International Organizations

The Gulf Gulf

By Thomas O. Melia

When President Barack Obama welcomes leaders of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to Camp David later this week for the rare honor of a two-day gathering at the presidential retreat, he will be hosting representatives of an unusual collection of hereditary monarchies.

Iran’s Influence is Tied to Assad’s Future

By Nicholas Blanford

A string of defeats for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad since late March in north and south Syria has broken the stalemate that existed for more than a year and potentially opens up space for the West and its regional partners in the Arab world to pursue a negotiated solution to a war now […]

The Choice at Camp David: A Bold Middle East Strategy or Just Another Summit?

By Nabeel Khoury

The recent victories of Islamist and jihadist forces in Syria portend the possible demise of the Assad regime, but also the advent of a potentially vicious internecine struggle within the jihadist front and between it and the more secular nationalist rebel movement.

Is this the Solution to Europe’s Migrant Problem?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

EU plan to bomb traffickers’ ships in Libyan waters ‘counterproductive,’ says Atlantic Council’s Mezran The European Union wants the United Nations to support its plan to destroy human traffickers’ ships in Libyan territorial waters before smugglers use them to ferry migrants across the Mediterranean Sea. Can it work? No, said Karim Mezran, Resident Senior Fellow […]

Obama-GCC Summit: Syria is the Elephant in the Room

By Hanin Ghaddar

President Barack Obama will host the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders next week at the White House and Camp David to discuss security issues in the Middle East.

The Iran Deal, Camp David, and Nuclear Nonproliferation in the Middle East

By Nabil Fahmy

Leaders from the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will convene at Camp David on May 13 and 14, where they were initially invited to deliberate with President Barack Obama on the Iranian nuclear framework agreement.

Recalibrating the Regional Political Balance in the Persian Gulf

US President Barack Obama will convene a meeting of leaders from all six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries— Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—at the White House and Camp David on May 13 and 14, respectively. The meeting aims to address the Gulf states’ concerns about a nuclear deal that […]

EU Aspirants Face a Closed, if Not Locked, Door on Enlargement

By Robbie Gramer

Aspirant EU members Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are poised to leave the upcoming EU Eastern Partnership Summit disappointed, though not empty-handed. An advance draft of the Eastern Partnership declaration, to be unveiled at the summit on May 21 to 22 in Riga, Latvia, underscores the European Union’s drift away from stronger engagement with its partners.