Democracy & Reform

Actions like the travel ban on Iraqis could have the unintended effect of derailing the U.S. alliance with Baghdad -- an outcome that would benefit Iran, the Islamic State, and no one else.

Given the region’s notorious difficulty, it would be tempting for President Trump to pivot elsewhere, but America's pressing foreign policy interests will likely draw his administration to the Middle East once again.

Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, a former Iranian judiciary chief who holds a prominent position in the Assembly of Experts, now has two paths to leadership of the Shiite community. The first is as a potential successor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, now seventy-seven; the second is to eventually take the place

The countries of northwest Africa -- Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia -- have proven either more resilient or more adaptive than other Middle East states to the political upheavals that have engulfed the region over the last half-dozen years. To varying degrees, however, stability remains a major challenge for all these

Six years after Egypt's Tahrir Square uprising and the 'Arab Spring' dreams it inspired, the country is economically and politically stuck.

The new administration can succeed in the region if it understands the nature of the threats posed by Iran and radical Islamists, is prepared to work with America’s traditional partners, and appreciates how to take advantage of the latest local developments.

The battle against the Islamic State in Sirte distracted many observers from Libya's ongoing political dysfunction, failed reconciliation process, and growing potential for renewed inter-militia warfare.

Unlike in 1989, the Revolutionary Guards and other powerful Iranian institutions will probably play an outsize role in determining and influencing the next Supreme Leader, especially now that another major revolutionary figure has passed away.

In this essay, eleventh in a series exploring non-Islamist reform actors post-Arab Spring, analyst Mohamed Eljarh explores the prospects for governance in a deeply fragmented, polarized Libya.