Politics

The outline Iran nuclear deal has highlighted divisions in the region—not just between majority Shia and Sunni states but between those supporting the status quo and those challenging it.

The 47 Republican senators who wrote to Iranian leaders this month may have believed they were sabotaging the talks on a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, hoping it would exacerbate fears in Tehran that any such deal could be reversed by the next U.S. president.

In many countries, polling day ends with disputes about ballot-box fraud, corruption, and flawed registers. Which claims are legitimate? And which are false complaints from sore losers?

It was subtle, but telling: One of the immediate consequences of the new Afghan president taking office was that everyone around him turned into a note taker. Members of the powerful political elite, accustomed to 13 years of casual politics characterized by grand postures and long-winded speeches, all scribble in Ashraf Ghani’s presence.

February 11th, the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini coming to power in Iran, marks for many people the end of the repression of those who spoke out against the regime of the Shah. Today, what is life like for those who disagree with the current Islamic regime?

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The quest for expanding the membership of the UN Security Council has taken various turns since the last and only expansion in 1965. The Council’s response and lack of response to the developments following the Arab Spring and the Ukraine Crisis have rejuvenated discussions on reforms globally.

Growing numbers of Central Asian citizens, male and female, are travelling to the Middle East to fight or otherwise support the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL or ISIS).

Finally, Afghanistan has a cabinet, pending parliament’s approval of course, three and a half months after Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah were inaugurated as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of a national unity government.

The attack in Peshawar that killed more than 100 children last week was just one of hundreds of Taliban attacks against schools, says a new report. And the violence is working, with millions of Pakistani children now out of school