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MENASource

Sep 23, 2025

A geography of protest: Inside the rise of Iran’s minority factor

By
Mohammed A. Salih

From the death of Mahsa Jina Amini to the Twelve Day War, the ethnic question has emerged as a significant dimension of Iran’s politics.

Civil Society
Iran


MENASource

Sep 23, 2025

Iran’s minorities and policy complexity: A look at two communities

By
David Sklar

Iran plays a significant role in Middle Eastern geopolitics. Policymakers should develop a sober, accurate mapping of its population.

Civil Society
Iran


MENASource

Sep 19, 2025

How Israel’s strike on Doha is forcing a Gulf security reckoning

By
Giorgio Cafiero

The Gulf monarchies have displayed strong unity at a time when rethinking twenty-first-century Gulf security is no longer optional.

Israel
Middle East

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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

In the News

Feb 5, 2019

Kadhim Joins PBS to Discuss Trump’s Remarks on US Troops in Iraq to “Watch Iran”

By Abbas Kadhim

Watch the full discussion here

Iraq

IranSource

Feb 4, 2019

As Iranian youth evolve, so do their means of communicating

By Holly Dagres

When I moved to Tehran twenty years ago, I wore a black manteau that stretched to my ankles and a headscarf pulled down to my forehead. By the time I graduated high school in 2005, my highlighted fuchsia hair stuck out like tentacles from a white shawl, and a matching manteau barely covered my rear. Such social changes, as […]

Iran Youth

IranSource

Feb 4, 2019

Iran and the women’s question

By Haleh Esfandiari

When it comes to women and the Islamic Republic, “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” For forty years, women have resisted the Islamic Republic’s attempt to deny them rights previously won. They have waged a war—on the streets, in social media and even in the privacy of their homes—for equality and against the regime’s […]

Iran

SyriaSource

Feb 1, 2019

Post-conflict, how will Iran preserve its presence in Syria?

By Ghaith al-Ahmad

The Youth Sports Club, once considered one of the most prominent soccer clubs in Deir Ezzor city in eastern Syria, now marks the beginning of Iran’s cultural penetration project in Syria.

Iran Syria

IranSource

Feb 1, 2019

Iran’s economic performance since the 1979 Revolution

By Nadereh Chamlou

Forty years have passed since the Iranian Revolution—a revolution that promised to usher in democracy, freedom, and prosperity for all. Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, an influential cleric, recently exclaimed that Iran has progressed more in the last “forty years than it had in the 400 years prior.” Has it? This note offers some perspectives on selected economic […]

Iran

SyriaSource

Jan 31, 2019

American policy at the crossroads

By Frederic C. Hof

Those who believe that Tehran and Moscow consider themselves home free, gleefully celebrating the political survival of their Syrian client without a care in the world, underestimate the knowledge and sophistication of Iranian and Russian officials.

Syria

IranSource

Jan 31, 2019

Facing Reality: Europe’s Special Purpose Vehicle Will Not Challenge US Sanctions

By Brian O'Toole

The European Union on January 31 formally announced its long-awaited special purpose vehicle (SPV) for trade with Iran, called the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).  Predictably, the SPV won’t seek to challenge US sanctions by attempting to conduct sanctionable trade with Iran as had been originally floated, and will instead focus on non-sanctionable trade, including […]

European Union International Organizations

IranSource

Jan 31, 2019

Beyond Westoxification and Orientalism: How to read Iranian politics

By Giorgia Perletta

Using fixed categories to describe Iranian politics is often a risk. Western readings are frequently imbued with misconceptions and prejudices due to an Orientalist approach. At the same time, the official narrative of the Islamic Republic reflects a self-representation in conscious reaction to Western views of Iran. These two readings clash with each other at […]

Iran

SyriaSource

Jan 30, 2019

Consequences of the HTS take-over in northwest Syria

By Phillip James Walker, Esq.

While the Trump administration’s flip-flops on Syria and the looming withdrawal of US personnel from the country's northeast have rightly drawn a great deal of public attention, important developments have simultaneously unfolded without much notice in the northwest. Specifically, while all eyes have been on the territories held by the Kurds and their allies to the east, the Salafist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia has seized control of Idlib province and the adjacent opposition-held portions of western Aleppo and northern Hama, routing the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLF).

Syria

MENASource

Jan 30, 2019

Nearly one hundred days in, how is Iraq’s new government performing?

By Dr. Abbas Kadhim

Spending the last two weeks of 2018 in Iraq offered a window into Iraqi politics, the economy, and how Iraqis are coping on a variety of issues.

Iraq
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Experts

Executive Leadership Intensive participant

Chama Mechtaly

Co-Founder, The Emma Lazarus Institute for Liberty and Tolerance

Millennium Leadership Program

Americas Civil Society

Fellow

Alessia Melcangi

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Civil Society English

Fellow

Michelle Melendez

2022-23 Senior US Marine Corps Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Iraq National Security

Staff

Karim Mezran

Director, Resident Senior Fellow, North Africa Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Economy & Business
Emily Milliken

Staff

Emily Milliken

Associate Director, Media and Communications, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Libya

Fellow

Aaron C. Norwood

2023-24 Senior US Marine Corps Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Policy Defense Technologies
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