All in-depth research & reports

Construction in downtown Cairo

Report

Jul 27, 2023

The North African complex: Regional players, global challenges

By Karim Mezran, Alessia Melcangi, Riccardo Fabiani, Sebastian Sons, Hisham Hellyer, Matteo Villa, Alissa Pavia

North Africa is, once again, the theatre of local and global challenges, which makes it a highly unstable regional complex. Unresolved crises like the ones in Libya and Western Sahara create obstacles to regional security, economic integration, and peaceful coexistence.

Middle East North & West Africa

Issue Brief

Jul 5, 2023

The minilateral moment in the Middle East: An opportunity for US regional policy?

By Jean-Loup Samaan

Jean-Loup Samaan analyzes how regional powers in the Middle East are reconsidering the multilateral balance of their foreign policy arrangements.

Middle East Political Reform

Issue Brief

Jun 6, 2023

How monarchies end

By Stephen Grand

Stephen R. Grand flips the analytical script on the spate of notable books covering “How Democracies Die.” Democracies can corrode and crumble, but so can autocracies. Why are there no books being published about how kings and queens, emperors and caliphs, cease to rule—either because their throne is transformed into a more ceremonial post or because they lose power entirely? For Arab monarchs, there are several apparent lessons to be learned.

Middle East Political Reform

Issue Brief

May 30, 2023

China’s subsea-cable power in the Middle East and North Africa

By Dale Aluf

Dale Aluf analyzes China’s campaign to make countries in the region more dependent on Chinese networks, while reducing its own dependence on foreign cables. China’s growing presence in the Middle East and North Africa’s cable industry is significant because Beijing has the power to shape the route of global internet traffic by determining when, where, and how to build cables.

China Middle East

Issue Brief

Apr 19, 2023

Holding the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable for atrocity crimes

By Celeste Kmiotek, Alana Mitias, Nushin Sarkarati

Under the principle of universal jurisdiction, certain domestic justice systems allow prosecutions in national courts for crimes committed abroad, regardless of the victim’s or perpetrator’s nationality. This manual outlines the universal jurisdiction process in selected European states for those pursuing prosecutions of crimes committed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Human Rights International Norms

Report

Mar 14, 2023

Improving Gulf security: A framework to enhance air, missile, and maritime defenses

By The Gulf Security Task Force

Looking at decades of US support and operations in the Gulf and recognizing a continued, arguably growing, air and maritime threat from Iran, the Atlantic Council Gulf Security Task Force developed a framework on how to best protect US and allies’ interests in this sensitive, always relevant region.

Conflict Crisis Management

Issue Brief

Feb 1, 2023

Netanyahu’s coalition isn’t built to last: Expect high sparks within and fragile prospects for Israel’s incoming government

By Shalom Lipner

Competing agendas between the members of Israel’s incoming government portend another unsustainable partnership.

Elections Israel

Report

Nov 18, 2022

Conflict management models in the MENA region

By Karim Mezran, Chiara Lovotti, Alissa Pavia, Gerald M. Feierstein, Stefano Marcuzzi, Petr Tůma

The Atlantic Council North Africa Program and the Institute for International Political Studies is pleased to publish its latest dossier focusing on a selected number of conflict-case studies (Libya, Yemen, Mali and Russia).

Middle East North & West Africa

Report

Nov 18, 2022

Mali: West out, Russia in, and then?

By Petr Tůma

Unlike with violent upheavals and wars that have recently shaken the broader Middle East and North African region, in Mali, the West—specifically Europe led by France—decided to mitigate the crisis through a long-term military engagement, though not as extensive as in Afghanistan or Iraq.

North & West Africa Russia

Report

Nov 18, 2022

Reviving diplomacy: A new strategy for the Yemen conflict?

By Gerald M. Feierstein

The fundamental challenge in achieving a sustainable resolution of the current conflict in Yemen is that the issues at stake are fundamental to Yemen’s identity and history.

Middle East Politics & Diplomacy