Middle East Revolution

Regime Change and Upheaval in the Arab World

America Is Stuck With the Mideast

Walter Russell Mead, Wall St. Journal

Libya: Short War, Long Shadow (PDF)

Royal United Services Institute

Why Democracy Is Still Winning

Gideon Rachman, Financial Times

Israel and the Plight of Mideast Christians

Michael Oren, Wall St. Journal

Global oil markets and global commerce mean that American presidents will simply not be able to set this region off to the side....(full article)

Qatar is more and more assuming the role vacated by Egypt in trying to settle local and international disputes....(full article)

In spring 2011, Western military operations, backed by the Arab League, began against the regime of Muammar Qadhafi. Libyan rebels, after being penned in by the regime, began to ta...(full article)

The authoritarian urge to cross-dress in democratic clothes is an implied compliment to the democratic nations. That matters, because western democracies are going through a cris...(full article)

Just as Jews were once expelled from Arab lands, Christians are now being forced from countries they have long inhabited....(full article)

Most Recent Articles

CIA Bears Most of the Blame for Benghazi - Christopher Dickey, Daily Beast

The Central Intelligence Agency is the elephant in the room, big and clumsy and bumping into everything, even though everyone tries to avoid mentioning it. The CIA misjudged the se...

A Strong Iran Is Good for U.S. - Robert Kaplan & Kamran Bokhari, Stratfor

Iran, with its nearly 76 million people, is the second-most populous country in the Middle East after Egypt, while its level of education and bureaucratic institutionalization is h...

The Legacy of CPA Order 1 - Steve Negus, The Arabist

The question of what to do about former elites haunts countries that have undergone a radical political transformation. Retain them in office, and dissidents will complain their ...

Obama's 'New Beginning' Lies in Ruin - Peter Wehner, Contentions

People may recall that in Barack Obama’s June 4, 2009 speech in Cairo, the president promised a “new beginning” based on “mutual respect” with the Arab and Islamic worl...

Egypt's War on Judges - Ursula Lindsey, New York Times

In 2006, I watched middle-aged members of the Muslim Brotherhood kneel and pray in the street outside Cairo’s High Court in front of rows of officers from the riot police. It w...

U.S. Congress Should Clarify Authorization for War - Washington Post

The Obama administration's political and legal authority to wage war against al-Qaeda has steadily eroded. Both liberal and conservative members of Congress have challenged the adm...

Benghazi: History of Pueblo Repeats Itself - Todd Crowell, RealClearHistory

Comparisons have been made, especially by conservatives, that the terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi last September was another Watergate. In fact, the Pueblo I...

Five Myths About Benghazi - Michael Hirsh, Washington Post

The events surrounding the deaths of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, look dramatically different depending on y...

KFC Delivery Uses Gaza Smuggling Tunnel - Marya Hannun, Passport

Cement, cigarettes, and sugar are just a few of the goods transported through the many underground tunnels connecting Egypt and the blockaded Gaza Strip, which have ...

The Islamist Purge Splurge - Hussein Ibish, NOW Lebanon

What's a poor Islamist to do? All they ever wanted was to take over Arab states and impose their reactionary ideology on everybody else. For decades, they assumed that the only thi...

Mohammed Morsi's Betrayal of Democracy - Washington Post

Mr. Morsi's spokesmen have asserted that he does not favor the political prosecutions and that the government is preparing a new version of the civil society law. But the president...

The Muslim Brotherhood's Empty Chair - Michael Totten, Dispatches

So the Washington Institute for Near East Policy invited senior Muslim Brotherhood official Helmy el-Gazzar to its annual conference in the US, booked him on a business class fli...

Saudis Overtake Qatar as Syria Sponsor - Hassan Hassan, The National

Saudi authorities had consistently declined to meet the opposition, despite repeated requests. This was partly because the kingdom has opposed Muslim Brotherhood dominance in the...

