Middle East Programs Commentary & Analysis

Salam Fayyad: To Halt Gaza’s War, Offer the Palestinians a Future

Former Palestinian Prime Minister Speaks at Atlantic Council As Gaza’s agony deepens amid the warfare between Hamas and Israel, US and other diplomats are groping for some way to stop the bloodshed. But the only chance to achieve even the most basic cease-fire will be with some agreement that revives for Palestinians at least a […]

The Enemy of My Enemy: An Uneasy Coalition and the Threat of ISIS

By The Atlantic Council

The alarming expansion of the jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has prompted regional and international powerbrokers with vested security and economic interests in the broader Middle East to reassess their regional strategies. The United States and key Gulf states on one side, and Iran and Syria on the other, share […]

Iraq: The Hard Questions

By Bilal Y. Saab

Bilal Y. Saab, senior fellow for Middle East Security with the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, provides his perspective on the US role in the Iraq crisis, what’s at stake for US national security interests, and what it will really take to stabilize the situation.

The Collapse of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks: A Review by Amb. Michael Oren

“Israel cannot return to 1967 lines,” Ambassador-in-Residence Michael Oren cautioned on Thursday. “From a security standpoint, it’s very problematic. ’67 borders is the Western Wall, it’s central Jerusalem.”

The Gulf Rising: Defense Industrialization in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Dramatic changes in the world of defense, coupled with increasing political, financial, and fiscal pressures in the transatlantic community, have forced some of the most advanced US industrial allies and partners to make tough choices regarding their national defense programs, leaving them either more dependent on the United States or with capability shortages. Facing even […]

Arms and Influence in the Gulf

By Bilal Y. Saab

Riyadh and Abu Dhabi Get to Work Since the formation of the modern Arab state system in the mid-twentieth century, no Arab country has succeeded in building and sustaining an indigenous national defense industry. Egypt tried hard, but ultimately failed because it lacked the requisite financial and human capital. Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq came closest, […]

Working Group on a New US Defense Strategy and Posture in the Gulf

For more than four decades, the United States has had a robust web of partnerships with the states comprising the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This system has helped to achieve common strategic goals, including securing the free and constant flow of oil from the region to the world at large; preventing the rise of a […]

Missing Flight 370 Has Israel on High Alert

Atlantic Council Ambassador-in-Residence Michael Oren appeared on Piers Morgan Live to talk about how the search for missing flight 370 has put Israel on high alert. One theory on the disappearance is that the plane was hijacked to be used in a 9/11-style attack. As Oren points out to guest host Bill Wier, Israel’s precarious […]