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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

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

MENASource

Nov 14, 2018

The United States should not get involved in Libya’s civil war

By Hafed Al-Ghwell

An unmistakable sense of despair and gloom accompanies most news reports and literature on the state of affairs in Libya after 2011. The Arab Spring was meant to usher in a period of unprecedented change after decades of notoriously undemocratic leadership across the Middle East and North Africa. Yet, seven years later, there has been very little positive development in terms of transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in the Arab world.

Libya

IranSource

Nov 14, 2018

US Treasury Identifies Channels Iran Has Used to Circumvent Sanctions

By Shahir Shahidsaless

On November 5th, Ahmad Amirabadi, a member of the Iranian parliamentary board of directors, posted an exasperated tweet: “Almost all the individuals and entities that were active in bypassing the previous [US] sanctions [during the Obama administration] are included [in the new list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons]. The question is, how this […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 13, 2018

Iranian Women Demanded ‘Open Stadiums’ for a Long Time

By Open Stadiums

In a country where football was traditionally seen as a man’s sport, I was a passionate football fan. For Iranians, it was considered not just strange but taboo that a young Iranian girl be into football the way I was while growing up. It hurt whenever people mocked me, “Girls know nothing about football, they […]

Iran

SyriaSource

Nov 13, 2018

Assad needs UN assistance to repatriate refugees

By Jesse Marks and Lina Kreidie

As the Syrian government and its allies extend control over a growing portion of Syria, they are accelerating demands for refugees to return to the country.President Bashar al-Assad’s government has a political interest in refugees coming back. The government wants international legitimacy, and significant returns would signal that it has won refugees’ confidence in its ability to protect them and rebuild the country.

Syria

New Atlanticist

Nov 12, 2018

Violence erupts between Gaza and Israel

By David A. Wemer

“This latest escalation, however, may be more difficult to contain. Israel may feel the need to respond with much stronger force given the number of rockets that have already hit Israel, including a bus earlier today," said Rachel Brandenburg, director fo the Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council.

Conflict Israel

Inflection Points

Nov 11, 2018

Trump’s test on Iran: Turning disruption to progress

By Frederick Kempe

Without minimizing the other challenges, my wager is that the Iran issue may become the Trump administration’s most defining foreign policy challenge over the coming two years, viewed alongside North Korea as part of a dual effort to counter rogue regimes.

Economic Sanctions Iran

In the News

Nov 10, 2018

Slavin Joins Al Jazeera to Discuss the Messaging Battle with Iran

By Barbara Slavin

Listen to the full discussion here.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Nov 9, 2018

Libya, the US, and the Palermo Conference

By Karim Mezran and Erin A. Neale

The United States has much to gain by taking a larger leadership role in the political negotiations and redirecting the tangential European actions toward the UN-led stabilization process.

Democratic Transitions Elections

IranSource

Nov 9, 2018

Support Marines’ Families, Not Iran’s Terror-Sponsors

By General James L. Jones

Thirty-five years ago, Iran-sponsored terrorists drove a truck laden with explosives into the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 U.S. service members — 220 Marines, 18 sailors, and three soldiers — and injuring many others, some severely. It was the single deadliest day for the Marines since World War II. The U.S. Embassy in Beirut had […]

Iran Middle East

SyriaSource

Nov 9, 2018

Regime resurgence endangers local aid community

By Barrett Limoges, Sage Smiley, Reem Ahmad, and Noura Hourani for Syria Direct

When pro-government forces recaptured the southwestern rebel stronghold of Daraa province in July, Muhammad Sabsabi’s colleagues tried to bury their pasts.Some tried to flee. Many simply went underground.

Syria
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Experts

Staff

Amy Cowley

Program Assistant

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Conflict North & West Africa

Fellow

Khosro Sayeh Isfahani

Former Researcher

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arms Control Civil Society

Fellow

Jaime Stansbury

Nonresident fellow

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

Arabic Economy & Business

Fellow

Gabriele Natalizia

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center

Europe & Eurasia Italian

Fellow

Linda Lourie

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Artificial Intelligence Australia

Fellow

Yousuf Syed Khan

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Africa Europe & Eurasia
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