The Deeper Blame for Benghazi - Ethan Chorin, New York Times

The deeper question is why the United States and its NATO allies believed that international responsibilities to Libya would end with military action, and that Libya would somehow ...

Escape from Bahrain: One Dissident's Story - Thor Halvorssen, The Atlantic

The exclusive inside story of a dissident blogger's getaway from the repressive island kingdom, how events overcame rescue plans, and what's next for him....

Obama and Clinton's Benghazi Baloney - Michael Barone, DC Examiner

Obama did not want his theme of "Osama is dead, al-Qaida is on the run" to be undercut by an Islamist terrorist attack on our ambassador. Clinton did not want her department's den...

Make Uncovering Benghazi Truth a Bipartisan Mission - Chicago Tribune

Uncovering the truth should be a bipartisan mission: A decade go, the 9/11 Commission showed how an investigation devoted not to blame but to preventing future debacles can help Am...

The Egypt-Israel Peace Test - Rabinovich & Wittes, Project Syndicate

The rocket strikes that a militant Islamist group recently fired from the Egyptian Sinai into the Israeli city of Eilat served as yet another reminder of how delicate bilateral rel...

Soccer Emerges as Outlet for Saudi Dissent - James Dorsey, Mideast Soccer

Soccer, alongside minority Shiite Muslims and relatives of imprisoned government critics, is emerging as a focal point of dissent in Saudi Arabia, an oil-rich kingdom that despite ...

For Eight Months the Benghazi Lies Have Continued - Boston Herald

Surely there has never been a bigger bunch of liars than the crew currently occupying the White House and the now-departed secretary of state. The steady drip, drip, drip of the B...

Drought Is Ripping the Arab World Apart - Mitch Ginsburg, Times of Israel

Syria is 85 percent desert or semi-arid country. But it has several significant waterways. The Euphrates runs in a south-easterly direction through the center of the country to Ira...

Specter of Bankruptcy Haunts Egypt - Adel al-Toraifi, Al-Arabiya

There were two worrying pieces of news from Egypt this week. One was the reshuffling of Prime Minister Hisham Kandil’s cabinet based on partisan calculations, rather than com...

The Next Pandemic: Not if, but When - David Quammen, New York Times

You may have seen the news about H7N9, a new strain of avian flu claiming victims in Shanghai and other Chinese locales. Influenzas always draw notice, and always deserve it, becau...

Getting to the Bottom of Benghazi - National Review

On Wednesday, Representative Darrell Issa’s House Oversight Committee convened the ninth round of hearings on the lethal September 11, 2012, attacks on the U.S. mission in Be...

The Republicans' Benghazi Obsession - New York Times

Before Wednesday’s hearing on the attack in Benghazi, Libya, Republicans in Congress promised explosive new details about the administration’s mishandling of the episod...

Is Egypt Becoming More Islamist? - Shadi Hamid, Foreign Policy

Many Americans -- and many Egyptians -- are souring on the Muslim Brotherhood. Some are rather smugly saying, "I told you so." From the American and Arab liberal perspectives, the ...

Egypt's Ransom Trade - Mike Giglio, The Daily Beast

Fears of violent crime abound in Egypt, a nation still mired in upheaval. The security crisis has been one of the revolution’s darkest legacies, with the country’s leaders—...

Will Iran-Saudi Proxy War Spread to Iraq? - Mohammed Ayoob, Yale

Matters have been made worse in and for Iraq by the fact that, like Syria, Iraq has become a major theater of a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia, with Turkey pushed by force...

Hillary Hasn't Heard the End of Benghazi - Jonathan Tobin, Commentary

Democrats arrived at the House Oversight Committee’s hearing on the Benghazi terror attack determined to defend the reputation of the person that most believe will be their presi...

Why Special Ops Weren't Sent to Benghazi - Dustin Walker, RCDefense

The Pentagon is pushing back on claims that a Special Operations unit could have saved lives if sent to Benghazi....

