Featured commentary & analysis

Will Saudi Arabia’s private sector be able to hold up during a pandemic?

MENASource Sep 24, 2024

Do the Houthis really have a hypersonic missile?

By Emily Milliken

The claim is concerning for more than just the high speeds; Hypersonic missiles are difficult for missile-defense systems to intercept.
Conflict Iran
Will Saudi Arabia’s private sector be able to hold up during a pandemic?

MENASource Aug 22, 2024

Ensuring the UAE’s food security in an unstable region

By Hadi Fathallah

To safeguard its future, the UAE must urgently recalibrate its food security strategy while adapting to rapidly evolving global challenges.
Economy & Business Middle East
Will Saudi Arabia’s private sector be able to hold up during a pandemic?

Report Aug 9, 2024

What attacks on shipping mean for the global maritime order

By Elisabeth Braw

This report discusses the history of attacks on shipping, the rules implemented to keep shipping safe, and the new and serious threats posed by the Houthis and other actors. It also discusses steps Western governments and the shipping industry can take to reduce the harm posed by such attacks.
Europe & Eurasia Maritime Security

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

MENASource

May 4, 2020

Will Saudi Arabia’s private sector be able to hold up during a pandemic?

By Abdullah F. Alrebh

On April 3, the Saudi government issued a royal decree allocating $2.4 billion to compensate citizens who work in the private sector in facilities affected by the pandemic. However, such bounteous support might only reduce the problem, not solve it.

Coronavirus Middle East

In the News

May 4, 2020

Fontenrose joins NPR’s Morning Edition to discuss Saudi oil tankers headed toward US

By Atlantic Council

Oil and Gas Saudi Arabia
A net launched from a net-capture system just before catching its target, Quantico, Virginia (December 2018). Source: Red Six Solutions

Issue Brief

May 4, 2020

Drone attacks against critical infrastructure: A real and present threat

By Dr. Scott Crino and Conrad "Andy" Dreby

Read the Middle East Program's new paper on the use of weaponized drones in the Middle East, with recommendations for policymakers.

Drones Middle East

In the News

Apr 30, 2020

Blakemore quoted in Al Jazeera on oil price crisis and US-Saudi relations

By Atlantic Council

Oil and Gas Politics & Diplomacy

In the News

Apr 29, 2020

Cohen in Forbes: Oil Prices May Recover Before 2021

By Atlantic Council

Europe & Eurasia Oil and Gas

MENASource

Apr 24, 2020

Israel-Gulf ties, boosted by COVID-19 research, may trip over annexation plans

By Jonathan H. Ferziger

For policymakers, the prospect of West Bank annexation posed by Israel’s incoming coalition government is a reminder of the delicacy of Mideast peacemaking.

Coronavirus Israel
IRGCN Vessels Conduct Unsafe, Unprofessional Interaction with U.S. Naval Forces in Arabian Gulf

IranSource

Apr 23, 2020

Trump’s Twitter threat to destroy Iranian boats isn’t guidance

By John W. Miller

In a tweet on April 22, US President Donald Trump announced that he ordered the US Navy to destroy any Iranian boats harassing US warships. While the tweet may seem like new and escalatory guidance from the Commander in Chief to his forces in the region and an indication of a substantial increase in tensions between the United States and Iran, it is neither.

Iran Maritime Security

MENASource

Apr 21, 2020

Lessons the US can learn from the UAE about the decontamination of COVID-19

By Theodore Karasik

Since Gulf countries faced the imported coronavirus prior to it reaching the United States, they were weeks ahead in their thinking on how to prevent a second spike in infection. The UAE has taken a blended civil-military approach that is worth watching.

Coronavirus Middle East

MENASource

Apr 16, 2020

China’s soft power during the coronavirus is winning over the Gulf states

By Jonathan Fulton

As COVID-19 continues to batter the world, China has managed an impressive transition. A recent article in the New York Times notes that, through the short life of the coronavirus crisis, China has been able to reposition itself not as “the authoritarian incubator of a pandemic but as a responsible global leader at a moment […]

China Coronavirus

New Atlanticist

Apr 12, 2020

OPEC’s historic deal may still not be enough

By Randolph Bell and Reed Blakemore

On April 12, a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and ten other oil producing countries (known as OPEC+) reached a historic deal to cut 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) to meet the historic challenge of a COVID-19-driven drop in demand. But as the oil market digests OPEC’s and OPEC+’s largest-ever single oil production cut in the face of an overwhelming demand shock, the question remains: will it be enough?

Oil and Gas Russia
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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

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

Millennium fellow

Sharif Abdelrazeq

Sustainability and Innovation Engineer, Consolidated Contractors Company

Millennium Leadership Program

Economy & Business Middle East
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Events

Online Event Tue, May 20, 2025 • 11:00 am ET

Saudi Arabia in 2025: Vision 2030 progress update and US-Saudi relations
Economy & Business Energy & Environment Future of Work Inclusive Growth