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Egypt’s recent parliamentary elections created a host of problems for the ruling party, not the least of which is that they drained nearly all remaining credibility from the country's electoral system.
While the Iranian government—an increasingly militarized theocracy—is unique, George Kennan’s 1947 essay, “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” reveals instructive behavioral parallels between the Iranian and Soviet regimes.
As the P5+1 conduct their first meetings in a year with Iran on its nuclear program, their objective is to begin a process that will lead Tehran to agree to meaningful and binding nuclear compromises and greater transparency.
The lengthy list of violations observed in the recent Egyptian parliamentary elections limits the integrity, transparency, and competitiveness of the elections and undermines the promises of the ruling establishment to hold free and pluralistic elections.
The recent election of Osama Nujeifi as speaker of the Iraqi parliament was the first step toward ending an eight-month political deadlock, but Nujeifi’s well-known opposition to Kurdish nationalist claims could alienate Kurdish politicians.
The lack of transparency and the presence of widespread irregularities in the voting and counting process have given Egypt’s parliamentary elections little credibility among both international and domestic observers.
The confidential documents released by WikiLeaks reveal that Arab officials distrust the government in Tehran, which effectively uses soft power and political influence to maintain a significant role on the regional and global stage.
Even though the Obama administration was unable to persuade President Mubarak to accept international election monitors, it is important to continue showing U.S. support for political reform and human rights in Egypt.
A program that focused on building up Palestinian institutions in order to create a viable Palestinian state would require a shift away from the short-term and reactive policies embraced in recent years toward the consistent pursuit of a strategic objective.
While the participation of both domestic monitors and international observers set a precedent for transparency in Jordan’s parliamentary elections, larger problems regarding electoral laws and accurate representation still persist.