Arab & Islamic Politics

Theme Since the 1990s, the Turkish military have emerged as a force defending Turkey's secular democracy in the political realm. How will they react towards the upsurge in Islamic influence and the other issues facing the country? Summary The Turkish military began to Westernise in the late 18th century and

On June 19, the Turkish Supreme Elections Board, an independent body that monitors the elections process, finalized the candidate lists for the July 22 early parliamentary polls. The outcome at the polls should be easier to estimate now that the electorate can judge the parties as well as their candidates

Although public opposition toward U.S. foreign policy remains at an all-time high throughout the Arab world, parents and students in the region are more eager than ever to seek out American-style university educations. Meanwhile, local institutions are increasingly competing with U.S.-based universities to attract these students. Beyond the "American" label

Nothing is more basic to statecraft than matching objectives and means. Sounds elementary, but it is not necessarily the norm in our foreign policy. Look at Iraq: It is the emblem of a policy that too often has been shaped by a mismatch between objectives and means. The administration's assessment

From high-level diplomatic tours to multilateral summits in Baghdad and Sharm al-Sheikh, Washington has devoted increasing attention to Iraq's Arab neighbors. Yet, although speculation about the role of regional states in stabilizing Iraq has become something of a cottage industry in Washington, much of this analysis has focused on non-Arab

In several days of discussions in Jerusalem and Ramallah recently, I was struck by the nature of the debate I witnessed in both places. To my surprise, it wasn't about the stalemate in the peace process or the Arab peace initiative. It was about the conflict between Palestinian organizations in

On May 20, thousands of secular Turks demonstrated in the Black Sea port city of Samsun against the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has an Islamist pedigree. It was the most recent display of protest in a power struggle between the AKP and its opponents over determining a

Editor's Note: Martin Kramer is an authority on contemporary Islam and Arab politics, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Olin Institute Senior Fellow at Harvard University. On April 30, he delivered a lecture at Harvard on the subject of Iraq and the future of the

In April 2007, Syria's nationwide parliamentary elections passed with little fanfare, as much of the population showed apathy toward a process they view as undemocratic. Despite the unusually open display of skepticism among the people, the country's organized opposition movements could do little more than call for a voter boycott