Despite the Karzai government's failures, a majority of Afghans continue to support democracy and the current system over the insurgent groups. But these achievements are fragile and reversible. A premature withdrawal from Afghanistan is a recipe for failure with disastrous consequences for the United States and world security.

In its official statement, the March 2004 Alexandria Library conference issued one of the most comprehensive and eloquent pan-Arab calls for democratization. Although the conference was held under the patronage of President Hosni Mubarak, it consisted entirely of prominent non-governmental figures—some 165 of them from eighteen Arab countries. The host...

The Bush administration's half-hearted response to democratic surges in Egypt is inexplicable.

Afghanistan's election watchdog disqualified 19 winning candidates for alleged fraud, adding to a string of controversies that have undermined the legitimacy of the parliamentary elections and have delayed the vote results for two months.

The year 2006 has reverberated with sobering reminders--Iraq, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority--that democracy's progress in the Middle Eastwill be no easy thing.

The trials of Egyptian opposition candidate Ayman Nour demonstrates the difficulty of achieving genuine democratic reform in the Middle East.

Middle Eastern women discuss the plight and promise of women in their home countries.

Has Washington fed into Hamas and other terrorist factions?