On Monday, President Obama will sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. With a showdown looming over Iran, their summit will not only be the most important meeting for either leader but it may also be the most consequential meeting for the entire Middle East since Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s 1993 handshake with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat.

As Egypt continues its arms buildup, will the United States exercise its considerable diplomatic leverage?

The death of Yemeni-American militant, Anwar al-Awlaki, will likely degrade AQAP’s ability to recruit foreign fighters and to conduct attacks against America in the near term. However, over the long term killing Awlaki will probably not reduce AQAP’s capabilities significantly.

Fears of a Muslim Brotherhood takeover of Egypt are ill founded.

President Obama's response to events in the Middle East, particularly in Libya, are so opaque, so convoluted, it's tempting to think there's some ingenious master plan in effect behind the scenes that he hasn't clued us in on.

Mubarak's time in power is coming to an end, hopefully the outcome and emerging President can be something the US can live with.

2011 wrapped up with threats by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz and with the Islamic Republic as a key topic of debate on the campaign trail, as well as concerns over the capability of al Qaeda after the terror group lost its leader.

What Westerners think of as goodwill, Middle Easterners often interpret as weakness.