Middle East

The Search for Lebanon’s President

By Matt Nash

The most important question underlying Lebanon’s presidential election is to what extent certain Lebanese parties—and their foreign backers—want to confront Hezbollah. It will not be answered by May 25, when the current president’s term expires, and will be largely influenced by regional developments, particularly the war in neighboring Syria.

Libya’s Faustian Bargains: Breaking the Appeasement Cycle

Many Libya observers cite the Qaddafi-era legacy of weak institutions and the conduct of the 2011 revolutionary war as key obstacles to the country’s democratic transition. The new Libyan authorities’ policy of appeasement, however, is just as much a factor in undermining political progress. On Monday, May 5, 2014, the Rafik Hariri Center for the […]

Syria: No Cogent Alternatives

By Frederic C. Hof

In its May 4, 2014 editorial “President Obama and the World,” The New York Times employed a customary administration talking point in an otherwise balanced and even critical review of the president’s foreign policy stewardship, including his handling of the Syria crisis: “His critics are inconsistent in their philosophies [i.e. some want airstrikes, some want more weapons […]

The Week in Egypt [May 5, 2014]

By Daniel Stoker

Catch up on the latest out of Egypt every week, with analysis, news updates, photos, videos, and more.

Libya’s Faustian bargains: Breaking the appeasement cycle

By Karim Mezran, Jason Pack, and Mohamed Eljarh

A new Atlantic Council report examines the threats to Libya’s stability, provides a detailed mapping of the militia landscape, and details policy options for the Libyan government and its international partners. In Libya’s Faustian Bargains: Breaking the Appeasement Cycle, the authors attribute the cycle of violence, intractable political stalemate, and weakened economy to the Libyan […]

The Death Sentence: The Consequences of Taking the Wrong Path [Part I]

By Yussef Auf

A new chapter in the discourse of Egypt’s revolution, post-July 3rd, has seen hundreds of supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood sentenced to death. With Mohamed Morsi’s removal from power, the political situation has spun out of control. What began as mere political differences has transformed into violent confrontations.  Egypt has been pulled into a cycle […]

Could a Maliki Win Hurt Democracy in Iraq?

By Ryan J. Suto

Iraqis went to the polls on April 30 to elect a new Council of Representatives, which will produce a new government and prime minister. These elections come in the face of intense sectarian violence and bring forth deeply important questions about how the government should address these and other issues moving forward.