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

Event Recap

Feb 9, 2016

Great Rifts: Political and Economic Ramifications of the Iran-Saudi Divide

By South Asia Center

Over a month after the Saudi execution of a prominent Shi’ite leader and the subsequent Iranian despoiling of the Saudi embassy, the rift between the two major Middle Eastern powers continues to roil regional diplomacy. On February 9, 2016, the Atlantic Council’s Future of Iran Initiative hosted a discussion about the impact of the rift […]

Iran Saudi Arabia

New Atlanticist

Feb 9, 2016

Saudi Offer to Deploy Troops to Syria ‘Turns the Tables’ on the United States

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Plan seen taking heat off Gulf Arab states over role in war on ISIS, putting onus on the United States to do more Saudi Arabia’s offer to deploy ground troops to fight the Islamic State in Syria is seen as putting pressure on the Obama administration—which has been urging its Arab Gulf partners to ramp […]

Iran Russia

In the News

Feb 4, 2016

Koranyi Quoted by Trend on Saudi Arabia and OPEC

By David Koranyi

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Feb 4, 2016

Three Things We Do Not Know About Yemen

By Jillian Schwedler

Tens of thousands of Yemenis gathered in the capital Sana’a to express their anger toward the government on February 3, 2011 in what was dubbed the “Day of Rage.” Five years later, a failed transitional process has led to open war between competing factions and their regional backers. As the war in Yemen enters its […]

Yemen

In the News

Feb 2, 2016

Koranyi Quoted by Trend on Energy Relations Between Saudi Arabia and Russia

By David Koranyi

Read the full article here.

Russia Saudi Arabia

In the News

Feb 1, 2016

Tanchum Quoted by Interfax on Rasgas-Petronet LNG Supply Contract Renegotiation

By Micha'el Tanchum

Read the full article here.

The Gulf

MENASource

Feb 1, 2016

Can Tourism Save Oman from Cheap Oil?

By Giorgio Cafiero

Of all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, non-OPEC Oman is most vulnerable to low oil prices. In the 1990s, the sultanate discovered that its oil reserves were substantially smaller than previously thought and Oman’s sovereign wealth fund is a fraction of the size of other GCC nations.

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Jan 28, 2016

Seznec Quoted by NYSE Post on Saudi Arabia’s Economic Diversification

By Jean Francois Seznec

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Jan 28, 2016

Yemen’s Image Problem and the Ongoing Conflict

By Jillian Schwedler

Less than a year after Saudi Arabia launched its war to restore former Yemeni President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi to power, it has retaken enough control of Aden for Prime Minister Khalid Bahah and his cabinet to return after months in exile. Bahah and other cabinet members posted selfies on social media to prove their presence […]

Saudi Arabia Yemen

In the News

Jan 27, 2016

Seznec Joins The Takeaway to Discuss the Potential Privatization of Saudi Aramco

By Jean-François Seznec

Listen to the full story here.

Saudi Arabia

Experts