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

Jun 22, 2016

The Prospects for Japanese-Qatari Relations

By Cinzia Miotto and Giorgio Cafiero

Over the past three decades, the tiny, wealthy Gulf emirate of Qatar has become one of Japan’s most important Middle Eastern partners. Driven by Japan’s demand for steady access to hydrocarbon resources from a reliable and stable partner and Qatar’s large-scale projects in preparation for the World Cup in 2022, the energy and construction sectors […]

Economy & Business
Japan

New Atlanticist

Jun 17, 2016

Memo to Next US President: Don’t Squander Opportunity with Iran

By Mitch Hulse

The nuclear deal with Iran has laid the foundation for a stable relationship between the United States and Iran, and the next US administration must prioritize ties with the Islamic Republic, panelists agreed at a conference at the Atlantic Council in Washington on June 16.

Elections
Iran

In the News

Jun 15, 2016

Slavin in Al Monitor: Boeing Deal Would Reverse 1993 Decision to Sell to Saudis, Not Iran

By Barbara Slavin

Read the full article here.

Iran
Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Jun 7, 2016

New Pressure on Saudi Arabia is Changing the Logic of the Yemeni Peace Talks

By Jillian Schwedler

Two developments in Yemen over the past week illustrate both promise and concern for Yemen’s peace talks. Escalated fighting in the Marib and Shabwa provinces took more than a hundred lives, but the latest prisoner swap of pro-Hadi and Houthi fighters indicates that the peace process has not collapsed. With increased US pressure on Saudi […]

Saudi Arabia
Yemen

In the News

May 31, 2016

Seznec Quoted by Wall Street Journal on Generational Change in Saudi Arabia

By Jean-Francois Seznec

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

MENASource

May 25, 2016

Small Signs of Hope in the Yemeni Peace Process

By Jillian Schwedler

UN Special Envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has worked tirelessly to keep Yemeni peace talks alive in Kuwait, expressing cautious optimism.  He described the truce on the ground as holding at around 80 to 90 percent, even as the delegations of the Houthi-GPC alliance and the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi express frustrations at […]

Yemen

New Atlanticist

May 19, 2016

A ‘Shortsighted’ US Embrace

By Ashish Kumar Sen

For Obama administration, anti-terrorism agenda comes at the cost of human rights when picking partners, says Human Rights Watch’s Kenneth Roth The Obama administration has, in the conduct of its war against terrorism, embraced a “shortsighted” approach that sets aside a democratic agenda and overlooks human rights abuses committed by some of its closest allies […]

North Africa
Saudi Arabia

In the News

May 18, 2016

Rosenblum in Politico: Improving Saudi-Israeli Relations Offers an Opportunity for the United States—and a Big Risk

By Todd Rosenblum

Read the full article here.

Israel
Saudi Arabia

MENASource

May 17, 2016

Yemen’s Peace Talks: A Progress Report

By Daniel R. DePetris

On May 11, Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed al-Asiri — the spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition fighting the Houthis in Yemen for over a year — briefed reporters in Washington with a clear message: if the Houthis and supporters of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh continue to insist on unreasonable demands at the negotiating […]

Saudi Arabia
Yemen

New Atlanticist

May 13, 2016

A New Saudi Oil Minister: Tactical Continuation, Strategic Revolution

By Jean-François Seznec

The appointment of Khalid al-Falih as Saudi Arabia’s minister of energy, industry and mineral resources comes as no surprise. He is the most qualified person to replace the brilliant Ali al-Naimi who served as minister of petroleum and mineral resources for over twenty years.  Both men are petroleum engineers steeped in the oil business and […]

Saudi Arabia

Experts