Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s efforts to consolidate power by firing members of the cabinet and naming himself oil minister have ignited a controversy over his ambitions for more power and influence in the Iranian political system.
Islamist parties in Egypt and Tunisia are emerging as powerful political players in each country’s transition. Upcoming elections in both countries and the performance of Islamist parties once they are in office will determine their future role in formal politics.
Calls for mass demonstrations after Friday prayers on May 27 indicate the frustration some Egyptians feel toward a political process were elites remain in power.
The prosecution of deposed President Hosni Mubarak demonstrates how Egypt is caught between a revolution, with protesters determined to tear down the old regime, and a political transition based around elections.
The United States must engage in a careful balancing act to maintain both its expressed commitment to Arab democracy and its commitment to its relationship with Israel.
If Prime Minister Putin decides to run in Russia's 2012 presidential elections, there will be wide-ranging implications for both Russia and the international community.
While President Obama’s speech on the Middle East expressed support for the dramatic changes going on in the region and compared those changes with the U.S. experience of nonviolent civil disobedience, it did not set out any bold policy shifts.
The Arab Spring has initiated a wave of change that will affect every aspect of society in the Middle East, including the Israel-Palestinian conflict and Egypt's influence in the Middle East and North Africa.
The killing of Osama bin Laden has revealed the fragmented nature of the Pakistani government and complicated U.S. negotiations regarding military aide and development assistance.
The Arab Spring has presented problems for Ankara’s foreign policy of zero problems with its neighbors. The outcome of the popular uprisings in neighboring Syria will ultimately have a significant impact on this policy and on the projection of Turkish power in the region.