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The past 12 months have been devastating for Syria’s economy. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has contracted by several percentage points (possibly by as much as 20 percent), the foreign currency …

The year 2011 began with a great deal of uncertainty — perhaps even promise — for the Palestinians. Much of that had to do with the revolutionary fervor that had taken …

The tumultuous start to 2011 with the collapse of the Saad Hariri government in Lebanon and the establishment, after several months of hard bargaining, of a new administration headed by …

Iran’s rulers, since Pahlavi times, have been attracted by the ‘Big Plan’, and in modern days this is as true as ever. The Islamic Republic’s five-year plans guide its governments, …

In ancient times, what is now Yemen was given the name Arabia Felix — or “Happy Arabia” — by the Romans. But in modern times, it has enjoyed such a …

In theory, not to mention in several hundred acres of newsprint, 2011 was the year Turkey’s foreign policy fell apart. The tabloid version of the ‘zero problems with the neighbors’ …

Jordan likes to promote itself as an island of stability in a region in turmoil, and in 2011 the country largely lived up to that reputation. While elsewhere the winds …

The year began in Egypt with a sudden but thankfully short-lived rash of self-immolations by aggrieved Egyptians following the example of Mohamed Bouazizi, the young street vendor who set himself …

Admiral Michael G. Mullen, outgoing chairman of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff, in September warned of a lack of communication with Tehran. “We are not talking… so we …