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

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

MENASource

Jul 24, 2019

A passage to India: Israel’s pivot East

By Grace Wermenbol

As Israel gears up for an election do-over in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will once again look to foreign leaders to bolster his leadership potential and diplomatic experience.

India Israel

IranSource

Jul 24, 2019

Will the UK’s new prime minister take Trump’s side on Iran?

By Giorgio Cafiero and Andreas Krieg

In recent months, a host of developments have fueled significant tension between the United Kingdom and Iran. The UK Parliament’s decision to classify Lebanese militant group Hezbollah “in its entirety” as a terrorist organization earlier this year, London siding with the Trump administration against Iran in the June 20 drone incident, and the tanker detainment episodes in Gibraltar and the Strait of Hormuz this month have driven this downward trajectory in UK-Iran relations.

Iran

MENASource

Jul 22, 2019

No justice, no peace: The failure of Kushner’s peace to prosperity workshop

By Iyad Yousef

US President Donald Trump’s administration team failed to gather required support from Arab countries during the Bahrain workshop for its economic plan, which would have been the cornerstone for the undisclosed political strategy policy for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The economic plan, through its three initiatives, could address paramount determinants of economic prosperity and peace, economic growth, human capital, and governance.

Israel Middle East

IranSource

Jul 22, 2019

Tensions in the Persian Gulf reflect power struggle inside Iran

By Noah Annan

Throughout the past four decades, US observers have disagreed about the nature of Iran’s factional politics and some have even questioned whether real differences exist. Rising tensions in the Persian Gulf seem to reflect Iran’s unified reaction to the US “maximum pressure” campaign.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jul 19, 2019

Tehran seizes British ships as Gulf pressures intensify

By David A. Wemer

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it seized a British tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on July 19, and a second British-owned tanker was boarded before being released, in the latest escalation over control of one of the world’s most vital energy trade waterways.

Iran United Kingdom
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