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MENASource

Jun 23, 2026

The Middle East’s greatest killer is not what you think

By Daniel E. Zoughbie

When considering the forces claiming lives across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), minds inevitably turn to warfare and terrorism. Yet the region’s most prolific killer does not carry a weapon. Its methods are salt, sugar, and sitting. The numbers are staggering. Cardiovascular disease kills approximately 1.4 million people in the region every year; […]

Economy & Business Middle East

MENASource

Jun 11, 2026

The Iran war is a game of liar’s poker

By Khalid Azim

The central question has not simply been who possesses power, but who is willing to absorb pain, tolerate risk, and continue escalating when conventional logic suggests restraint.

Conflict Iran

MENASource

Jun 4, 2026

تفتت الفصائل المسلحة العراقية بعد تحول النظام الإيراني من الثيوقراطية الى الجنتوقراطية

By Munqith Dagher

كيف يؤثر تغيير القيادة في ايران على الميليشيات العراقية؟ د. منقذ داغر يبدو اننا بتنا ، بعد 28 فبراير 2026 ،امام نظام مختلف وظيفياً، بل وحتى هيكلياً عما عرفناه طوال السنوات السبعة وأربعين من عمر النظام الايراني. فقد اتسم نظام الحكم في ايران بنسخته الخمينية الأولى 1979-1989  بأحادية قطبية لا مكان فيها سوى للمرشد الأعلى(الخميني). […]

Arabic Conflict

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.

Content

In the News

Nov 4, 2019

Grand in the Italian Journal of International Studies: Reflections on the Arab Spring

By Atlantic Council

Recent popular protests in Algeria and Sudan have resurrected debate over the Arab Spring. In 2011, the crux of that debate was neatly summed up in the title of an article that appeared in these pages: “Whither the Arab Spring? 1989 or 1848?” (Springborg 2011). In other words, were these citizen protests the harbingers of thoroughgoing […]

Middle East

In the News

Nov 4, 2019

Dagres joins The Monocle to discuss the Iran Nuclear Deal and Tehran’s withdrawals after sanctions

By Atlantic Council

Arms Control Defense Industry

In the News

Nov 4, 2019

Wald joins Bloomberg to discuss the Aramco IPO

By Atlantic Council

Energy Markets & Governance Geopolitics & Energy Security

In the News

Nov 4, 2019

Handler in Nextgov: The zero-day war? How cyber is reshaping the future of the most combustible conflicts

By Atlantic Council

Israeli-Saudi security cooperation quietly incubated over mutual intolerance toward an expansionist Iran is blossoming into a gradually open relationship, with cyber at its heart. Bonds such as these, forged behind closed doors, provide options for de-escalatory approaches to regional conflict.

Cybersecurity Israel

In the News

Nov 4, 2019

Dagres featured on The Monocle explaining the background of Iranian sanctions

By Atlantic Council

Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion Iran

In the News

Nov 4, 2019

Katz quoted in TRT World on the potential sale of Russian S-400s to Saudi Arabia

By Atlantic Council

Missile Defense Russia

In the News

Nov 2, 2019

Wechsler quoted in CNN on Syrian oilfields

By Atlantic Council

Geopolitics & Energy Security Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Nov 1, 2019

Cohen in The Hill: After al-Baghdadi: Strategic vacuum threatens the US and allies in the Middle East

By Atlantic Council

Conflict Defense Policy

New Atlanticist

Nov 1, 2019

Iraq’s government cannot reform itself

By Samir Sumaidaie

The Iraqi government, as it is constituted now and despite all past and present promises and claims to the contrary, does not have the political will or the capacity to deliver good governance. That is why the first demand of the protesters is for the government to step aside and be replaced—hopefully peacefully by constitutional steps—by an emergency administration.

Democratic Transitions Iraq

In the News

Nov 1, 2019

Daragahi joins Turkey’s TRT World to discuss how Baghdadi’s death changes the fight against terrorism

By Atlantic Council

Conflict Extremism

Experts