Middle East Programs Commentary & Analysis

Our blogs feature thoughtful reflections and opinions on current events in the Middle East & North Africa.

Through our Middle East Programs, 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

20191120_Libya

MENASource

Nov 21, 2019

Another conference, another incomplete solution for Libya

By Karim Mezran and Federica Saini Fasanotti

Libya should be created by and for Libyans. There is no place for external interventions or conferences without full participation of all Libyans.

Corruption Libya

MENASource

Nov 19, 2019

Leaked Iranian intelligence about Iraq only tells part of the story

By C. Anthony Pfaff

The recent story in the New York Times on leaked Iranian intelligence reports about Iranian influence operations in Iraq elicits a couple of possible reactions. If one works for the United States government, particularly in any department or bureau that deals with Iraq, one would be reasonable to feel some gratitude not only that the […]

Intelligence Iran

IranSource

Nov 19, 2019

Iran protests: Something has to give

By Kevjn Lim

At midnight on November 15, the Iranian government announced it was hiking petrol prices by at least 50 percent. Although the government justified the measure—itself part of badly-needed structural reforms—as a means of generating cash handouts for 60 million of the country’s poorest citizens (or 75 percent of the population), it triggered large-scale protests across […]

Iran Middle East

New Atlanticist

Nov 18, 2019

Pompeo’s Israeli settlements announcement could imperil Middle East peace chances

By David A. Wemer

"The realignment of long-standing US government policy foreshadows the promised, if long delayed, release of President Trump's vision for regional peace, intimating that the blueprint may countenance the extension of Israeli sovereignty to communities whose existence has, until now, been considered illegal per US interpretation of international law," Shalom Lipner says.

Conflict Israel

IranSource

Nov 18, 2019

Iran protests: A quest for reform turns into widespread discontent

By Giorgia Perletta

Popular protests are flaring up in the Middle East. From Lebanon to Iraq and now Iran, they show the weakening of the social contract between the population and their government. In the Islamic Republic, the post-revolutionary social contract was born on a populist promises of justice, but decades of endemic political and economic inefficiencies wiped […]

Iran Middle East

SyriaSource

Nov 18, 2019

After the Syria withdrawal, it’s time the US rethinks the use of proxy forces

By Mona Alami

Proxy warfare is a 21st century military playbook utilized by great powers, like Russia, and the United States with some using it better than others.

Security & Defense Syria

MENASource

Nov 18, 2019

Explainer: Iraq’s autumn of discontent

By Christiana Haynes

Waves of protests have hit Iraq this past October and November, calling for the resignation of the post-war government and sweeping changes. Last month alone, there have been reports of hundreds of protesters killed and thousands wounded by security forces in clashes across the country, from Tahrir Square in Baghdad to cities like Diwaniyah, Najaf, […]

Corruption Iraq

New Atlanticist

Nov 15, 2019

A crisis of commitment in the Middle East. But whose?

By Kirsten Fontenrose

While US actions are causing confusion about Washington's commitment, regional actions are also calling into question the region’s commitment to its relationship with the United States and to its own stability.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

IranSource

Nov 13, 2019

Iran and Europe play nuclear chicken

By Barbara Slavin

Neither Europe nor Iran wants to see the destruction of the JCPOA, which represented for each the culmination of twelve years of hard diplomatic work, initially without US participation.

Iran Middle East

MENASource

Nov 12, 2019

Revolution in Lebanon

By Frederic C. Hof

The peaceful protests sweeping Lebanon are revolutionary. Lebanese of multiple political persuasions and all sects have a powerful message for a political class whose incompetence is equaled only by its corruption: Go Away.  To date the principal defender of this abysmal political class and Lebanon’s miserable status quo (featuring a failing economy from which the […]

Corruption Middle East
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