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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

In the News

Dec 5, 2018

Ferziger in Bloomberg Businessweek: As the Gulf Warms Up to Israel, a Synagogue Grows in Dubai
Civil Society Israel

In the News

Dec 4, 2018

Kadhim Quoted in CNBC on Iraq’s Membership in OPEC

By Abbas Kadhim

Read the full article here

Iraq

IranSource

Dec 3, 2018

Iran’s Ballistic Missile Inventory

By Clara Belk

The Trump administration had major qualms with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) prompting the US withdrawal in May. These included the sunset provisions, which provide expiration dates for certain restrictions, and its narrow targeting of Iran’s nuclear program without addressing the continued enhancement of its ballistic missile arsenal, which enables the regime’s “malign […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Dec 3, 2018

Qatar’s withdrawal signals ‘a weakening of OPEC’

By David A. Wemer

Qatar’s withdrawal from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will “signal a weakening of OPEC at a time when it is in some ways less powerful than it used to be, but also more crucial in balancing the market because US production is so strong,” Randolph Bell, director of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center said. Announcing Qatar’s […]

Oil and Gas The Gulf

In the News

Nov 30, 2018

Hellyer Quoted in Washington Post on MBS and G20

By H.A. Hellyer

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

Rebuilding Syria

Nov 30, 2018

Smart agriculture in Syria

By Flavius Mihaies

Advanced technological solutions are not limited to technologically advanced societies. Numerous examples in Syria show the use of innovative solutions for real world problems using open source technology: 3D printed prosthetics for amputees, renewable energy in cities under siege, and now aquaponics in damaged farmlands. The use of smart agriculture can help provide for people’s […]

Syria

IranSource

Nov 30, 2018

After Iraq, Iran Chemical Weapons Allegation Met With Skepticism

By Borzou Daragahi

If there were any doubts that the United States under President Donald Trump was trying to pick a fight with Iran over anything—that Washington had no real agenda with its belligerent anti-Iran rhetoric and moves other than just flicking mud at the country and its rulers in hopes that something would stick—they were dispelled on […]

Iran

MENASource

Nov 29, 2018

Hezbollah’s evolving role in Syria and Lebanon

By Mona Alami

Hezbollah has been instrumental to Iran’s power play in the Middle East, and its behavior is often evocative of Iran’s priorities in Syria and Lebanon. As the United States ramps up sanctions against Tehran and the war winds down in Syria, Hezbollah has adapted by scaling back and shifting its role in regime areas while escalating its political rhetoric and activity in Lebanon.

Middle East Syria

MENASource

Nov 29, 2018

An update on Yemen’s water crisis and the weaponization of water

By Margaret Suter

In a piece published last year, I examined the interaction of water and conflict in Yemen and Syria, two countries whose severe water shortages have enabled competing actors to wield this precious resource as a weapon in violent conflict to the detriment of millions of civilians.

Yemen

IranSource

Nov 29, 2018

Impeaching the Foreign Minister Won’t Solve Iran’s Woes

By Holly Dagres

Iran’s US-educated Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has always had enemies within the Iranian establishment. When Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was imprisoned during the 2009 post-election protests known as the Green Movement, his interrogators demanded not only that he admit to being a CIA agent but that Zarif—who had been sidelined by then hardline President […]

Iran
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Experts

Staff

Alexander Young

Project Assistant

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Industry Europe & Eurasia

Fellow

Rza Aliyev

Nonresident Senior Fellow, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Azerbaijani Central Asia

Expert

Jon Wilks

Distinguished Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Crisis Management

Fellow

Yerevan Saeed

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Energy & Environment

Fellow

Amina Mohamed

Nonresident Senior Fellow, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Africa Economy & Business

Fellow

Reem Goussous

Nonresident senior fellow

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

Americas Arabic
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