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

Nov 19, 2018

New Wave of Sanctions Spurs Iranian Political Repositioning

By Giorgia Perletta

While ordinary Iranians struggle to find imported medicine and buy basic foods due to re-imposed sanctions, the political debate inside the Islamic Republic is anything but static. As announced, the new wave of US secondary sanctions came into force on November 5. This came after unsuccessful efforts by Europe to dissuade President Donald Trump from […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 19, 2018

Why Iran won’t succumb to Trump’s sanctions

By Amir Handjani

The Trump administration has put into place a punishing new wave of sanctions against Iran that targets critical components of the Iranian economy from banks to energy, shipping and insurance. From the start of his administration, President Donald Trump has insisted that he can coerce Iran into reaching a “better deal” than the 2015 Joint […]

Iran

MENASource

Nov 16, 2018

Turkish policy in Syria: Divining intent and options for the United States

By Aaron Stein

Turkey was once the main sponsor of the Syrian opposition’s effort to topple Bashar al Assad. However, beginning in late 2016, Turkish policy has shifted following the Russian defeat of Turkish backed proxies in Aleppo. This change in policy sparked a reassessment of Turkish strategy away from the overthrow of the regime and towards close cooperation with Russia and competition with the United States.

Syria
Turkey

IranSource

Nov 15, 2018

How Iran Will Cope With US Sanctions

By Aafreen Afzal

The Trump Administration’s second wave of sanctions against Iran went into effect earlier this month, directed against Iran’s vital oil and petrochemical sector, its Central Bank, and other financial institutions. However, Washington’s diplomatic isolation as a result of its unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and its desire to mitigate oil […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Nov 15, 2018

United States sanctions seventeen Saudi officials over Khashoggi murder

By Ashish Kumar Sen

“While sanctions are an important way of sending a message, they are also a blunt instrument that authoritarian leaders find ways to work around,” said Richard LeBaron, a non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion
Human Rights

SyriaSource

Nov 15, 2018

Frederic C. Hof’s remarks on Syria at the World Affairs Council

By Frederic C. Hof

Syria is a country that’s been an important part of my life since I was 16-years-old, when I went off to Damascus during the summer between my junior and senior years of high school as an American Field Service exchange student. I lived with a Syrian family, won lifelong Syrian friends, and learned a lot about a country that had, for a century, sent many of its best and brightest to America.

Syria

IranSource

Nov 15, 2018

Demanding Iran’s Withdrawal From Syria Doesn’t Make Sense

By Albert B. Wolf

“We’re not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias,” National Security Advisor John Bolton said on September 24. Similar rhetoric was followed by James Jeffery, the State Department’s special representative for Syria, on September 30. Then on October 27, Brett McGurk, US Special […]

Iran
Syria

MENASource

Nov 14, 2018

The United States should not get involved in Libya’s civil war

By Hafed Al-Ghwell

An unmistakable sense of despair and gloom accompanies most news reports and literature on the state of affairs in Libya after 2011. The Arab Spring was meant to usher in a period of unprecedented change after decades of notoriously undemocratic leadership across the Middle East and North Africa. Yet, seven years later, there has been very little positive development in terms of transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in the Arab world.

Libya

IranSource

Nov 14, 2018

US Treasury Identifies Channels Iran Has Used to Circumvent Sanctions

By Shahir Shahidsaless

On November 5th, Ahmad Amirabadi, a member of the Iranian parliamentary board of directors, posted an exasperated tweet: “Almost all the individuals and entities that were active in bypassing the previous [US] sanctions [during the Obama administration] are included [in the new list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons]. The question is, how this […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 13, 2018

Iranian Women Demanded ‘Open Stadiums’ for a Long Time

By Open Stadiums

In a country where football was traditionally seen as a man’s sport, I was a passionate football fan. For Iranians, it was considered not just strange but taboo that a young Iranian girl be into football the way I was while growing up. It hurt whenever people mocked me, “Girls know nothing about football, they […]

Iran
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