Featured commentary & analysis

Back to the Future Off Hormuz

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

Back to the Future Off Hormuz

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

Back to the Future Off Hormuz

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

IranSource

Aug 2, 2018

Back to the Future Off Hormuz

By Owen Daniels

“If they impose sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz.” After a long week of Iran headlines – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laying out the administration’s Iran strategy, Presidents Trump and Rouhani trading implicit threats of war, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) Commander Qassem Suleimani addressing […]

Iran Saudi Arabia

New Atlanticist

Aug 2, 2018

Back to the Future Off Hormuz

By Owen Daniels

“If they impose sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz.” After a long week of Iran headlines – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laying out the administration’s Iran strategy, Presidents Trump and Rouhani trading implicit threats of war, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force […]

Iran Saudi Arabia

MENASource

Jul 26, 2018

Prospects for peace in Yemen

By Zara Jayant

As the conflict in Yemen continues and the country’s humanitarian crisis deepens, UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, is attempting to negotiate a ceasefire for the port of Hodeida, a vital port for bringing aid and food into the famine-struck country. Earlier this month, the Saudi-led coalition began attacking the port city in response […]

Yemen

EnergySource

Jul 9, 2018

The UAE’s energy future: A long-term strategy beyond hydrocarbons

By Herbert Crowther

The world’s largest single-site solar park and the world’s first attempt at a carbon neutral, self-sustainable city can both be found in what might seem to be an unlikely location: the heart of the Arabian Gulf. Both projects are funded by and located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a geographically small state that holds […]

Energy Transitions Renewables & Advanced Energy

New Atlanticist

Jul 5, 2018

The Gulf’s Soccer Showdown

By Owen Daniels

The World Cup’s knockout rounds are in full swing, and followers of Middle East soccer will now have to root for teams outside the region. Despite some compelling narratives – the dramatic politicization of Egyptian star Mo Salah, Iran’s rags-to-riches goalkeeper saving a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shrugging off his […]

Saudi Arabia The Gulf

New Atlanticist

Jun 29, 2018

Saudi Arabia Puts Women in the Driver’s Seat

By Phoebe Amend

On June 4, Saudi Arabia issued driver’s licenses to ten women for the first times in their lives. This followed a repeal—announced by royal decree last September—of the female driving ban, which officially ended on June 24. In what is one among a number of ambitious socioeconomic reforms driven by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin […]

Saudi Arabia

EnergySource

Jun 21, 2018

The OPEC meeting and the United States: The elephant not in the room

By Randolph Bell

The geopolitics and economics of oil appear set to collide at this Friday’s OPEC meeting and Saturday’s follow-on OPEC/Non-OPEC Ministerial, as members of the producing cartel and non-OPEC member countries debate the fate of the production curtailment agreement in place since 2016. However, the biggest elephant in the room won’t even be there. The United […]

Energy Markets & Governance Oil and Gas

New Atlanticist

Jun 18, 2018

Yemen’s Never-Ending War

By Borzou Daragahi

The assault by the United Arab Emirates’ forces and their local allies in a Saudi-led coalition on the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah that began last week and remains underway rightly raised concerns once again about the potential humanitarian consequences of Yemen’s ongoing war. Hudaydah is one of the impoverished country’s most important ports, the […]

Saudi Arabia The Gulf

MENASource

Jun 18, 2018

Yemen: The battle for al-Hodeida between war and peace

By Nabeel Khoury

There are three possible outcomes to the ongoing battle for Hodeida. First, the Saudi-led coalition succeeds in ousting the Houthi fighters from airport, seaport, and city. Second, the Houthi forces succeed in thwarting the land assault, but remain surrounded from the south and the east. Third, both sides accept a UN sponsored compromise, placing airport […]

Yemen

IranSource

May 21, 2018

The Regional Consequences of Trump’s Decision to Ditch the Iran Nuclear Deal

By Rachel Ansley

Though Iran has thus far remained in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal could be the first domino to fall, setting off a chain of escalatory events throughout the region.  “This change is US policy is happening at a time when the region […]

Iran Iraq
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

Fellow

Nicholas Hopton

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia Iran

Expert

Jon Wilks

Distinguished Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Crisis Management

Fellow

Yerevan Saeed

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Energy & Environment

Fellow

Amir Hayek

Nonresident Senior Fellow, N7 Initiative

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic English
Load More