Arab & Islamic Politics

As prices drop to around $80 per barrel, more attention is being focused on the mindset of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter.

The pundits have it wrong -- the group's move toward Baghdad is a sign of desperation.

The quick fall of Yemen's capital could push the country toward the Syrian model of sectarian strife, but it also presents an opportunity for reform led by a new political player.

Turkey's primary objective in Syria is to oust the Assad regime, so it is unlikely to materially help the besieged enclave without U.S. and Kurdish commitments toward that goal.

Lebanon's precarious state has worsened as ISIS beheads citizens and holds troops and police hostage.

Tunisia will need U.S. support for its continuing, fragile transition away from authoritarianism.

Despite the ambiguities in the new agreement, the uncertainty of its actual implementation, and the lack of clarity about what it might mean for Gaza, neither Hamas nor Fatah has an interest in aborting the reconciliation effort at the moment.

The most crucial first steps for the new government in Baghdad are to fill the security ministries with competent, broadly accepted officials, address the oil revenue issue with the Kurds, and build on recent gestures toward political rapprochement.

Expanding strikes to targets northeast of Aleppo would help Washington and its allies exploit fissures between ISIS and local tribes.