السياسة العربية والإسلامية

Read part 1 and part 3. Although the incumbent Justice and Development Party, or AKP, substantively dropped European Union membership as a top priority in 2005 and has since turned its attention to Turkey's Middle Eastern ties, it continues to allege that the accession process is of major importance. However

When the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, came to power in 2002 in Turkey, many were satisfied with its assurance that it would make Ankara's European Union accession the chief aim of Turkish foreign policy, despite the party's Islamist pedigree. The promise of a European Turkey helped assuage fears

Not a day goes by without another pundit lauding Turkey's democratization by the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP. The argument is that Turkey has finally become a true democracy under the AKP, as the party has boldly forced the military into its barracks and empowered the masses over

Fears in security circles that Iraq is to become mired in a new security crisis -- dubbed by Gulf States Newsletter "the next insurgency" -- have been highlighted by a general increase in violence across Iraq in August/September. This was brought into stark focus by the 25 August mass casualty

Had I voted in Sunday's referendum in Turkey, I would have struggled to decide whether to vote for or against the constitutional amendments put forth by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). On the one hand, the reform package includes progressive amendments, such as constitutionally guaranteed gender equality. On

Sam Huntington was right to consider Turkey his chief example of a "torn country." The results of the Sept. 12 vote on the constitutional amendments proposed by the ruling Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party, or AKP, show that officially secular Turkey is torn not just between the East and the

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's recent health scares -- including major surgery in Germany in March -- have raised critical questions regarding the future of one of America's most important allies. In the event of his death, how would his successor be chosen, and who would it most likely be? Will

For nearly two weeks, the Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain has experienced near-daily disturbances following government arrests of opposition activists from the majority Shiite community. The timing of the arrests seemed geared toward preempting trouble in advance of the scheduled October 23 parliamentary and municipal elections, which minority Sunni

Turkey has nearly a year to go before it holds elections, but one outcome seems certain: the country's next prime minister will wear a moustache. Over the past two decades a streak of hair between the nose and upper lip has gone from a sign of manhood to a class