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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


MENASource

Sep 19, 2025

Snapback sanctions threaten to further derail Iran nuclear deal hopes

By
Rob Macaire

Now would be the best time for the West to negotiate a deal with Iran—but snapback sanctions threaten a derailing into further confrontation.

Economic Sanctions
Iran


MENASource

Sep 18, 2025

Libya’s stalled transition: When domestic spoilers meet foreign interests

By
Luis Aleman and Karim Mezran

Libya’s stalled transition has not happened by chance; it has been deliberately engineered into paralysis by both domestic spoilers and foreign powers.

Libya
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

IranSource

Jan 11, 2019

Iran’s Reform Camp Is in Crisis

By Shahir Shahidsaless

The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, can hardly be billed as a reformist. For that reason, he maintained his position as Iran’s Supreme Leader’s confidante while acting as his representative in the Iranian Supreme National Security Council for twenty-three years, from its inception until his first term election as president in 2013. Rouhani also escaped unscathed […]

Iran

In the News

Jan 10, 2019

Charai on The Hill: Rethinking America’s Commitment to Afghanistan

By Atlantic Council

Afghanistan International Norms

New Atlanticist

Jan 10, 2019

Pompeo: The United States is a ‘Force for Good’ in the Middle East

By Ashish Kumar Sen

"Secretary Pompeo’s speech will be greeted with dismay—although not surprise—from most of the Middle East," said Nicholas Blanford, Atlantic Council nonresident senior fellow with the Middle East Security Initiative.

Defense Policy Extremism

MENASource

Jan 10, 2019

Exploiting the achievements of the Libyan political agreement

By Karim Mezran and Wolfgang Pusztai

The conference on Libya held in Palermo, Italy last November saw neither the rising of a new dawn in terms of security and political consensus nor the development of a strong agreement around a well-defined plan.

Libya

IranSource

Jan 9, 2019

Iran protest movement births a new group, Iran Revival

By Alireza Nader

Iran has faced widespread demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience for more than one year. Even members of the elite, including the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and daughter of Hashemi Rafsanjani, have said that the collapse of the regime is an increasing possibility. The regime’s vulnerability has not only motivated existing opposition groups, but […]

Iran

IranSource

Jan 8, 2019

A Right-Wing Loyalist, Sadeq Larijani, Gains More Power in Iran

By Tahereh Hadian-Jazy

Following the death of Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi after a long illness, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has chosen the current head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, to another powerful post: chairman of a council tasked with resolving disputes among government branches and potentially playing a role in selecting Khamenei’s successor. Shahroudi, who replaced […]

Iran

In the News

Jan 7, 2019

Cohen in Newsweek: Trump’s Syria Withdrawal: Global Order is Costly. Global Chaos Would be Far Worse

By Ariel Cohen

Read the full article here.

Syria

SyriaSource

Jan 2, 2019

Slowing down the train

By Frederic C. Hof

One thing to be learned from the uproar following the recent out-of-Syria presidential tweet is that “ready, aim, fire” makes just as much sense in government as it does on the firing range. By most accounts, US President Donald Trump is now where he should have been two weeks ago: in the “ready” phase, consulting with his national security team on the implementation of a strategy aimed at killing ISIS (ISIL, Daesh, Islamic State) in Syria and keeping it dead by preventing the pseudo-caliphate’s chief recruiting officer—Bashar al-Assad—from taking over liberated eastern Syria.

Syria

In the News

Jan 2, 2019

Kempe joins CNBC to discuss how the U.S-China trade war could play out, as well as U.S.-Iran tensions

By Frederick Kempe

Watch the full discussion here.

China Iran

In the News

Jan 2, 2019

Nia in Politico: Why the other Iran is taking to the streets

Read the full article here

Iran Middle East
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Experts

Fellow

Reem Goussous

Nonresident senior fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East

Americas Arabic

Staff

Victoria J. Taylor 

Director, Iraq Initiative

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Economy & Business Energy & Environment
Jonathan Green is a nonresident senior fellow at the GeoStrategy Initiative in the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Fellow

Jonathan Green

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Afghanistan Defense Industry

Fellow

Itai Melchior

Nonresident Senior Fellow, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Artificial Intelligence Economy & Business

Fellow

Nic Adams

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Energy & Environment Middle East

Fellow

Rend Al-Rahim

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Democratic Transitions
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