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

Sep 11, 2020

Experts react: US brokers another deal in Middle East with Israel and Bahrain

By William F. Wechsler, Kirsten Fontenrose, Marc J. Sievers, Jonathan H. Ferziger, Barbara Slavin, Carmiel Arbit, Michel Duclos, Richard LeBaron, Mark N. Katz, Thomas S. Warrick, Sina Azodi, Joze Pelayo

Atlantic Council experts react to Bahrain agreement to normalize ties with Israel and what it means for the wider region.

Israel
Middle East

In the News

Sep 7, 2020

Mack quoted in Al Jazeera on UAE-Israel normalization

Arabic
Israel

In the News

Aug 29, 2020

Charai in the Jerusalem Post: Can Arabs and Israelis prosper together?

By Atlantic Council

The Arab world was strangely quiet in the wake of the United Arab Emirates’ announcement of peace with Israel. But the announcement is a strategic victory for both Israel and the UAE, with the potential to impact Arab-Israeli relations as far afield as Morocco. Read Atlantic Council Board Director Ahmed Charai's latest in the Jerusalem Post on the prospects for Arabs and Israelis to prosper together.

Israel
Morocco

In the News

Aug 27, 2020

Fulton quoted in Bloomberg Businessweek on China-Gulf relations

China
Chinese

In the News

Aug 26, 2020

Mack quoted in Al Jazeera on UAE-Israel normalization

Arabic
Israel

In-Depth Research & Reports

Aug 25, 2020

Strangers to strategic partners: Thirty years of Sino-Saudi relations

By Jonathan Fulton

This report begins with a brief historical overview of Sino-Saudi relations, it then discusses how the partnership has developed, and ends with an analysis of the bi- lateral relationship within the context of the US-Sino-Saudi triangle.

China
Economy & Business

In the News

Aug 21, 2020

Nawaz joins StratNewsGlobal to discuss the implications of the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia divide

By Atlantic Council

Pakistan
Politics & Diplomacy

New Atlanticist

Aug 20, 2020

UAE Foreign Minister: Deal with Israel was made to save the two-state solution

By David A. Wemer

The normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was just “a matter of time,” according to UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, but the UAE finally struck the deal in return for the suspension of the Israeli government’s annexation plans, he said.

Conflict
Defense Policy

Transcript

Aug 20, 2020

Transcript: A Conversation with H.E. Anwar Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs

By Atlantic Council

One week after the UAE-US-Israeli joint statement announcing that the UAE and Israel have normalized relations, H.E. Anwar Gargash discusses how the two countries reached this historic agreement and explore the deal’s regional implications.

Defense Technologies
Israel

Blog Post

Aug 19, 2020

The sultan of Oman’s new cabinet combines continuity and change

By Marc J. Sievers

The most notable changes involve the replacement of several long-serving ministers by well-known and well-respected senior officials.

Middle East
The Gulf

Experts