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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

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

Oct 15, 2018

The Khashoggi affair: Back to the future

By Nabeel Khoury

From the abuses of the male guardianship in Saudi Arabia to arrest and torture of dissenters in Egypt and the jailing of environmentalists and journalists in Iran, the Middle East is rife with human rights abuses. Nor is this something new.

Saudi Arabia

EnergySource

Oct 15, 2018

How oil turns antagonists to allies

By Ellen Wald

Oil market dynamics can make for strange bedfellows, as overlapping economic interests can often trump entrenched regional rivalries or bilateral strife. That is not to say that oil markets are not vulnerable to geopolitical events—they are. Probably the most well-known and often cited example of a geopolitical issue to effect oil markets was the 1973 […]

Energy Markets & Governance Iran

In the News

Oct 15, 2018

Kempe on CNBC Discussing Khashoggi Investigation

By Frederick Kempe

Watch the full discussion here.

Saudi Arabia

In the News

Oct 15, 2018

Charai in National Interest: How the Trump Administration Can Cope with Obama’s Arab Spring

By Atlantic Council

Middle East Political Reform

In the News

Oct 15, 2018

Fried on Fox News Discussing Khashoggi Investigation

By Daniel Fried

Watch the full discussion here.

Saudi Arabia

IranSource

Oct 15, 2018

Why the Trump Administration Needs More Balance in the Middle East

By Barbara Slavin

In quitting the Iran nuclear deal and doubling down on traditional US alliances, the Trump administration has forfeited key leverage and reduced its ability to resolve conflicts in the Middle East. Some readjustment in US policy after the Barack Obama administration was expected and potentially useful. Both Israel and Saudi Arabia felt that the US […]

Iran

In the News

Oct 14, 2018

LeBaron Quoted in the Telegraph on Jamal Khashoggi

By Richard LeBaron

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

Inflection Points

Oct 13, 2018

Saudi silence on Khashoggi must end

By Frederick Kempe

I count myself as one of those who had been captivated by the possibility of change and the compelling MBS personality. What impressed me was his focus, energy and vision, laid out over three lengthy meetings in Riyadh and Washington, of how his country had gone wrong and what he would do to modernize it with next-generation support.

Saudi Arabia

IranSource

Oct 12, 2018

Iranian Crackdown on Corruption May Only Be Superficial

By Holly Dagres

Since the 1979 revolution, Azadi Square has been the beating heart for major demonstrations in Iran’s capital. So when the Iranian judiciary announced on September 24 that “financial corruptors” would be hung in the square—a first—it was seen as a dire warning to corrupt traders and government officials that they would be made an example of for […]

Iran

In the News

Oct 11, 2018

Hellyer in Slate: The World Needs to Take the Safety of People Like Jamal Khashoggi More Seriously

By H.A. Hellyer

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia
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Experts

Millennium fellow

Mohamad Sakr

Head of Commercial Operations, Crescent Petroleum

Millennium Leadership Program

Energy & Environment Middle East

Staff

Melanie Robbins 

Deputy Director, Realign for Palestine

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Civil Society Extremism

Fellow

Brett McGurk

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

English Middle East

Fellow

Nathan Freier

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Conflict

Millennium fellow

Saeed Al Nazari

Secretary General, Great Arab Minds

Millennium Leadership Program

Education Middle East

Fellow

Alan Pino

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Intelligence Iran
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