According to U.S. and Bahraini officials, both countries renewed a defense pact in 2002 that allows the U.S. to access bases in Bahrain until 2016. Had this early renewal not occurred, the pact would run out in October 2011. Bahrain is currently, the home for the U.S. Fifth Fleet and the defense pact allows allows the U.S. to "preposition its military equipment."  Additionally, it allows for consultations if security crises ...

Doug Saunders writes on the Islamist movement in Libya specifically citing Mohammed Busidra as the "post-Gadhafi kingmaker."  Busidra is an "Islamist ringleader who escaped the 1996 one-day massacre of 1,200 of his fellow inmates and survived a decade in solitary confinement."  Throughout the protests against Libyan Leader Muammar Gadhafi, Saunders writes that Busidra has "brought together Libya's disparate moderate Islamist leaders into the country's only united political force."  Additionally, Busidra ...

Writing for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Dina Guirguis and Eric Trager argue that "recent events in Cairo's Tahrir Square indicate a growing accommodation between Islamists and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), both of which aim to marginalize liberal and leftist revolutionary forces."  The withdrawal of the liberal, leftist coalition from the Tahrir sit-in last week was a victory for the Supreme Council of the ...

Egyptians joined soldiers on Monday to drive out pro-democracy protesters from Tahrir Square and some lined the streets to applaud the soldiers, while others "ganged up" on activists as they fled the square.  Today's crackdown followed massive demonstrations on Friday where Islamists joined together against the liberal and secular youths by calling for an Islamic state. AlMasry AlYoum reported a series of violent brawls and street fights between street vendors and ...

A senior Libyan opposition figure admitted that rebel soldiers were responsible for the senior army commander, General Abdel Fatah Younis, who was shot down on Thursday.  According to the transitional government's oil minister, Younis was killed by Islamist militia that were linked to anti-Gadhafi forces.  His assassination sprouts fears of future unrest and instability, and further raises doubts over whether the British government's decision last week to officially recognize the ...

Thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Cairo on Friday in one of the largest Islamist demonstrations, which was an effort to show political unity among Muslim groups.  Islamist groups participating in the demonstration called for the establishment of Islamic law in Egypt and protested against secularist politicians that have been working to prevent them from participating in the drafting of the new constitution.  Protesters chanted, “The people want to implement ...

According to officials, clashes between government forces and militants have killed at least 16 people and injured many on Saturday.  Government troops fought with tribes outside the capital in Sanaa and other surrounding cities both on Friday and Saturday.  The clashes between government troops and militants have increased before the start of Ramadan. Government airstrikes against Islamist militants accidentally killed 14 pro-government tribesman in southern Yemen east in the town of Zinjibar, ...

Women have played a central role in the uprisings sweeping the Middle East and North Africa, and now, as some of these countries undergo transitions, women’s rights must be incorporated into broader demands for social, economic, and political reform. In the latest POMED policy brief, Isobel Coleman examines the women’s movements in Tunisia and Egypt in the context of the Arab Spring. A transition to an inclusive, authentic democracy will ...

President and Founder of the National Iranian American Council Trita Parsi and Research Director Reza Marashi write about how Iran views the Arab Spring "as a challenge not only to the status quo powers investing in an order that suppresses the streets, but also the powers that claim to champion them."  Both Parsi and Marashi argue that Tehran's decision-makers are more concerned with winning over the soft power of the ...

On Wednesday, Robin Wright, Distinguished Scholar for the United States Institute of Peace and the Wilson Center, discussed her new book Rock the Casbah, which focuses on a new phase of Islamic activism termed “counter-jihad” by Wright. The discussion was moderated by Hala Esfandiari, Director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. Video footage of the event can be found online. For full notes, continue reading. Or click here ...

Writing in USA Today, Irena L. Sargsyan argues that contrary to Western fears, the  "Islamicization of politics" occurs not when Islamist parties participate in elections, but rather when a new government fails to implement promised reforms. Sargsyan asserts, "leaders often use Islam as a political tool to avoid reform, or when reform proves too difficult to implement. The same risk holds true for countries transitioning to democratic systems of government." In order to counter ...