A Coverup Laid Bare - Tom Bevan, RealClearPolitics

Thanks to House Republicans, Americans finally got to hear from the State Department officials the Obama administration never wanted to testify. They are now called “whistleb...

Benghazi Conspiracy Theories Debunked - Hayes Brown, Think Progress

The "whistleblowers" at today's House Oversight Committee hearing on what really happened in Benghazi, Libya last September were supposed to break the dam that would lead to Presid...

Benghazi, Security and Hillary 2016 - Michael Crowley, Time

To Republicans, the deadly September 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, was a huge, conscience-shocking security scandal, one that Democrats are shamelessl...

Benghazi Hearings Expose Obama, Hillary - John Podhoretz, NY Post

After a remarkable House hearing yesterday, we can say this with almost complete certainty: The Obama administration knew perfectly well that last year’s Sept. 11 attack on Ame...

Yemen Just Might Survive the Arab Spring - Thomas Friedman, NY Times

Yemenis are engaged in a unique and peaceful national dialogue — very different from Syria and Egypt and with about a third of the input coming from women -- to produce a new lea...

Libya Won't Be Obama's Watergate - Unfortunately - James Delingpole

I've just been watching the riveting live coverage of Congress's investigation into the Benghazi disaster in which US ambassador Chris Stevens was murdered by Al Qaeda affiliates w...

Benghazi Not Just an 'Inside-the-Beltway' Story - Josh Keating, Passport

I've heard some say that Benghazi is an inside-the-Beltway story of little interest to the general public. But I think it may actually be the opposite. Beltway types-- particularly...

What Marine Biologists Can Teach Us About Terror - Alex Berezow, RCW

A bisected starfish isn't a dead starfish: It's now two starfish. (And a starfish cut into five pieces turns into five starfish!) In the world today, civilized societies are the f...

How Obama Misled on Benghazi - Stephen Hayes, Weekly Standard

Even as the White House strove last week to move beyond questions about the Benghazi attacks of Tuesday, September 11, 2012, fresh evidence emerged that senior Obama administrati...

Better Not Say 'Happy Easter' in Egypt - Eric Trager, The Atlantic

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's decision not to attend this coming Sunday's Coptic Easter mass was entirely predictable. Morsi, after all, declined to attend Pope Tawadros II's ...

Can Egypt Be Saved? - Hafez Ghanem, Brookings Institution

The Egyptian economy is unlikely to collapse suddenly. However, in the absence of a serious macroeconomic stabilization program it will continue to deteriorate gradually, with low ...

It's the Egyptian Economy, Stupid - Mike Giglio, The Daily Beast

As Egypt lurches from one crisis to the next, it’s the country’s battered economy, analysts say, that may be President Mohamed Morsi’s greatest challenge yet....

A Day at Cairo's Gun Market - Nour Youssef, The Arabist

Lately, I have been taking a lot of taxis. Naturally, that means hearing unsolicited political opinions, life lessons, and impromptu stories about women who match my exact physic...

Egypt's Journalism More Vulnerable than Ever - Ursula Lindsey, Latitude

This week I am one of many readers mourning the disappearance of Egypt Independent, a local English-language weekly that has provided sterling coverage of the Egyptian uprising i...

Saudi Arabia's Brutal Tribal Justice - Samuel Westrop, Gatestone Institute

A Saudi court ordered Ali al-Khawahir, a 24-year-old Saudi citizen, to be surgically paralyzed as punishment for a crime he committed as a 14-year-old, that had left his victim par...

Egypt's Distorted Multiple Realities - Issandr El Amrani, The Arabist

I used to joke that Egyptians have their own reality distortion field, which once entered can lead you to believe that their country is center of the universe and where black is ...

'Disorder and Terror' Have Gripped Libya - Jamie Dettmer, Daily Beast

Diplomatic missions here in the Libyan capital are observing the strictest security procedures following suspicions that the bombers behind last Tuesday’s blast at the French E...

