Category: Middle East/North Africa

Stepan, Turkey and Islam’s democratic compatibility

     

The emergence of an “upstart populist party” like the Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been facilitated in no small part by a widespread fear that Islam and democracy are incompatible,… Read more »

Is Tunisia’s democracy being derailed?

     

Over the course of just one week, the Tunisian government has made three concerning moves that, taken together, signal a major backsliding in its democratic development, Carnegie analyst Sarah Yerkes writes… Read more »

CVE report: non-violent Islamist groups ‘a recruitment pool for jihadists’

     

  Non-violent Islamist groups have acted as a recruitment pool for dozens of jihadists who have gone on to join al-Qaeda, Islamic State and similar extremist groups, according to research… Read more »

Is Western democracy ‘threatening suicide’?

     

  The decline of Europe’s center-left has allowed populists to make inroads, which is a problem for democracy, argues Sheri Berman, a professor of political science at Barnard College and… Read more »

Corruption, poor economy, illiberalism threaten Tunisia’s exceptionalism

     

Poor economic conditions and corruption are at the source of intense public dissatisfaction in Tunisia, according to a new poll by the International Republican Institute’s (IRI) Center for Insights in Survey Research:… Read more »

Kurdish vote reflects Middle East’s ‘existential quandary’

     

  Turkey threatened potentially crippling restrictions on oil trading with Iraqi Kurds on Thursday after they backed independence from Baghdad in a referendum that has alarmed Ankara as it faces… Read more »

Community of Democracies needed now more than ever

     

  When the Community of Democracies first gathered in Warsaw seventeen years ago, no one could be certain that the Community would continue for very long, let alone develop and… Read more »

Did the democratic world ‘fail Syria’?

     

The democratic world failed Syria, argues Fadi Azzam, a Syrian writer and the author of the novel Sarmada. “I don’t mean the West’s politicians, foreign ministers and generals. I mean… Read more »

Civil society taking fight against violent extremism to ‘a whole new level’

     

  Iraqi security forces have made great progress toward defeating the Islamic State in Iraq. But whether this military success will translate into enduring stability will depend in large part upon the… Read more »

Countering violent extremism: learning from other democracies

     

How does terrorism end? Is it effective as a means of securing political power? Robin Wright asks in The New Yorker: Sinn Féin—the I.R.A.’s political wing—is the most popular party… Read more »