Democracy & Reform

Although Ankara is seemingly responding to westward-oriented pressures at home and abroad, it could still swing Turkey back to the right if it continues to pursue the politics of religion, especially while the Islamic State looms on its borders.

As in past elections, the Guardian Council seems poised to disqualify thousands of registered Majlis candidates, and its procedures for doing so are revealing.

Around twenty Saudi women won municipal elections last month, and the news of Saudi women making history through political participation went viral. Talk shows discussed Saudi women’s victory and social media networkers congratulated Saudi women for their remarkable accomplishment. While some commentators overrated women's gain on the political level, others

The recent reorganization of U.S. government efforts to counter violent extremism is a good step in terms of aligning people and objectives, but the serious money required to get an initiative like this off the ground has yet to materialize.

The lone Arab Spring success story has much to be proud of, but considerable challenges remain, and Tunisia will need significant American assistance for the foreseeable future.

A holistic approach to counterterrorism demands more than just a 'capture and kill' posture, and new funds for relevant State Department programs are a step in the right direction.

Unless the Obama administration demonstrates stronger resolve in responding to Iranian aggression, the Saudis and other Gulf monarchies will continue to take vigorous action of their own, likely in ways Washington finds unhelpful.

Rouhani's election pledge to improve the economy by resolving the nuclear issue is not working particularly well because of the many domestic policy challenges.

The traditional American ally states in the Middle East do not have the strength to tackle the twin challenges of ISIS and Iran on their own, yet Washington remains more or less AWOL while its main partners fixate on domestic discord.