The Week: Most Recent Middle East

Were Egypt's first elections really free and fair?

The Week — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:48:00 -0400

Egypt wrapped up two days of voting Thursday in what's being hailed as the country's first legitimate presidential election. The counting continued Friday, but partial results suggest that Mohammed Mursi, the candidate of the once-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, has earned a spot in a June run-off. The battle for the second slot remains tight, with a darkhorse leftist candidate, Hamdeen Sabahi, neck-and-neck with Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force commander and holdover from the Hosni Mubarak era. Islamists have threatened to protest if Shafiq wins, saying his victory could only happen in a rigged vote...

Egypt's historic presidential election: 4 key questions

The Week — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:45:00 -0400

Millions of Egyptians stood in line for hours Wednesday to freely choose their president for the first time in their country's long history. The election, which will continue on Thursday, pits secularists against Islamists, and revolutionaries against old regime figures promising to restore stability after nearly a year and a half of turmoil following the toppling of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak. What will the vote mean for Egypt's future? Here are four critical questions about the election, and what the result will mean:

1. Which candidates will make the run-off?
Anointed candidates in the Mubarak...

Is Iran finally backing down?

The Week — Tue, 22 May 2012 15:40:00 -0400

The top United Nations nuclear watchdog said Tuesday that Iran had tentatively agreed to allow international inspections of sites believed to be connected to nuclear weapons research. The potentially significant breakthrough, on the eve of the opening of new Iran nuclear negotiations being held in Baghdad, come after the U.S. and Europe imposed harsh sanctions aimed at drying up income from oil sales that Tehran desperately needs. Is this a sign that the increased pressure is causing the Iranian regime to buckle?

Maybe Iran really is caving: It's still unclear what's motivating Iran's leaders, ...

America's increasing support for Syria's rebels: 5 takeaways

The Week — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:10:00 -0400

With the help of the U.S. and Persian Gulf nations, Syrian rebels seeking the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad have received an influx of better weapons in recent weeks, say Karen DeYoung and Liz Sly at The Washington Post. The weapons, which include anti-tank artillery, are being provided by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other Sunni states in the region that would love to see the ouster of Assad, who has strong ties to the Shiite regime in Iran. But the U.S. is reportedly playing a significant role in the arrangement, too, broadening its contacts with the rebels to better coordinate the weapons...

The Syria car bombings: 3 repercussions

The Week — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:29:00 -0400

Syrian protesters returned to the streets on Friday, a day after twin car bombings killed 55 people and injured hundreds more in Damascus. The Syrian government blamed the blasts, which hit near a military intelligence center, on "terrorists," while opposition leaders accused the regime of staging the attacks to justify continuing its armed assaults on rebel strongholds. What will the bombings mean for the future of Syria and an already-shaky peace deal? Here, three theories:

1. Many more refugees will flee
The battle between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels has already sent 54,000...

Benjamin Netanyahu's Israeli power play: Winners and losers

The Week — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:05:00 -0400

On Monday night, Israelis went to bed still expecting to vote for a new government later this year. They woke up Tuesday morning to a radical new political order: Overnight, the centrist main opposition Kadima party had joined the conservative Likud-led government, giving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unprecedented control of 78 percent of the Knesset (Israeli parliament). Newly tapped Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz agreed to the deal in exchange for becoming deputy prime minister. Elections have now been pushed back to October 2013. Who wins, and who loses, in this drop of a political "atomic...

Syria's 'sham election': 3 takeaways

The Week — Tue, 08 May 2012 10:45:00 -0400

This week, Syria held its first multi-party parliamentary elections in five decades, but leading opposition groups boycotted the vote, calling it a sham, even as President Bashar al-Assad's regime trumpeted the balloting as a milestone on the road to promised democratic reforms. The U.S. State Department took the side of the opposition, saying that holding elections now, as a United Nations-brokered deal to end the government's deadly crackdown flounders, "borders on ludicrous." Here, three takeaways from the controversial balloting:

1. Today, there are two Syrias
"Damascus on voting day was...

Egypt's critical election and uncertain future: A guide

The Week — Fri, 04 May 2012 10:13:00 -0400

Who rules Egypt now?
The military does, in an uneasy rivalry with the country's most powerful Islamist group, the Muslim Brotherhood. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took control when the 30-year regime of Hosni Mubarak was brought down in February 2011, after 18 dramatic days of public protest. Under the leadership of former Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the junta at first took several popular actions — repealing the repressive emergency laws of the Mubarak era, releasing political prisoners, and organizing last November's parliamentary elections. But it has also tried...

