Current Analysis Egypt Looks Ahead to Portentous Year Not so long ago in Egypt, elections for the parliament, bar association and press syndicate, as well as presidential referenda, were dismissed as mere beautifying accessories for an incorrigibly authoritarian regime. In 2005, several developments promise to accentuate the significance of these once Mona El-Ghobashy • 12 min read
Current Analysis Another "Historic Day" Looms in Iraq Yet another "historic day" will dawn in war-weary Iraq on January 30. As interim prime minister Iyad Allawi told Iraqi television viewers, "For almost the first time since the creation of Iraq, Iraqis will participate in choosing their representatives in complete freedom." Not to be outdone, Preside Chris Toensing • 10 min read
Current Analysis A Very Slippery "Landslide" for Mahmoud Abbas A chorus of international approval greeted Mahmoud Abbas' victory in the Palestinian Authority presidential election. January 9 was "a historic day for the Palestinian people and for the people of the Middle East," declared President George W. Bush, as the final count gave the Fatah party candidate Peter Lagerquist • 15 min read
MER Article Fatemeh Haqiqatjoo and the Sixth Majles On February 23, 2004, two days after the conservative victory in the elections for the Seventh Majles, for which the Guardian Council banned over 2,000 reformist candidates, including some 80 current deputies, the reformist-dominated Sixth Majles accepted the resignation of Fatemeh Haqiqatjoo. Ziba Mir-Hosseini • 15 min read
MER Article The New Landscape of Iranian Politics After seven turbulent years in which a reformist movement transformed Iran’s political landscape as well as its international image, conservatives recaptured two thirds of the parliament in February 2004. “Victory” for the conservatives was achieved, in large part, by the intervention of the unelect Morad Saghafi • 18 min read
Current Analysis Afghanistan's Presidential Elections Less than a month before George W. Bush's second bid for the White House, his protégé and partner in post-Taliban Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, faces an election that both men hope will not only establish the legitimacy of Karzai's presidency but also prove the Bush administration's claim that the war- M. Nazif Shahrani • 9 min read
Current Analysis An Occupation By Any Other Name... Monday’s transfer of authority—two days before the June 30 date—is being touted as the date of Iraqi independence. Nothing could be further from the truth. The unfolding political transition in Iraq will keep sovereign power in the hands of Americans in every relevant sense. Maren Milligan • 3 min read
Current Analysis Kerry on Israel: Me Too In a May 3 address to the Anti-Defamation League's National Leadership Conference, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry reiterated his steadfast support for Israel and assured attendees that, if elected, he would never force Israel to negotiate without a “credible partner.” Statem Catherine Cook • 4 min read
Current Analysis An Algerian Presidential Free-for-All The Algerian presidential elections coming up on April 8 have captured the imagination of the electorate like never before—because, at least in theory, one cannot predict the winner. In previous elections, the results were known long before polling day, and Algerian voters, in effect, only rubber-stamped decisions made behind Youcef Bouandel • 11 min read
Current Analysis Round 12 for Iran's Reformists When, in mid-January 2004, the Council of Guardians rejected the applications of 3,600 out of nearly 8,200 people seeking candidacy in Iran's upcoming parliamentary elections, there was scant surprise in the country. President Mohammad Khatami, members of his government and sitting parliamentary deputies professed to be Kaveh Ehsani • 8 min read
Current Analysis Iran's Upcoming Parliamentary Elections Up for Grabs So confident are Iranian conservatives three months before the country's February 20, 2004 parliamentary elections that, in the words of one right-wing strategist, they have stopped talking about how to beat reformist candidates and begun to plan "how to run the nation." Conservatives believe that victory Siamak Namazi • 12 min read
Current Analysis Egypt's Summer of Discontent As the long, hot Egyptian summer of 2003 wore on into autumn, gloom-and-doom scenarios filled opposition papers and daily conversations, warning of a terrible quiet before the storm. Elites and the masses are slowly being pushed together by palpable disaffection at rapidly deteriorating economic con Mona El-Ghobashy • 12 min read
