Middle East Programs Research & Reports

Our reports feature policy-relevant analysis that focuses on transatlantic priorities while centering the concerns of citizens in the Middle East.

All in-depth research & reports

Report

Nov 18, 2022

The EU, NATO and the Libya crisis: Scaling ambitions down?

By Stefano Marcuzzi

In March 2011, a coalition of countries under the United Nations (UN) umbrella led militarily by NATO launched an air campaign in support of a series of revolts against the regime of Muammar al-Qaddafi in Libya, ostensibly to stop Qaddafi’s reprisals on civilians.

Libya Middle East

Report

Nov 18, 2022

“Conflict management” à-la-Russe in the Middle East and Africa

By Chiara Lovotti

Over the past 10 years, much has been said about Russia’s interventions in conflicts in the wide region stretching from the Middle East to central Africa, encompassing North Africa and the Sahel.

Middle East Russia

Report

Nov 18, 2022

Conflict management in the MENA: Different approaches for different actors

By Chiara Lovotti and Alissa Pavia

The region encompassing the Middle East, North Africa, and the Sahel is studded with complex and multi-layered conflicts in which local and international dynamics interact.

Conflict Middle East

Report

Nov 16, 2022

KRI positioned in prominent role in global gas markets

By Ahmed Tabaqchali

A new report, The Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s Gas-Export Potential: Deja Vu All Over Again, authored by Atlantic Council senior fellow Ahmed Tabaqchali, considers the Kurdistan Region of Iraq’s (KRI) proven and probable gas reserves having the potential to nearly triple production by 2030 and more than sextuple by 2040.

Economy & Business Energy & Environment

Report

Nov 3, 2022

Optimizing and aligning the US-Iraq relationship

By C. Anthony Pfaff

This report considers US-Iraq relations’ need for an approach that relies less on directly confronting corrupt and malign actors and more on creating better alternatives so that individuals and groups do not choose to engage in corrupt and malign activities in the first place.

Economy & Business Energy & Environment

Issue Brief

Oct 12, 2022

Fulfilling the requirements: Israel’s entry into the US Visa Waiver Program

By Ruth Marks Eglash and Scott Lasensky

A little-discussed, yet far-reaching issue on the US-Israel bilateral agenda is Israel’s long-running quest to join the United States’ Visa Waiver Program (VWP). In his first year and a half in office, US President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has elevated the issue, and efforts to achieve Israel’s entry are gaining momentum after remaining stagnant during the Trump presidency.

Israel Middle East

Report

Oct 7, 2022

How the Ukraine war has affected the MENA region’s pursuit of governance reforms

By Alissa Pavia and Lorenzo Fruganti

The geopolitical transformations of the last decade, combined with knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine, are impacting Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries’ respective domestic efforts to implement socioeconomic reforms.

Middle East North Africa

Report

Oct 7, 2022

The GCC in the global power cycle: The reform-security nexus

By Eleonora Ardemagni

On reforms and good governance, the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have little to worry about in the current global power cycle, which is shaping an order definitely less Western-centred, and more Eastern-oriented, if compared with the 2010s. National economic goals, rather than foreign policy alliances, traditionally drive top-down reforms in GCC states, including  those with an impact on social and individual freedoms.

Middle East North Africa

Report

Oct 7, 2022

Egypt’s “new” capital: Reshaping the future to erase the past

By Hafsa Halawa

In recent years, Egypt has fallen into resignation of its social, economic, and political trajectory.

Middle East North Africa

Report

Oct 7, 2022

The MENA region’s uneasy path towards reforms

By Karim Mezran, Valeria Talbot, Alissa Pavia, Lorenzo Fruganti, Eleonora Ardemagni, Andrew Farrand, Alessia Melcangi and Hafsa Halawa

Decade-old geopolitical transformations have impacted the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) states’ efforts to implement socioeconomic reforms. More recently, the Ukraine war’s reverberations are also likely to affect the MENA countries’ paths towards such reforms.

Middle East North Africa