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.

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MENASource

Apr 21, 2016

Keeping the Possibility of Peace in Yemen Alive

By Jillian Schwedler

The talks at the GCC summit this week provide an opportunity for President Barack Obama to address the war and humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The delegation representing the Houthis and ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh’s General People’s Congress (GPC) delegations finally turned up today for peace talks in Kuwait, but the prospects for ending the […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Apr 21, 2016

Pavel Quoted by The National on President Obama’s Gulf Cooperation Council Summit

By Barry Pavel

Read the full article here.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Apr 20, 2016

Countering Iran’s malign influence in the Gulf

By Matthew Kroenig

At the Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh on April 21, US President Barack Obama will be looking to provide reassurances that the United States remains committed to the security of the region, even as his administration upholds the Iran nuclear agreement, which many of the United States’ Gulf partners see as undermining their interests […]

International Organizations Iran

New Atlanticist

Apr 20, 2016

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot?

By Mat Burrows

The hallowed US-Gulf bargain of “oil for security” is past its sell-by date; the future of the US-Gulf relationship is up for grabs. It has always been a fraught relationship.  Right from the outset, the United States never kept its promise to consult with the Saudis before recognizing Israel. Since 9/11, the relationship has grown […]

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Apr 20, 2016

Slavin in Voice of America: Mideast Peace Takes a Back Seat in Race to White House

By Barbara Slavin

Read the full article here.

Elections Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Apr 20, 2016

Pavel Quoted by Defense News on President Obama’s Gulf Cooperation Council Summit

By Barry Pavel

Read the full article here.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Apr 20, 2016

Saab Quoted by Al Jazeera on President Obama’s Visit to Saudi Arabia

By Bilal Y. Saab

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

In the News

Apr 20, 2016

Saab Joins Al Jazeera English to Discuss President Obama’s Visit to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council

By Bilal Y. Saab

Saudi Arabia United States and Canada

In the News

Apr 20, 2016

Saab in Defense One: Obama’s Last Chance To Change the Saudi Arabia Playbook

By Bilal Y. Saab

Read the full article here.

Middle East Saudi Arabia

New Atlanticist

Apr 20, 2016

US Disengagement from Middle East ‘Raises a Question About American Values’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

On the eve of the US-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Riyadh on April 21, Ebtesam Al-Ketbi, President of the Emirates Policy Center in Abu Dhabi, discusses key challenges in the United States’ relationship with its Arab Gulf partners, the cost of US disengagement, and the Iranian threat. Ebtesam Al-Ketbi shared her views in an […]

International Organizations Iran

Experts