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Turkey has a potentially valuable role to play in supporting democracy and state-building in the Arab world, but questions about that role abound.
Zogby Research Services conducted polling in eight countries across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in the United States, to look at public opinion on the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, the Arab Spring, and other recent developments in the region.
Arab monarchs have an opportunity to embark on a path of far-reaching political reform without losing their thrones, but the window to act is closing
Challenging Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces requires sustained unity of purpose and determination among civilian leaders and political parties and movements, and a favorable external environment, neither of which is assured at present.
Egypt’s protracted series of parliamentary balloting has just begun, but it is not too soon to think about the implications of presidential elections that have yet to be scheduled and which may be a cause deep concern.
The responses of the military and secular parties could determine whether Egypt is headed toward a government dominated by Islamists or a less threatening alliance of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and secular parties.
Egypt is undergoing its most difficult moment since the uprisings began; the military has lost popularity and there is no agreement among political forces about what the next step should be.
Early polling in Egypt suggests that Islamist movements are receiving the bulk of the vote, but both the country and the Muslim Brotherhood might be better served by an outcome like Tunisia’s, where Islamists have political strength but must still reach out to others to get anything done.
In October, Tunisians went the polls and the moderate Islamist party Ennahda won 40 percent of the vote and the right to form a government. It remains to be seen what this will mean for the country, the region, and its relations with the West.
Domestic and international attention is focused on elections and written constitutions in the Arab world, but democratic structures won’t thrive until education is reformed to teach free thinking, respect for other people's opinions, and citizenship.