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

Mar 23, 2016

Saudi Arabia Needs to Change its Zero Sum Approach to Iran

By Amir Handjani

Perhaps no single rivalry will determine the future of the Middle East more than that of Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Iran

IranSource

Mar 17, 2016

Iran-Afghan Differences over Helmand River Threaten Both Countries

By Fatemeh Aman

Afghan ambassador to Tehran Nasir Ahmad Nour told the Islamic Republic of Iran News Agency recently that Afghanistan is committed to an agreement sharing the waters of the Helmand River between the two countries. But disagreements continue over an issue that has contributed to an environmental disaster in southwestern Afghanistan and southeastern Iran.

Climate Change & Climate Action
Energy & Environment

IranSource

Mar 17, 2016

اختلاف های ایران و افغانستان بر سر آب هیرمند، تهدیدی برای هر دو کشور

By Fatemeh Aman

نصیر احمد نور، سفیر افغانستان در ایران، اخیرا به خبرگزاری ایرنا گفت کشورش به قرارداد تقسیم آب هیرمند میان ایران و افغانستان متعهد است. اما با وجود اظهارات مشابه، اختلاف نظرها بر سر موضوعی که باعث ایجاد یک فاجعه زیست محیطی در جنوب غربی افغانستان و جنوب شرقی ایران شده، ادامه دارد.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Mar 16, 2016

Is Dissent Brewing in ISIS’ Ranks Over Plans to Strike the United States, Europe?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Top commanders ‘disavow’ shift of strategy away from caliphate-building, says journalist A shift from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham’s goals of building a caliphate to attacking Europe and the United States is reportedly causing a rift in the terrorist group’s upper echelons. A lieutenant to ISIS’ self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, told Martin […]

Iraq
Syria

IranSource

Mar 9, 2016

Iran Will Keep Improving and Testing Ballistic Missiles

By Pierre Goldschmidt

Iran’s announcement March 8 that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) test-fired several ballistic missiles should not come as a surprise to anyone. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) concluded last year does not bar such tests. UN Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted on July 20, 2015, codified the JCPOA and superseded previous resolutions on […]

Iran

IranSource

Mar 7, 2016

آرایش نوین مجلس دهم با حضور پررنگ تر زنان

By مهرناز صمیمی

شمار نمایندگان زن مجلس دهم ایران، نزدیک به دو برابر شمار آنها در مجلس نهم خواهد بود. افزایش کرسی های متعلق به زنان، ناظران را به کاهش نابرابری جنسیتی در نظام مردسالار جمهوری اسلامی امیدوار کرده است. تاکنون، نتایج انتخابات مجلس حاکی از راه یافتن ۱۴ نماینده زن به مجلس است، و تحلیلگران تخمین زده […]

Iran
Fatemeh Hosseini

IranSource

Mar 7, 2016

Iran’s 10th Parliament: Less of a Men’s Club

By Mehrnaz Samimi

Iran’s parliament is on track to more than double the number of women members, with potential benefits for reducing gender inequality in the male-dominated Islamic Republic. So far, 14  women have made it to the Majlis, and analysts are estimating that there could be as many as 22 – out of a total membership of […]

IranSource

Feb 29, 2016

Iranians Once Again Make Lemonade from Lemons

By Barbara Slavin

No one would ever mistake an Iranian election for an American one. The idiosyncrasies of this US campaign season aside, there are fundamental differences in the power of elected institutions in Iran, which are subservient to a clerical Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A body that is largely appointed by Khamenei, the Guardian Council, vets […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Feb 17, 2016

Iran, Syria, Russia Seen as Top Challenges in the Middle East

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Iran, Syria, and Russia together pose the biggest challenge in the Middle East today, and any notion that there can be an alignment of the interests of Tehran and Washington is unrealistic, three former US officials said at the Atlantic Council on February 16. “We have an Iran-Syria-Russia problem right now in the Middle East,” […]

Iran
Iraq

Event Recap

Feb 16, 2016

Future of Iraq Launch

By Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East

On February 16, 2016, the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted a public launch of the Task Force on the Future of Iraq, comprising twenty-five members chaired by Ambassador Ryan Crocker. The aim of the Task Force is to present a coherent, long-term Iraq policy to the incoming US administration that tackles the […]

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