North Africa

Amid fierce debate over Egypt's draft constitution, Fikra Forum editors asked Egyptian human rights experts Hafez Abu Saeda and Magdi Khalil to analyze the draft with respect to human rights, religious freedom, and democratic values. Hafez Abu Saeda is the head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights and Magdi Khalil is the executive director of the Middle East Freedom Forum.

On November 8, 2012, Washington Institute executive director Robert Satloff addressed a Policy Forum along with Dennis Ross and Jim Jeffrey. The following is an edited version of Dr. Satloff's comments; the full event can be viewed in the above video. If President Obama tasked a courageous National Security Council

The emptying of prisons in countries affected by the Arab Spring has often been a good thing but, unfortunately, jihadists have also been part of this wave of releases.

The United States must avoid the temptation of misapprehending the current spurt of violence in the region or rashly disengaging in frustration over longstanding problems.

Islamist extremism is limited in Libya, but it could grow if no action is taken against those responsible for recent violence.

Given its growing control over key government institutions and its unmatched mobilizing capabilities, the Muslim Brotherhood will likely remain Egypt's most consequential political actor for many years to come. But who are the men who make up this uniquely cohesive and secretive "society," and what impact will they have on the country's domestic and foreign policy?

Mohammed Morsi has given himself complete legislative and executive power, plus the right to select writers of a new constitution.

The impressive electoral performance of nominally liberal parties in Libya is being widely portrayed as a setback to Islamist political momentum in North Africa, but the reality is more complicated.

One of the more charming aspects of post-Mubarak Egypt is the frequency with which political debate erupts spontaneously between ordinary pedestrians, who are then quickly surrounded by dozens of on-listeners eager to hear competing points and, more often than not, interject their own. These deliberative blobs are the best indication