Through our Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, the Atlantic Council works with allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.

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Meet our blogs

MENASource

MENASource follows movements across the region and provides news and analysis on current events, including a platform for Middle Eastern perspectives, among others, on major issues—economic, political, security, cultural—that are at stake in the post-Arab Spring era.  

IranSource

IranSource provides a holistic look at Iran’s internal dynamics, global and regional policies, and posture through unique analysis of current events and long-term, strategic issues related to Iran.

All commentary & analysis

IranSource

Dec 12, 2019

Iranians fear a permanent internet blackout is in the making

By Maziar Motamedi

Iranians are concerned they may soon lose access to the global internet as authorities race to bolster local infrastructures.

Iran
Middle East

SyriaSource

Dec 10, 2019

Life after war: The impact of conflict on Syrian artists

By Natasha Hall

After a scrawled graffiti message in Daraa, Syrian artists began to express themselves more than they ever could since the Assad family took power. Revolutionary art exploded on to the global scene during the Arab Spring. Particularly in Syria, artists, writers, and filmmakers found a new voice, free of fear. Defiance, grief, and frustration were […]

Conflict
Resilience & Society

IranSource

Dec 9, 2019

US policy hinders positive ‘regime change’ in Iran

By Barbara Slavin

With the rare exception of a weekend prisoner swap, the record of US-Iran relations since the Trump administration came to office has been dismal both for the Iranian people and for US national interests.

Iran
Middle East

New Atlanticist

Dec 6, 2019

Détente in the Gulf?

By Kirsten Fontenrose

The National Security Council’s policy process aimed at designating the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization may accidentally contribute to a resolution of the Gulf rift.

Politics & Diplomacy
Terrorism

SyriaSource

Dec 6, 2019

Reconstruction and security sector reform in Syria must go hand in hand

By Nora-Elise Beck and Lars Döbert

The structure and characteristics of the pre-conflict Syrian security sector contributed heavily to the outbreak of the Syrian civil war; for decades, it stood for corruption, discrimination, violent repression, and large-scale human rights abuses. When the Arab Spring began to unfold in Egypt and Tunisia in early 2011, a group of Syrian school boys got […]

Germany
Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding

IranSource

Dec 3, 2019

New protests expose widening rift between Iran’s regime and ‘the people’

By Borzou Daragahi

Whether one is navigating past truckers driving along country roads, visiting underground parties in the capital, or holding heated debates with members of different political persuasions in cafes or shared taxis, Iran doesn’t feel like a totalitarian dictatorship.  Forty years after a violent revolution that overturned a small Western-oriented elite, Iranians remain irrepressible and irreverent—as […]

Digital Policy
Iran

New Atlanticist

Dec 2, 2019

Iraqi prime minister’s resignation: Lessons for the United States and Iran

By Thomas S. Warrick

The current crisis has important lessons for both United States and Iranian policymakers as they consider what relationship they want to have with Iraq: not just the Iraqi political class, but the Iraqis in the street, who represent—in some cases more closely than the Iraqi political class in Baghdad—the 80 percent of Iraqis who are under forty years old.

Democratic Transitions
Iraq

Press and members call

Dec 2, 2019

Atlantic Council press call: Iraqi Prime Minister resigns amid violent protests

By Atlantic Council

On Friday, November 29, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi announced plans to resign after nearly two months of anti-government protests. The nationwide demonstrations, which have been driven by anger over rampant corruption and high unemployment rates, have turned increasingly violent and have resulted in close to 400 fatalities. Following Mahdi’s resignation, Abbas Kadhim, C. Anthony Pfaff, Thomas Warrick, and William Wechsler unpack the crisis in Iraq.

Iraq
Politics & Diplomacy
Iraqi prime minister's resignation, Adil Abdul-Mahdi

MENASource

Dec 2, 2019

The Iraqi prime minister’s resignation: A way ahead for the United States

By C. Anthony Pfaff

Iraq’s Prime Minister, Adil Abdul-Mahdi, should be feeling a great sense of relief. Since mid-October, media outlets have reported his intent to resign amid violent protests that have engulfed much of Iraq. His resignation should be no surprise. Since the fall of Saddam, Iraq has a history of picking leaders who do not pose a […]

Corruption
Democratic Transitions

IranSource

Dec 2, 2019

Protests challenge Iran’s future position in Iraq

By Robert Czulda

Ongoing violent protests in Iraq have shaken the fragile stability of the country, as well as Iran’s carefully constructed geopolitical strategy for its neighbor and historic rival.

Economy & Business
Energy & Environment
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