...Njoki S. Ndungu In this essay the origins, dimensions, and implications of Kenya's election crisis of 2007 and the key actors who contributed to it are examined. The author reviews the efforts undertaken by the African Union and the former secretary-general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan...

...Robert Olson This essay argues that from the first of January 2007 to Turkey.s general elections on 22 July the ruling Justice and Development Party.s (AKP) major focus was on the .Iraq project. rather than the established .EU project.. The Iraq project refers to the challenge of Kurdish...

...Nikolaos A. Stavrou Mediterranean Affairs, Inc. 2003 Nikolaos A. Stavrou is professor of international relations at Howard University and editor of Mediterranean Quarterly . Reflections on an Elective War: Are We Safer Now...

...Mohamed A. El-Khawas Following a 1999 coup, Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf ruled by decree with the support of the military. He held a presidential referendum and got his party elected. He amended the constitution to legitimize his military rule. His involvement in the war on terrorism led...

...Richard T. Sale Islam is on the march in the Middle East. For the past few years, in every Mideast election, the Islamic parties have won: in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and in Iraq and Tunisia in 2010. In 2011, they won again in Turkey and Morocco, and in Egypt the Islamist parties confirmed...

...Jason E. Strakes Iranian influence and interference in the internal affairs of Iraq have become central US policy concerns since the election of a Shiite-majority political elite in 2005. Yet observers have rarely addressed the strategic pursuit of support from both the US and Iranian governments...

... Abidine Ben Ali’s regime, new political parties were established and free and fair multiparty elections were held, a giant step forward in the march toward democracy. The economy continues to be a deep source of discontent, however. Youth blame the government’s inaction for continued unemployment...

...James Rodgers Drawing on the author's time as the BBC's correspondent in Gaza from 2002 to 2004, this essay offers a way of understanding more fully the situation in Gaza in 2013, after the recent elections in the United States and Israel and following the Arab uprisings. The core argument...

...Ross Wilson Moves to resume the United Nations-led Cyprus peace talks in 2014 have given hope of an end to the island’s long-lived division. Factors that shape the prospects for progress now include the February 2013 election of a new, prosettlement Cypriot government and the discovery of offshore...

... and the result of error on both sides. While an interim agreement was reached on 20 February 2015 to extend Greece's bailout by four months, the longer-term outcome was far from clear. Social and economic pressures had been building in Greece since 2008, resulting in the 25 January 2015 election of a radical...

...Constantine P. Danopoulos This essay explores and assesses the connection between accountability and the quality of democracy in modern Greece along three key dimensions: vertical, horizontal, and social. Vertical involves elected officials and the three branches of government; horizontal deals...

... promising to end the austerity era. However, from its first days in office, the new government realized that keeping this promise would be a far greater challenge than winning the election. Cancelation of the austerity measures required renegotiation of Greece's bailout loans, loans that were conditional...

... dependency on the central government and reluctance to protest and (2) the exigency to raise land-based demands beyond the confines of elections. Together these introduce URP residents as a new critical urban force in their respective democracies. Sultan Tepe is associate professor of political science...

...Mohamed A. El-Khawas The essay examines Bush's strategies to democratize Iraq. Failure to draft a plan for Iraq's stabilization led to costly mistakes that drove many Sunnis to join insurgent groups, fueling sectarian strife. Holding multiparty elections was a major accomplishment, but it did...

.... It has been struggling to deal with an ailing economy and deteriorating security. Although the goal is to transfer power to a democratically elected government, building an infrastructure for sustainable democratic institutions has been slow, messy, and difficult. Youth are disappointed in the outcome...

...Anthony N. Celso Elected on a platform of withdrawal from Iraq after the 3/11 train bombings, Spanish socialists sought early on to embark on an antiterrorist policy of negotiation and dialogue with disgruntled Arab and Basque communities. The socialists' early efforts at achieving a historic...

... more than others, but the operation dealt a heavy blow to an already fragile peace process. Indeed, the Gaza war has further reinforced the current and growing polarization between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The continuing disagreement between the Palestinian factions and the election...

...Nikolaos A. Stavrou The author places American politics in historical and philosophical context, reflecting on the significance of the election of the first African American as president of the United States. He raises fundamental questions about the dearth of historical change and the ability...

... imbalance. There is a need for a better understanding of the possibilities and challenges for establishing new game rules and a more democratic redefinition of civil—military equation in Turkey, where a politically “autonomous” and “religiously secular” military bloc is pitted against a popularly elected...

... phase of the democratization process by legalizing opposition parties and holding multiparty elections in the 1990s; twenty-five countries held competitive multiparty elections between 1990 and 1993. In eleven countries, most notably South Africa and Zambia...