Middle East Programs Commentary & Analysis

Our blogs feature thoughtful reflections and opinions on current events in the Middle East & North Africa.

Through our Middle East Programs, 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

Event Recap

Mar 13, 2014

Working Group on Defense Industrialization in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Saudi Arabia, which spends more on defense than any other nation in the Middle East (up to 10 per cent of its GDP, which amounts to $21 billion), is the world’s seventh biggest spender in military terms. The United Arab Emirates, the world’s fourth largest arms importer, fields an increasingly capable military, is a regional leader […]

Saudi Arabia The Gulf

Article

Mar 8, 2014

The False Promise of a Piecemeal Approach to a WMD-Free Middle East

By Bilal Y. Saab

Almost two decades have passed since the Middle East Resolution – agreed by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – called to rid the region of all weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Yet the Middle East remains a heavily militarised theatre of conflict awash with such capabilities, […]

Israel Middle East

New Atlanticist

Mar 6, 2014

Break Up in the Gulf

By Bilal Y. Saab

On March 5, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain announced that they had withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar, claiming that Doha had been violating a clause in the Gulf Cooperation Council charter banning interference in the domestic affairs of fellow GCC members. The decision, unprecedented in the GCC’s history, hints at significant […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

Event Recap

Feb 10, 2014

A Mideast Watershed: The End of US Domination?

A 35-Year Pax Americana is waning, says former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren The recent years’ decline of US power and assertiveness in the Middle East has created a power vacuum there that may end 35 years of American pre-eminence in the region, said Michael Oren, Israeli historian and former ambassador to the United States. “While […]

Middle East United States and Canada

Transcript

Feb 10, 2014

Transcript: A Mideast Watershed: The End of US Domination?

Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States and current ambassador-in-residence at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, sat down with Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe for a discussion on the history and future of America’s role in the Middle East.

Israel Middle East

Event Recap

Jan 27, 2014

Roundtable on Regional Perspectives on Nuclear Diplomacy with Iran

In November 2013, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) signed an interim agreement on the Iranian nuclear program. While a significant breakthrough, the deal has not been universally considered a guarantee against Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons. Focusing on regional views of nuclear diplomacy with Iran, the […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jan 20, 2014

Swapping Sovereignty

By Bilal Y. Saab

Iran and UAE Make a Deal? On January 15, Defense News, an online and print military newspaper, reported that Iran and the United Arab Emirates had reached an agreement on the disputed islands of Abu Musa and Greater and Lesser Tunbs. The report quoted an unnamed high-level UAE source, who said that although a deal on Abu […]

Iran The Gulf

MENASource

Sep 5, 2013

Egypt’s Constitutional Committees

By Yussef Auf

With interim president, Adly Mansour’s constitutional declaration on July 7, a new system was adopted to amend the currently suspended Egyptian constitution, with two committees formed to carry out the task. The first committee of ‘ten experts,’ has completed its work, while the second, the ‘Committee of Fifty’ will begin its work on September 8.

North Africa

Event Recap

Aug 28, 2013

Experts Highlight Reasons and Implications for Intervention in Syria

Multiple reports have indicated that a US-led Western coalition will strike Syrian military targets “as early as Thursday.” The Obama administration is discussing multiple considerations and contingencies in regard to how it should approach the response to the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, Syria. To discuss these considerations and their implications for Syria, the war, […]

Syria

Event Recap

May 23, 2013

US and Europe Must Recommit Diplomatically and Militarily to Middle East Region

By Jason Harmala

On May 23rd, the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Peace and Security Initiative at the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security hosted a panel discussion on new developments in security cooperation among the United States, its European allies, and the Gulf States, and how they are likely to evolve in the coming years. Mr. Barry Pavel, […]