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

Feb 13, 2015

Anti-Houthi Protests in Yemen

By Victoria Heckenlaible

Thousands of men, women, and children flooded the streets this week in Sana’a and across Yemen protesting the Houthi takeover. The demonstrations came on the fourth anniversary of protests that forced former President Ali Abdullah Saleh from power.

Yemen

MENASource

Feb 10, 2015

Lessons for Sinai from Yemen

By Nervana Mahmoud

Following the recent major attacks by militants that killed at least twenty-seven people, mostly soldiers, in Sinai, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi made two important decisions. He has established a unified military command east of the Suez Canal to fight radical groups in the Sinai Peninsula. He has also pledged $1.3 billion to develop the […]

North Africa Yemen

MENASource

Feb 9, 2015

Death of Saudi King Ends Hope for Egypt-Qatar Rapprochement

By Khaled Dawoud

Chances for reconciliation between Egypt and Qatar have faded quickly amid renewed charges in Cairo that the oil-rich Gulf state is back to its regular policy of supporting the currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. Egypt has gone so far as to accuse Qatar of supporting the recent terrorist attacks against the army in Sinai.

North Africa Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Feb 9, 2015

Yemen: The Enemy of my Enemy is Al-Qaeda

By Nadwa Al-Dawsari

Last Sunday, armed men from Bani Dhabian, a prominent tribe from the northern Sana’a province set up a camp near the border Marib, an oil rich province in central Yemen. It was the third rallying point that local tribes had established in the province since last September to curb the advance of Houthis into their […]

Yemen

MENASource

Jan 29, 2015

A New Hezbollah in Yemen?

By Nabeel Khoury

Young, handsome and charismatic, Abdel Malek al-Houthi has taken Yemen and the world by surprise. Leader of a ten-year insurgency against the central government in Sana’a, Abdel Malek has finally arrived, forcing the resignation of President Abdrabbo Mansour Hadi as Houthi fighters surrounded his house, seemingly to show displeasure with his failure to fully comply […]

Yemen

In the News

Jan 29, 2015

The Wall Street Journal Mentions Atlantic Council Event Featuring Houthi Representative

The Wall Street Journal mentions an Atlantic Council event, “Yemen in Crisis,” that featured remarks from Ali Al-Emad, a Houthi representative:

Yemen

In the News

Jan 28, 2015

Saab on the Sale of US Predator Drones to the United Arab Emirates

By Bilal Saab

The National quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Resident Senior Fellow for Middle East Security Bilal Y. Saab on the sale of US Predator drones to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and what it means for the US-UAE relationship:

The Gulf

In the News

Jan 28, 2015

Slavin: “The Alliance with the Iranians is More an Alliance of Convenience”

By Barbara Slavin

South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin joins PBS’s Frontline to discuss the alliance between the Houthis and Iran:

Iran Yemen

In the News

Jan 27, 2015

LeBaron: “Saudis Have to be Part of the Solution to the Problem of ISIS and the Iran Problem”

By Richard LeBaron

The LA Times quotes Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Richard LeBaron on President Obama’s approach to Saudi Arabia:

Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Jan 26, 2015

New Saudi King, Same Old Kingdom

By MENASource

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s passing last Friday marked the beginning of King Salman Al Saud’s reign in Saudi Arabia, sparking questions surrounding the future of Saudi policy inside and outside the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia

Experts