home isolation like the rest of the world in the hope they can ride out the threat despite their woefully insufficient medical facilities.

Coronavirus Middle East

MENASource

Mar 30, 2020

The coronavirus crisis highlights the unique challenges of North African countries

By Karim Mezran, Alessia Melcangi, Emily Burchfield, and Zineb Riboua

It is important to monitor the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic, its effects on each North Africa system, and the debate between government elites and masses to better understand the situation in these countries and the long-term implications of the health crisis.

Coronavirus Libya

MENASource

Mar 27, 2020

Israel is now within striking distance of having a new government

By Shalom Lipner

Political drama in Israel reached a new peak on March 26 when Benny Gantz, chairman of the now ruptured Blue and White alliance, was installed as speaker of the Knesset in Jerusalem.

Israel Middle East
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