It was something of a momentous weekend in Arab League history. For the first time ever, the League imposed serious sanctions on one of its own and not for anything related to Israel. Rather, the Arab League voted to impose sanctions on Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria for its continued campaign of repression and murder.

Progress against poverty requires measuring countries by the rule of law, judicial independence and free speech.

Today marks the first anniversary of the revolution that overthrew Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Oddly enough, many tears have been shed for the departed Mr. Mubarak—and not just tears from his military cronies, his business cronies, his family cronies, and the Israelis, who had gotten used to the devil they knew in Cairo.

Though the majority of countries in the world have turned toward democracy, the Arab world still lags.

The cost of the Iraq war was high. Almost 4,500 American servicemen and women died, and many more were injured. American taxpayers paid billions of dollars. Was the Iraq war worth it? Yes.

On the first anniversary of the pro-democracy uprising in Bahrain, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Middle East scholar Michael Rubin warns that Bahrain could be headed for a bloodbath with dangerous repercussions for the United States.

Reformation and renaissance in the Middle East is only achievable ifPresident Bush andCondoleezza Rice recognize that this is a full-time job for the U.S.government.

2005 will be the year of Arab voting and perhaps, as well, of the birth pangs of Arab democracy.