On Friday, the Project on Middle East Democracy hosted a panel discussion on Bahrain entitled “One Year after BICI: Bahrain's Escalating Crisis and Options for U.S. Policy.” Carl Gershman, the President of the National Endowment for Democracy, moderated the ...

Senators Marco Rubio (R- FL) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) took the lead on an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that "requires the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of State, to report  on implementation of ...

The United Nations General Assembly approved the upgrade of Palestine to a nonmember observer state at the United Nations on Thursday, with 138 votes in favor, nine opposed, and 41 abstentions. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

A U.N. General Assembly committee on Tuesday condemned Iran for what it called "widespread human rights abuses," a move Iranian Ambassador to the U.N., Mohammad Khazaee, dismissed as politically motivated. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration gave Iran a March deadline to cooperate with ...

Qatari poet Mohamed Bin Rashid al-Deeb has been sentenced to life in prison for composing a poem last year deemed insulting to the country's Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Al-Ajami faced charges of "inciting the overthrow of the ruling regime" and was not ...

Two of Egypt's top courts ceased normal operations in protest of a recent decree issued by President Mohamed Morsi, that many argue granted him unchecked powers. Police fired tear gas at protesters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, while protests 

A recent article by the International Crisis Group (ICG) addresses Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's declaration of full power. The decree "removes the unpopular Prosecutor General, a Mubarak-era holdover; paves the way for retrial of recently acquitted officials implicated in ...

In an attempt to restore stability in Yemen, the government offered half of the seats at a planned reconciliation conference to southern separatists. The move came as tribal sheikhs, primarily from provinces in northern Yemen, launched ...

Protests erupted in Manama following religious services on the Shi'a holy day of Ashura. Witnesses said roughly 400 people from Diya village marched toward the Bahraini capital in an attempt to reach Pearl Square, previously a central ...

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) released a special report on "The Politics of Security Sector Reform in Egypt." The report found that security sector reform "hinges on achieving democratic reforms," including the reconstitution of an elected parliament, ...

Indirect negotiations began today between Israeli and Hamas representatives in Egypt, mediated by Egyptian General Intelligence Service officials. If Israel "commits to a ceasefire, we will respect it," said Mussa Abu Marzuk of Hamas. The talks will focus on extending the current cease-fire, ...

Reports indicate that that Syrian rebels captured the Marj al-Sultan air base, an installation which is roughly nine miles from Damascus. "This is a blow to the morale of the regime, because it is close to the heart ...

Ahead of Kuwait's legislative elections this Saturday, December 1, the Associated Press writes, "The message from Kuwait's emir is blunt heading into this week's parliamentary elections: Opposition factions should express dissent in the legislature, and not in the streets. The response ...

Amid continued protests in Egypt over President Morsi's recent degree granting himself sweeping powers, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) called on President Obama to condemn the actions and suggested that the U.S. use its financial leverage to encourage ...

President Mohammed Morsi issued a decree on Thursday that grants the president sweeping new authority, including absolute power to issue laws without the possibility of judicial review and the ability to take any measures necessary to protect "the revolution, the ...

After the Bahraini government released its latest assessment of BICI implementation, head of the BICI M. Cherif Bassiouni harshly critiqued the Bahraini government's reform progress in a release from Human Rights Watch. “A number of recommendations on accountability ...