Israel Still Mulling Iran Strike

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to visit Capitol Hill Tuesday after sitting down with President Obama Monday to talk about Iran.Monday's discussion was important for ...

Syria Slams UN Draft Resolution

Inside VOA | Contact VOA News ...

UN Approves Air Strikes in Libya

A pro-Qaddafi crowd stormed a news conference given by Libya's deputy foreign minister at a hotel in Tripoli early Friday. The United Nations Security Council voted Thursday to aut...

Gaddafi Planes Bomb Rebel City

Libyan students attend a pro-Gadhafi rally organized in the parking lot of the Rixos hotel where the foreign press is staying in Tripoli, Libya, Monday March 14, 2011. Teachers ...

Middle East Upheaval Timeline

 First day of major anti-government action:

  • Tunisia: December 18, 2010
  • Algeria: December 28, 2010
  • Saudi Arabia: January 21
  • Egypt: January 25
  • Yemen: January 27
  • Morocco: January 30
  • Bahrain: February 14
  • Libya: February 15
Rank Country
48

Tunisia

(full country profile)
  • Average Life Satisfaction: 5.2/10
  • Population: 10.5 million
  • Political System: Republic
  • 83.8% of people feel personal safety*
  • 14.8% of people find others trustworthy*
49

Saudi Arabia

(full country profile)
  • Average Life Satisfaction: 6.1/10
  • Population: 26.1 million
  • Political System: Monarchy
  • 78.2% of people feel personal safety*
  • 37.1% of people find others trustworthy*
62

Morocco

(full country profile)
  • Average Life Satisfaction: 4.7/10
  • Population: 32 million
  • Political System: Constitutional Monarchy
  • 75.1% of people feel personal safety*
  • 58.5% of people find others trustworthy*
79

Algeria

(full country profile)
  • Average Life Satisfaction: 5.6/10
  • Population: 35.5 million
  • Political System: Republic
  • 39% of people feel personal safety*
  • 15.8% of people find others trustworthy*
89

Egypt

(full country profile)
  • Average Life Satisfaction: 5.1/10
  • Population: 78.2 million
  • Political System: Republic
  • 72.7% of people feel personal safety*
  • 18.2% of people find others trustworthy*
105

Yemen

(full country profile)
  • Average Life Satisfaction: 4.8/10
  • Population: 24.4 million
  • Political System: Republic
  • 65.6% of people feel personal safety*
  • 26.9% of people find others trustworthy*

Middle East from the Compass Blog

Saudi Arabia Expelling Handsome Men

Saudi Arabia engages in all manner of dubious practices: restricting a woman's ability to drive, c...

How the Israelis and Palestinians V

As President Obama stumps for a resumption of the peace process, Gallup has published some polling...

Kerry's Magic Words Will Keep Arms

Secretary of State John Kerry has a plan to stop Gulf state weapons from ending up in jihadist's h...

Top House Democrat Wants to Arm Syr

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) thinks it's a good idea to dump weapons into Syria. Engel evidently believ...

Why a Nuclear Iran Won't Trigger a

Perhaps the biggest potential danger of a nuclear-armed Iran is the prospect of other states in th...

Latest News from Middle East

CIA chief makes unannounced Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli defense official says the head of the American CIA spy agency has made...

Iraqis mourn 2 Shiite fighters kill

BASRA, Iraq (AP) — Hundreds of Iraqis in a southern city have attended the funeral of two Shiite f...

Report: Torture evidence found in S

BEIRUT (AP) — Rights activists have found torture devices and other evidence of abuse in governmen...

Coptic cleric says he will sue Isra

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Egyptian Coptic cleric who was mistreated during Orthodox Easter services is t...

7 Egyptian security personnel abduc

CAIRO (AP) — Suspected militants in Egypt's Sinai abducted seven security personnel as they h...