Featured commentary & analysis

Yemen’s Transition Hangs in the Balance

MENASource
Jun 24, 2025

Dispatch from the Gulf: Finding middle ground amid Israel-Iran war

By
Allison Minor

Congressional delegation visit coincided with Israel and Iran squaring off in a direct military confrontation.

Iran
Israel

Yemen’s Transition Hangs in the Balance

MENASource
May 28, 2025

Mickey goes to the Gulf: The UAE’s wish upon a soft power star

By
Amit Yarom

In a region often defined by hard power rivalries, Abu Dhabi has chosen to compete through visibility, credibility and imagination.

Media
Middle East

Yemen’s Transition Hangs in the Balance

MENASource
May 23, 2025

The Gulf is emerging as Washington’s new strategic anchor

By
Joze Pelayo

The so-called US “Golden Age for the Gulf” is one rooted in strategic utility, equal footing, high-stake deals, and fewer strings.

Middle East
Politics & Diplomacy

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.

EXPLORE THE Counterterrorism study group

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.

Listen

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.

EXPLORE THE GULF SECURITY TASK FORCE

Content

Press Release

Aug 30, 2012

Yemen’s Transition Hangs in the Balance

By Jason Harmala

More than half of Yemen’s 25 million people are on the verge of starvation, according to aid agencies that have been sounding the alarm over the past several months regarding Yemen’s growing food crisis. Next week, at a donors’ conference on September 4 and 5 in Riyadh, attention will turn to the dire economic and […]

Yemen

Event Recap

Aug 29, 2012

Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis: Impact on the Political Transition

By Jason Harmala

On Wednesday, August 29, the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, the Project on Middle East Democracy, and Mercy Corps hosted a panel discussion on Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and its impact on the political transition.

Yemen

New Atlanticist

Aug 29, 2012

Democracy Is Discipline and Self-Restraint

By Odeh Aburdene

The Arab uprisings over the last twenty months have shown that power flows from the bottom up, and people eventually will defy unjust tyranny and oppression. The Arab uprisings are a testament to the power of the powerless.

Libya North Africa

New Atlanticist

Aug 20, 2012

Reversing the Anti-American Sway in Yemen

By Danya Greenfield

While John Brennan’s, President Obama’s chief counterterrorism advisor, recent speech on U.S. policy in Yemen still echoed in the halls of the Council of Foreign Relations, the rebel Houthi movement was busy planning an anti-American demonstration galvanizing hundreds of supporters across the country. Although the Houthis are by no means representative of the Yemeni public, […]

Drones International Organizations

Press Release

Jun 26, 2012

Leading Experts Call for Recalibration of US Policy on Yemen in Letter to President Obama

By Jason Harmala

WASHINGTON — Twenty-seven leading foreign policy experts have sent a letter to President Obama, calling for a broader approach on US policy towards Yemen that “expands beyond the narrow lens of counterterrorism.” As US intelligence agencies point to the rise of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) activity making Yemen the next front in […]

Yemen

Resources

Jun 26, 2012

Danya Greenfield and Other Experts Write Open Letter to President Obama on Yemen

By Jason Harmala

Twenty-seven leading foreign policy experts, including Danya Greenfield, deputy director of the Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, sent a letter to President Obama, calling for a broader approach on US policy towards Yemen that “expands beyond the narrow lens of counterterrorism.”

Yemen

Event Recap

Jun 26, 2012

Roundtable with US Ambassador to Bahrain

By Jason Harmala

The Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted a briefing on June 26 by US Ambassador to Bahrain Thomas Krajeski with prominent representatives from non-governmental and human rights organizations in the United States.

The Gulf

New Atlanticist

Jun 5, 2012

Yemeni Youth Condemn Drones, Call for Halt to Saleh Clan Support

By Danya Greenfield

As I talked with a group of 30 Yemeni youth leaders recently, the message came across loud and clear: US drone attacks against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) are short-sighted, ill-fated and create more enemies than they destroy.

Yemen

New Atlanticist

May 25, 2012

GCC Balks at Move Towards a Union

By Richard LeBaron and Noora AlSindi

In mid-May, leaders of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) met in Riyadh to discuss a vaguely-defined Saudi proposal for a “union” of GCC states. The Saudi proposal seems to have been prompted by heightened concerns over Arab Spring aftershocks (particularly in Bahrain) and perceived Iranian ambitions in the region.

Iran Saudi Arabia

Event Recap

May 14, 2012

Roundtable Discussion with Mr. Munir Daair: Yemen in Transition

By Jason Harmala

The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), hosted prominent Yemeni businessman and founding member of the Democratic Awakening Movement (TAWQ) Mr. Munir Daair for a discussion on May 14 on Yemen’s challenges as it moves forward in its transition process. Download a PDF of the […]

Yemen
Load More

Experts

Fellow

Amir Asmar

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Intelligence Israel

Staff

Allison Minor

Director, N7 Research Institute

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Conflict

Expert bio

Nicholas Hopton

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia Iran

Fellow

Amir Hayek

Nonresident Senior Fellow, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic English

Fellow

Perrihan Al-Riffai

Nonresident Senior Fellow

empowerME Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Economy & Business

Fellow

Osamah Al Rawhani

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Middle East Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
Load More