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

Elections 2020

Nov 4, 2020

What America’s allies and adversaries will make of the 2020 election

By William F. Wechsler

Rather than provide an opportunity to “bind up the nation’s wounds” once again, the election has instead clearly confirmed the deep divisions in American society by class, region, race, gender, religion, and culture. No matter who wins the presidency, the result will likely be a nation increasingly focused inward on the implications of these divisions.

Elections
Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

Nov 2, 2020

25 years after Rabin’s assassination and Israel resembles its old self

By Shalom Lipner

Much has changed in the world since Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated, but striking parallels might also be drawn—counter-intuitively, perhaps—between Israel’s circumstances around the time of Rabin’s death and the prevailing situation in the country today.

Israel
Middle East

MENASource

Nov 2, 2020

The irrefutable logic of numbers and the inevitability of reform in Iraq

By Ahmed Tabaqchali

While, on the surface, the White Paper might appear to be yet another economic reform package in response to a fiscal crisis brought about by falling oil revenues, the lofty goals are likely to be forgotten as soon as rising oil prices rescue the state from its current quagmire.

Iraq
Middle East

Elections 2020

Oct 29, 2020

Middle East business leaders provide perspective on the economic impact of the upcoming US presidential election

By Middle East experts

In an empowerME survey conducted in the last thirty days, thirty-two Middle East business leaders shared their views on the possible economic impact of the 2020 US Presidential election. Atlantic Council experts Kirsten Fontenrose, Amjad Ahmad, Mohsin Khan, and Jean-Francois Seznec analyzed the data and provided the following key takeaways.

Education
Elections

MENASource

Oct 29, 2020

Iraq’s economic White Paper misses a key issue for the energy sector

By Harry Istepanian

On October 10, the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi issued a White Paper to reform Iraq’s economy. The energy sector’s future has taken considerable space in the blueprint alongside the country’s increasing demand for electricity.

Iraq
Middle East

MENASource

Oct 28, 2020

For Turkey, the Libyan conflict and the eastern Mediterranean are inextricably linked

By Ahmed Helal

The proxy confrontation playing out in Libya has intensified a regional competition for resources in the waters of the eastern Mediterranean, where several overlapping claims for maritime jurisdiction by Turkey, Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus have fueled escalating tensions.

Europe & Eurasia
Libya

Elections 2020

Oct 28, 2020

How to defeat Iranian and Russian cyber operations against the US election

By Thomas S. Warrick

Instead of offering general reassurances, the directors of national intelligence, the FBI, and cybersecurity should tell all Americans they have it in their power to hand Russia and Iran a strategic defeat. Vote early.

Cybersecurity
Disinformation

Elections 2020

Oct 28, 2020

Do Iranians really care who wins the US election?

By Sydney Martin

Several factors help explain why so many Iranians assert that it will not matter who wins in the US presidential election.

Iran
Middle East

Elections 2020

Oct 27, 2020

The US election through the eyes of Iran’s moderates and hardliners

By Ali Fathollah-Nejad and Amin Naeni

The outcome of the US presidential election will reverberate far beyond the United States, especially in Iran, where it may influence the fortunes of rival political factions as well as the results of Iran’s own presidential elections next June.

Iran
Middle East

MENASource

Oct 26, 2020

Will US troops actually leave Syria in exchange for hostages?

By Abdulrahman al-Masri

While the talks between Washington and the Bashar al-Assad regime may be in its early stages, Donald Trump may want to secure some pre-election victories by securing the release of hostages and the return of soldiers.

Middle East
Politics & Diplomacy
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