Featured commentary & analysis


Counterterrorism Study Group

The Counterterrorism Study Group is a forum for former counterterrorism officials to review the latest threats, to understand emerging trends and future predictions, and to explore creative new proposals for improving the effectiveness of current policies and operations.


Podcast series

Listen to the latest episode of the China-MENA podcast, featuring conversations with academics, government leaders, and the policy community on China’s role in the Middle East.


Gulf Security Task Force

The Gulf Security Task Force is revisiting the question of how to best protect US interests in this sensitive, always relevant region. Our goal is to provide US decision-makers with an updated, fact-based strategy for protecting US interests in the air and maritime domain from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, and ensuring Gulf partners’ ability to assume this responsibility, with the assistance and leadership of the United States.

Content

MENASource

Jul 18, 2016

A Middle East Agenda for Hillary Clinton

By Nabeel Khoury

As Hillary Clinton emerges as the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2016 presidential elections after an endorsement by rival Bernie Sanders, challenges loom ahead, both as policy issues and as strategies that need to be planned for when a potential presidential term begins.

Iraq
Israel

Issue Brief

Jul 14, 2016

Bahrain’s inconvenient truths

By Bilal Y. Saab

Bahrain has been in the political doghouse in Washington ever since its government crushed Arab Spring-inspired popular protests in February 2011, leading to a political crisis between the government and the opposition that has deepened over the past few weeks. So, it was not surprising when the Bahraini government justified its latest crackdown against Al […]

The Gulf

Event Recap

Jul 13, 2016

Foul Play: The Human Cost of World Sports

By Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center

Wednesday July 13, 2016, the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center hosted a panel of human rights experts to discuss the human rights violation which often accompany international mega sports events. The panelist included: Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch, Sunjeev Bery, advocacy director, Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty […]

Brazil
China

In the News

Jul 12, 2016

Saab in Defense News: Future Deterrence Frameworks for the GCC

By Bilal Y. Saab

Read the full article here.

International Organizations
Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Jul 11, 2016

Slavin in Voice of America: Saudi Backing of Iranian Exile Group Inflames Mideast Conflicts

By Barbara Slavin

Read the full article here.

Iran
Saudi Arabia

In the News

Jul 7, 2016

Hellyer in The National: Where Do We Go From Here After Medina Attacks?

By H.A. Hellyer

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abullah bin Zayed al-Nayan, March 2, 2016

NATOSource

Jul 1, 2016

NATO Summit Special Series: United Arab Emirates

By Muath Al Wari

NATO’s ties with the United Arab Emirates are complicated by several factors that negate the significance of the upcoming summit in Warsaw for Abu Dhabi’s foreign policy interests.

Iran
NATO

MENASource

Jun 29, 2016

Yemen Peace Talks Stalled But Process to Restart Mid-July

By Jillian Schwedler

Representatives of the government and Houthi delegations to the peace talks in Kuwait announced that they were suspending the talks until the end of Ramadan in mid-July.  The process had effectively stalled even as UN special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed expressed cautious optimism last week about the Yemeni peace talks underway in […]

Yemen

Bremain vs Brexit

Jun 28, 2016

What Brexit Means for the GCC

By Kristian Coates Ulrichsen

The startling result of the referendum on the United Kingdom’s membership of the European Union has caused political and economic chaos in Britain unparalleled since World War Two. Prime Minister David Cameron will be out of power by September 2 and Britain faces a period of profound uncertainty and volatility over the nature of its […]

European Union
International Organizations

MENASource

Jun 24, 2016

What Was in the Egyptian Court’s Reasoning in the Tiran and Sanafir Case?

By Mohamed Elgohari

On June 21, in an unexpected move, the first circuit of the Egyptian State Council’s administrative court, headed by State Council Vice President Yahya al-Dakrouri, annulled a Saudi-Egyptian maritime agreement, ceding sovereignty of the two islands of Tiran and Sanafir to the Gulf kingdom. The Egyptian government, at the time, said that Saudi Arabia had […]

North Africa
Saudi Arabia

Experts