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

In the News

Aug 21, 2015

Khoury on US-Saudi Foreign Policy

By Nabeel Khoury

Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Nabeel Khoury joins NPR to discuss the lack of US pressure toward Saudi Arabia regarding its activities in Yemen: 

Saudi Arabia Yemen

MENASource

Aug 20, 2015

Yemen: Calling for a Comprehensive US Strategy to End the Conflict

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee, the primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination of UN- and non-UN humanitarian assistance, recently labeled the conflict in Yemen a category 3 emergency—the most severe category in the international system.

Yemen

MENASource

Aug 13, 2015

Can US Action Stop the War in Yemen?

By Nabeel Khoury and April Longley Alley

US-ally Saudi Arabia is leading a war against Houthi rebels in Yemen. But after nearly five months, the Houthis have entrenched themselves in captured territory, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) have gained ground, and the war has created a humanitarian catastrophe, with over 4,000 dead and aid agencies warning of impending famine.

Saudi Arabia Yemen

In the News

Aug 11, 2015

Seznec on Iran-Saudi Arabia Relations

By Jean-Francois Seznec

The Huffington Post quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Jean-François Seznec on the potential for a thaw in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia as a result of the recently negotiated nuclear deal with Iran and the rise of ISIS:

Iran Saudi Arabia

In the News

Aug 11, 2015

Hausheer Ali on Saudi Women in the Workforce

By Stefanie Hausheer Ali

Bloomberg quotes Rafik Hariri Center Associate Director Stefanie Hausheer Ali on how the changing economic situation in Saudi Arabia is driving more women into the workforce:

Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Aug 4, 2015

The Potential Missile Race in the Middle East

By Aaron Stein

Hours after the conclusion of the Iran nuclear deal, President Barack Obama reiterated the administration’s policy of working with the Gulf Cooperation Council to integrate the region’s disparate missile defense systems.

International Organizations Iran

In the News

Aug 2, 2015

Saab on Gulf Shared Missile Defense System

By Bilal Y. Saab

The National quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab on the logistics of creating and implementing a shared missile defense system among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states: 

International Organizations Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Jul 22, 2015

LeBaron on Saudi Arabia’s Yemen Campaign

By Richard LeBaron

The Washington Post quotes Nonresident Senior Fellow Richard LeBaron on US efforts to reassure Saudi Arabia of continued US support in the wake of a nuclear deal with Saudi arch-rival Iran:

Iran Saudi Arabia

Webcasts

Jul 21, 2015

Saudi Arabia’s Scholarship Program: Generating a “Tipping Point”?

By Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East

Please join the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East on July 21, 2015 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. for a roundtable on “Saudi Arabia’s Scholarship Program: Generating a ‘Tipping Point’?” Westerners most commonly associate the Kingdom with oil, religious conservatism, and a deeply unstable region. Our panelists will challenge such conventional perceptions by […]

Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Jul 21, 2015

ISIS Attempts to Shake the Gulf

By Mona Alami

Another suicide bombing has shaken the Gulf region, as young Saudi Abdallah Fahd Abdallah Rashid blew himself up at a checkpoint in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on July 16. Rashid conducted the bombing just after killing his uncle, a colonel with the Saudi Ministry of Interior.

International Organizations Iran

Experts