Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev will be re-elected tomorrow, but at least the opposition is having a go this time.
Category: Middle East
Iran: deal or no deal?
The prospects for a deal regarding Iran's nuclear program look better than they have for a long time. The Israeli government isn't happy about the idea, for reasons that may not be quite what they seem.
Iranians almost get Facebook again
A window opens up in Iran's censorship regime, before being slammed shut again. It's one part of a delicate political game for the country's new moderate president.
Compare and contrast: Iraq and Syria
Syria is very different from Iraq, primarily because there's a war already in progress. That doesn't mean military intervention is the right move, but it makes it a more difficult question.
Iran and the resonance of the past
Sixty years on from a coup that poisoned Iranian-US relations, the CIA has come clean about its role. It may be a small step forward in a difficult process of reconciliation.
Please don’t feed the beast
Unnecessary military spending is a cancer on democracy, but it takes a case like Egypt to show the real damage that it can do.
Election roundup – loose ends edition
This week, updates from Mali, Czechia, Iran and Venezuela.
Electoral “reform” in Israel
Israel plans an electoral change that seems superficially fair but in context has a clearly discriminatory intent.
One weekend, four elections
The weekend's four elections, in Kuwait, Cambodia, Northern Cyprus and Mali, make an interesting set of contrasts.
Talking about talking about peace
John Kerry announces, rather warily, the start of a new round of Israel-Palestine negotiations. Getting to this point has been hard; getting the current Israeli government to actually make peace will be much harder.
The World is Not Enough 