Arab & Islamic Politics

In the coming months, the new Tunisian government will need to begin the process of containing Salafism alongside the tasks of writing the new constitution and reviving the economy.

Among all the countries experiencing Arab Spring protests, Syria is uniquely positioned to fall under Turkish influence once its dictator is toppled.

With only a few months of preparation and a rumored cache of Saudi funding, Egypt's even more extreme Salafist Nour Party is giving the Muslim Brotherhood a run for its money.

Although the Arab League's new sanctions on the Asad regime are welcome, they are unlikely to result in real transformation within the organization.

The growing armed opposition movement against the Asad regime is becoming an increasingly important element in the Syrian equation.

Judging from the first day of voting, the Muslim Brotherhood's theocratic political vision, empowered through elections, seems to be in Egypt's immediate future.

As a new round of violence erupts in Egypt, Washington must prepare for the possibility that chaos and uncertainty will dominate the political scene for months to come.

On November 16, 2011, Ehud Yaari and Normand St. Pierre addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Yaari is a Lafer international fellow with the Institute and a Middle East commentator for Israel's Channel Two television. Col. St. Pierre, a thirty-one-year veteran of the U.S. Army, retired recently

Washington's embrace of Ennahda, Tunisia's leading Islamist movement, should be predicated on the party's actions matching its promises to foster an open, democratic society.