دمکراسی و اصلاح

Despite winning relatively few seats, Naftali Bennett and Mansour Abbas may have much to say about who forms the next government, and a fragile coalition seems inevitable regardless of which side they choose.

A complicated parliamentary compromise has reactivated some of the machinery required for this year’s proposed ballot and a potential resolution to the KRG energy dispute, though the country’s hobbled legal institutions are still holding back reform.

The U.S. does not always have to be at the head of the table, but it has to be present and ready to jump in if progress stalls on issues such as advancing political dialogue, holding elections on time, and addressing Russia’s worrisome military encroachment.

Abbas may decide to postpone the vote given Fatah’s internal fissures, his rivals’ relative unity, and the damage that certain outcomes could do to Palestinian relations with the West.

The political fallout from a recent speech by the Lebanese Armed Forces commander gives Washington and its partners a golden opportunity to prod the country from crisis management toward actual solutions.

To expand its strategic influence on the Mediterranean, Moscow is exploiting Beirut and Hezbollah’s crisis at a time when the West seems uncertain about how much to intervene.

American withdrawal would doom efforts against the Islamic State, undermine confidence in Baghdad, exacerbate Iraq's economic crisis, and deliver the country completely to Tehran.

ارتباط واتیکان با عراق با هدف کاهش خشونت دینی ستودنی است، اما مقامات غربی درمورد دستاورد همکاری با رهبران دینی شیعه در کوتاه‌مدت باید واقع‌گرا باشند.

NATO stands ready to increase its commitment in a slow and steady manner consistent with Baghdad’s needs, but careful communication will be crucial, as will a more strategic discussion on how to combine different assistance efforts.