Middle East

Middle East

Stretching from the Western Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East continues to be a region struggling with violent conflict, political repression, and poor development. Numerous pro-democracy protest movements, a burgeoning youth population, and efforts to reform governments and lessen economic dependence on oil, however, are causes for optimism. The United States and the international community must remain engaged with the region to provide support for these positive moves and to address the many remaining challenges.

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The latest pieces from MENASource:


MENASource

May 8, 2026

New avenues for Syria-EU cooperation are forming amid conflict in the Middle East

By
Marie Forestier 

The May 11 EU-Syria High-Level Political Dialogue marks a step toward a closer partnership.


Energy & Environment

European Union


MENASource

May 7, 2026

Egypt’s bet on land monetization

By
Amir Asmar

There’s little doubt that Egypt's land development efforts will have measurable economic benefits, but they are unlikely, by themselves, to put the country’s economy on a solid footing.


North & West Africa


MENASource

May 5, 2026

Dispatch from Beirut: Israel-Hezbollah talks risk falling into a failed, decades-long pattern

By
Nicholas Blanford

As the war with Israel revives Hezbollah and divides Lebanon, the ongoing negotiations echo failed 1983 talks.


Conflict

Israel

READ More from MENASOURCE

Through our Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, 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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Content

EUFOR soldier

NATOSource

Jun 5, 2014

Europe’s Dangerous Neighborhood

By Javier Solana, Project Syndicate

Europe’s eastern neighborhood is marked by the crisis in Ukraine.

Europe & Eurasia European Union

MENASource

Jun 5, 2014

Choices for the Government and Opposition after the Presidential Elections

By Amr Hamzawy

As the official results have been announced with President-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi winning Egypt’s elections with 97 percent of the vote, major state and societal actors which influence the ruling system in Egypt will face many of the same questions that they have been confronted with in the past.  These questions will continue to be […]

Elections North Africa

MENASource

Jun 5, 2014

Sisi and Russia: No Replacement for the United States

By Mark N. Katz

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s election as president—which President Vladimir Putin indicated his support for when the two leaders met this past February in Moscow—will see a deepening of the Russian-Egyptian rapprochement that these two leaders have already begun.  Moscow is pleased that Sisi has ended Egyptian support for the Syrian opposition against Assad that ousted President […]

Elections North Africa

MENASource

Jun 5, 2014

Tribes and AQAP in South Yemen

By Nadwa Al-Dawsari

In April 2014, the Yemeni government launched an offensive against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the governorates of Abyan and Shabwa in South Yemen. Political actors, Yemeni citizens, intellectuals, and activists across the country supported the offensive and many celebrated it on social media.

Yemen

Congressional Relations

Jun 4, 2014

Slavin: Senate Should Not Pass New Iran Sanctions Now

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin writes for Voice of America on why the Senate should not introduce new sanctions against Iran:

Iran

MENASource

Jun 4, 2014

Dispatch: Kurds Prevent Presidential Elections in Northern Syria

By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

On June 3, the Assad regime held presidential elections in the parts of Syria it still controls. In Northern Syria, however, Kurdish security forces confiscated the ballot boxes. Serbest Rezan, responsible for the Kurdish security police in the city of Qamishli, said they confiscated at least 120 polling stations.

Syria

MENASource

Jun 4, 2014

Egypt’s Divisive Influence in Libya and Tunisia

By Lara Talverdian

No two Arab transitions have unfolded the same over the last three years. Each transition is unique, but the societies are not insulated and the borders are not retentive; what happens in one place reverberates elsewhere. In the case of North Africa, developments in Egypt over the past year threaten to undermine consensus-building and the […]

Elections Libya

MENASource

Jun 4, 2014

Sisi’s Presidency Fueling Expectations in Egypt

By Svetlana Milbert

Now that Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been elected president, Egyptians await to see what measures he will undertake to ease economic burdens and improve living conditions. A priority for most citizens are the recurrent, and growing, energy shortages in the face of peak demand season. Although energy shortages and blackouts are not a new phenomenon, […]

Elections North Africa

MENASource

Jun 4, 2014

Syria: False Election, True Critique

By Frederic C. Hof

Yesterday, June 3, was make-believe election day in that part of Syria where Iran props up Bashar al-Assad as president-in-name of a broken Syrian Arab Republic. A shoe brush entrepreneur and a tamed communist dutifully played their assigned roles as ballot alternatives to Mr. Assad, albeit with open, deferential reverence toward the man who has […]

Syria

MENASource

Jun 4, 2014

MENASource Q&A with Munir Daair

By MENASource

Yemen finds itself slipping into turbulent times as tribal conflict, extremist networks, and public grievances threaten to tear the country’s social fabric. Danya Greenfield, acting director for the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, sat down with Munir Daair, a Yemeni businessman and political activist, to discuss the latest challenges in Yemen’s […]

Yemen
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Experts

Staff

Elise Baker

Senior Staff Lawyer, Strategic Litigation Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Civil Society Extremism

Fellow

John B. Barranco

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Americas Iraq

Fellow

Scott D. Berrier

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Indo-Pacific Security Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Afghanistan Defense Policy

Staff

Nibras Basitkey

Associate Director, Iraq Initiative

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Economy & Business

Millennium fellow

Arvid Bell

CEO and Co-Founder, Anadyr Horizon

Millennium Leadership Program

Central Asia Economy & Business

Fellow

Nicholas Blanford

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Conflict
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