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

SyriaSource

Aug 5, 2019

The evolution of Syrian revolutionary art

By Natasha Hall

Perhaps, it is unsurprising then, that political posters and street art became so ubiquitous in the Syrian Revolution. The regimes of the Middle East knew the political potential for art. For this reason, it has always been closely monitored.

Syria

IranSource

Aug 5, 2019

Blood money decision advances women’s rights in Iran

By Tahereh Hadian-Jazy

In early June, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld a law deciding that blood money—compensation paid to relatives for the death or injury of a family member—would be equal between men and women and no longer would a woman’s compensation be worth half of a man’s.

Iran

IranSource

Aug 1, 2019

Sanctioning Iran’s top diplomat increases chance for US-Iran war

By Barbara Slavin

Running out of targets for sanctions, the Trump administration has now put Iran’s chief diplomat on its list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons.

Iran

SyriaSource

Aug 1, 2019

Why is the US clashing with the Dutch over Syria?

By Grace Wermenbol

As the women’s national soccer teams battled it out for the World Cup title in early July, another clash was taking place in the political realm between the Americans and the Dutch over the latter’s military contribution in Syria.

Syria

SyriaSource

Aug 1, 2019

Syrians at the Turkish border: humiliation, torture, and death

By Tesbih Habbal

Yet the journey is fraught with danger that doesn’t end at the border. If anything, the border itself is the most dangerous part of the journey with Turkish border guards known as “Jandarma,” who frequently capture, beat, and steal from Syrian refugees only to send them back into Syria.

Syria

IranSource

Jul 31, 2019

The IRGC should be held accountable for rights abuses

By Gissou Nia

Up until recently, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was an organization relatively unknown to the American public. However, with the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran threatening to boil over into actual military confrontation, and the IRGC’s announcements of downing an American drone and seizing oil tankers, the increasing references to this group in the mainstream news and on social media may soon make it a household name.

Human Rights
Iran

MENASource

Jul 30, 2019

Israel’s mixed bag: How Israel excels and fails at sustainability

By Daniel J. Samet

When it comes to green technology, there is no denying Israeli clout. The “start-up nation,” whose renowned tech sector accounts for 35 to 40 percent of GDP, has earned the moniker due in no small part to sustainability.  

Israel

IranSource

Jul 29, 2019

Lebanon is incapable of implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701

By David Daoud

On its thirteen anniversary, UN Security Council Resolution 1701—intended to degrade and disarm the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah—is no closer to fulfilment than on the day it was passed.

Iran
Israel

MENASource

Jul 26, 2019

The Christie’s Affair: The looting and sale of indigenous Egyptian artifacts

By Amal A. Kandeel and Noor Sullivan

This week, Egypt has commemorated the 67th anniversary of the expulsion of King Farouk, the last conduit for British control and exploitation of Egypt, and the establishment of the Egyptian republic. The generations who witnessed and participated in the struggle against imperial Britain are no longer alive. Yet widespread aversion to that earlier period still runs deep among Egyptian citizens and officials. 

North Africa

IranSource

Jul 26, 2019

Under US sanctions, Iran regional influence grows

By Kenneth Katzman

All US secondary sanctions on Iran’s core economic sectors were re-imposed by the Trump administration in November 2018 as a direct consequence of its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran
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