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.

Learn more

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

Event Recap

May 15, 2015

Camp David Summit with Gulf Leaders: Much Ado About Nothing?

By Brent Scowcroft Center

The May 14 meeting at Camp David between President Obama and top Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) officials was a historic opportunity for the United States to upgrade its security commitments to Gulf partners and to reassure them that a potential nuclear deal with Iran would not come at the expense of collective interests. Although US […]

MENASource

May 12, 2015

Iran’s Influence is Tied to Assad’s Future

By Nicholas Blanford

A string of defeats for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad since late March in north and south Syria has broken the stalemate that existed for more than a year and potentially opens up space for the West and its regional partners in the Arab world to pursue a negotiated solution to a war now […]

International Organizations
Iran

MENASource

May 7, 2015

More give, less take needed at the GCC Camp David summit

By Matthew Kroenig

The purpose of the upcoming summit at Camp David between President Barack Obama and leaders from the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is clear. America’s traditional partners in the Gulf feel nervous in the wake of an announced framework agreement that will allow Iran to keep its latent nuclear weapons capability, while providing […]

International Organizations
Iran

New Atlanticist

May 7, 2015

With an Eye on Iran, Gulf Countries Seek US ‘Security Guarantee’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

UAE’s Ambassador says ‘gentleman’s agreement’ must be replaced with ‘something in writing’ The United Arab Emirates and its five partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)—worried about Iran’s hegemonic ambitions in their neighborhood—want a US “security guarantee,” Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s Ambassador in Washington, said May 7 at the Atlantic Council. “We are looking […]

International Organizations
Iran

MENASource

May 6, 2015

Guns, Butter, and the Future of the Gulf States

By Mathew Burrows

Recent news reports of the Saudis burning through their foreign currency reserves at record pace over the past couple months. Combined with the growing conflict in Yemen and an already heavy engagement in Syria begs questions about the future of Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) neighbors.

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy

MENASource

May 5, 2015

A US Defense Treaty with the Gulf States: Why Values Matter

By Richard LeBaron

In an Atlantic Council report and subsequent article in The National Interest, my colleagues Barry Pavel and Bilal Saab at the Brent Scowcroft Center of the Atlantic Council have made a case for a formal alliance with US security partners in the Gulf.

Iran
Saudi Arabia

MENASource

May 4, 2015

US Role in GCC Security: Lessons from the Taiwan Case

By Robert A. Manning

The upcoming Camp David Summit with nervous Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders has the Obama administration casting about for ways to enhance security assurances.

International Organizations
Iran

Event Recap

Apr 15, 2015

Strategy Session with Dr. Robert Malley, White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf Region

On April 15, 2015 the Middle East Peace and Security Initiative in the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security hosted a private, off-the-record strategy session with Dr. Robert Malley, newly-appointed White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa, and the Gulf Region. Middle East experts with experience in government, military, think tanks, […]

Event Recap

Apr 2, 2015

ISIS and al-Qaeda: Assessing Terrorist Threats to the Homeland and Beyond

By Larry Luxner

The Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) may have grabbed global attention with its brutal terror tactics, but al-Qaeda is still a grave threat to US interests, two national security analysts said April 2 at the Atlantic Council. Bruce Riedel, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Bruce Hoffman, Director of Georgetown University’s […]

New Atlanticist

Mar 23, 2015

Artful Balance: US Must Consider Defense Pact with Arab Gulf States, Says Atlantic Council Report

By Larry Luxner

The Pentagon must consider a formal defense treaty with its Arab Gulf allies in light of Iran’s ongoing attempts to destabilize the region politically, according to a new Atlantic Council report. “While we have very effective forces and a strategy guiding those forces, it’s our sense that there’s enough going on in the world that […]

Load More