Five years after the 2011 uprisings, countries in the region are caught between the competing impulses of fragmentation and two equally unstainable authoritarian visions—that of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or classic autocratic regimes.
One hundred years after the division of the Middle East, the effects of the Sykes-Picot agreement are still playing out across the region.
Five years after the onset of the Arab Spring, much of the Middle East is in crisis. However, it may be too early to deem the uprisings a failure.
Dealing with the challenge of interdependence between the EU and the Arab World will not, on its own, solve the two regions’ growth dilemmas—but it will help.
While Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system is flawed and unraveling in many ways, it has helped keep the country at peace and provides valuable lessons for the region.
Less than twenty-four months after the hope-filled Arab uprising, the popular movement had morphed into a dystopia of resurgent dictators, failed states, and civil wars.
While the international community is focused on the self-proclaimed Islamic State or Iran, most Arabs are focused on improving their lives. Their governments should encourage them.
As the Syrian pound continues to lose value, paychecks may simply become too few and too small to move the full machinery of the state.
Militias have figured out that signing up for the campaign against self-proclaimed Islamic State is the best way to get legitimacy and attention. Whether or not they intend to use outside support solely against the Islamic State is another story.
An examination of the complex consequences of U.S. policy in light of the Arab Spring, the increasing roles played in the region by China and other emerging powers, and the simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict.