Democracy & Reform

On June 7, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed controversial anti-terrorism legislation known in Russia as the "Yarovaya law," named after its leading co-author, prominent member of Putin's United Russia party Irina Yarovaya. The law is reminiscent of Soviet-era surveillance. It will also likely contribute to crippling the Russian economy. According

The U.S. government needs to be clearer about the distinctions between Islam, political Islamism, and violent Islamism, in part by putting political correctness aside and involving Muslim Americans in the conversation.

The Kremlin's expressions of sympathy mask its blatantly homophobic policies at home, which are unlikely to change anytime soon given the government's need for conservative straw men.

While America's counter-ISIS strategy may end up being the final nail in the group's coffin, it is only the first step in preventing jihadists from exploiting political vulnerabilities in the Middle East to inspire vigilante violence at home.

In the American policy debates over the causes, consequences, and potential cures of Islamist extremism, institutions of state Islam -- i.e., religious institutions that are formally tied to the states governing their respective countries -- have featured only marginally. Whether due to an understandable ambivalence toward overt engagement with religious

The leader's distorted view of the Ottoman past may dictate whether the country further embraces Islamization.

Morocco needs to balance its desire to hold onto an economically and politically important region with the realities of EU human rights regulations and other international norms.

Two Washington Institute experts share their findings from recent visits to Russia, where they discussed a wide range of regional issues with current and former officials, leading analysts, and other citizens.

This essay, the sixth in a series exploring prospects for political reform throughout the Middle East, analyzes the unique perils facing democratic governance in Iraq, particularly the dangerous Islamist alternatives masquerading under the guise of theocracy.