Obama's Bush-like Afghanistan speech: 5 takeaways

The Week — Wed, 02 May 2012 08:08:00 -0400

President Obama probably had a more interesting Tuesday than you did: Early in the morning, he boarded Air Force One for a surprise visit to Afghanistan, signed a long-term Strategic Partnership Agreement with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, returned to Bagram Air Force base to address U.S. troops and then the American public in a live, prime-time speech, then flew back to Washington. (Watch the speech below.) Not coincidentally, Tuesday was also the one-year anniversary of the U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. Here, five big takeaways from Obama's speech to the nation:

1. The...

The latest tweets on Obama's surprise visit to Afghanistan

The Week — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:16:00 -0400

Obama's surprise visit to Afghanistan: A guide

The Week — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:15:00 -0400

President Obama made a surprise visit to Afghanistan Tuesday, in a globe-spanning trip that was shrouded in secrecy, and which coincides with the one-year anniversary of Osama bin Laden's death. After landing, Obama met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign an agreement outlining the prolonged cooperation between the two countries, even after the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2014. Obama is also set to make a televised address to Americans at 7:30 p.m. EST. Here's what you should know about Obama's Afghanistan trip:

Why exactly is he there?
Obama isn't just a commander-in-chief, says...

Are terrorists hijacking Syria's uprising?

The Week — Tue, 01 May 2012 10:35:00 -0400

Twin suicide bombings killed at least nine people in Syria on Monday, fueling fears that Islamist extremists are trying to muscle in on the country's 13-month-old pro-democracy uprising. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the "terrorist bomb attacks," which are part of a new wave of violence threatening to undermine a U.N.-brokered ceasefire between the government of President Bashar al-Assad and opposition groups. Are jihadists hijacking the revolt? Here, a brief guide:

How common are suicide bombings in Syria?
They were unheard of until recently, but there have been at least eight since...

Time for the West to intervene in Syria?

The Week — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:02:00 -0400

With Syrian forces continuing to shell civilian areas, and a U.N.-brokered peace plan on the verge of collapse, France is pressuring the United Nations to reconsider military intervention. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also wants to impose harsher measures if Syria and armed rebels continue to fight, although the U.S. and NATO say they don't plan to send troops. Is there any chance foreign soldiers will step in to stop the violence?

Like it or not, intervention is on the table: The world needs to stop the killing in Syria, says Kurt Volk in The Christian Science Monitor. Otherwise, we'll repeat...

The new Afghan security pact: What happens when U.S. troops leave?

The Week — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:12:00 -0400

After more than a year of tense negotiations, the U.S. and Afghanistan have reached a draft agreement defining America's role in the country after U.S. and NATO troops officially withdraw in 2014. Neither side has released specifics of the deal, and President Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai have yet to approve the partnership framework, but an initial picture has emerged. Here, a brief guide:

What does the draft agreement say?
The U.S. is essentially pledging to support Afghanistan for another 10 years after the withdrawal of the bulk of U.S. troops. The deal is being touted as a signal ...

The Afghan corpse-photo scandal: A blessing in disguise?

The Week — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:00:00 -0400

The Defense Department scored at least a partial victory in its fight to quash newly released photographs of U.S. soldiers posing with the corpses of Afghan insurgents and suicide bombers: The Los Angeles Times only published two of the 18 photos an unidentified soldier had given them — reportedly the "least gruesome" ones. The military argued that the widely condemned trophy shots, taken in 2010, endangered the large majority of blameless troops. That's remarkably similar to the reason the unidentified solider says he leaked the photos in the first place: He hoped they would force the Army...

Why the Mitt-Bibi bromance won't affect world affairs

The Week — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:10:00 -0400

The New York Times recently published an article on a "quirk of history" — the warm friendship that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed when they worked together at Boston Consulting Group in the 1970s. The "Mitt and Bibi" story has made quite a few waves: Some are even likening the friendship to the famed chumminess between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

It's easy to understand the story's appeal. History is made up of personalities, and nothing can get a historian hopping like the idea of two political figures sharing...