Middle East

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Human Rights in the Transitioning Countries

By Adam Simpson

More than three years have passed since tide of the Arab Spring swept through the region, carrying away in its undertow three Presidents-for-life as well as one Brother-Leader. At the heart of the movements that coalesced in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen was a desire for democratic reform and a final sunset on the decades-old […]

Infographic: Egypt’s 2014 Presidential Elections Timeline

Egypt’s Presidential Elections Commission announced the timeline for the 2014 presidential elections on March 31. With the registration period already underway, the final list of candidates will be made public on May 2. Other landmark dates in the timeline include May 26 and 27 for the first round of voting, while results of the first […]

Blurring the Record on Syria

By Frederic C. Hof

In his exchange with Scott Pelley, President Obama did not (as the Reuters account implies) literally employ the “boots on the ground” straw man to caricature the position of his critics. But he came close.

Forays by the Coptic Church into Politics Spell Trouble for its Subjects

By Amir Beshay

A video posted this week on Facebook appears to show Egyptian pop singer Ihab Tawfiq singing the now-popular pro-army anthem “Teslam al-Ayadi” in a Coptic church, reportedly in France. This comes as the latest of many examples of the Coptic Church participating in Egypt’s political scene in a way some see as unacceptable. While the […]

Why Syria is Important

By Frederic C. Hof

Syria and its 23 million people sit in the middle of a neighborhood containing important friends and allies of the United States. It is now entering its fourth year of chaos, bloodshed, starvation, and terror. It is a case study in how governments commit war crimes and crimes against humanity against their own citizenry: the […]

The Week in Egypt – March 31, 2014

By Daniel Stoker

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

Marib Youth and Political Transition in Yemen

By Nadwa Al-Dawsari

Over the past few years, Marib, a tribal area 120km northeast of Sana’a, has made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. It has allegedly been a staging ground for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operations targeting security and military personnel as well as oil pipelines.