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This December 2014 article from the Times of Israel examines a poll conducted by the Brookings Institution. The major take-away is that the poll is said to have shown a significant rise in support for a single-state solution should the two-state solution fail.

This Al Jazeera article discusses the recent failed UN proposal presented by the Palestinian Authority calling for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from recently seized territories. More importantly though, the article discusses the current state of affairs and calls for a single state solution.

Yet another doom and gloom article that discusses how bad the Libyan state is in the eyes of the American military. General David Rodriguez, head of American military forces in Africa, called Libya a "failed state," probably one of the starkest declarations in the 5 years since the fall of the Qaddafi regime.

This article details were certain countries, that are most affected by the Syrian conflict, stand within the conflict and how they would like to solve the issue. 

This article states that Russia and Iran have been changing the situation in Syria according to their own agendas. It is in Russia and Iran's interests to maintain Assad's rule in Syria. Consequently, the article states that the west should get involved before Russia and Iran have done too much.

This author gives an analysis of where the Egyptian youth failed and succeeded in their revolution. He applauds their original motivation: overthrowing the oppressive regime and seeking political freedom. However, he criticizes the movement for not having organized goals with practical implications. Their focus was so set on overthrowing Mubarak that they did not have a plan once that was achieved. As a result, the youth allowed the military to become politicized and enforce their political ideas. The author claims this move set a dangerous precedent for the future and took away the attention of the military from places it was needed. The author claims that by endorsing the army to act militarily against the first civilian elected president of the country, the youth is undermining their original goals. He goes on to explain his suggestions for the Egyptian youth to get back on track and follow through in the remaining phases of the revolution.

Of the 23 nations that were blacklisted in August of 2015, Algeria makes the list. Of the nations who were blacklisted as failing to meet minimum standards in fighting human trafficking, they are ranked from an economic perspective in the form of "tiers."

The Council on Foreign Relations published an article about democratization in the middle east and the major obstacles that are present in the process. While most assume Islamists and Islamic embedded institutions are the root of the delayed democratic transition, the problems are much bigger than that. While Islamist regimes do indeed stunt the growth of democratic progress in terms of creating a stable government, Arab countries struggle with economic and social factors as well. The Arab Spring Revolutions have caused economic and social degradation across the region, resulting in a road block of political leadership. Without a reliable and capable government structure, the states are unable to progress economically. However, in order to have a stable government, social and economic institutions must be in place to create this capitalist economy that they strive for. Because most wealth resides in oil, the revenue that the states bring in isn't distributed properly throughout society and is concentrated within few business elites. The article stresses that instead of foreign aid going into the hands of an unstable leader or regime, it should be invested in institutions in order to spur economic growth and eliminate corruption. Rather than focusing on the Islamist-secularist divide, the world should be working towards the strengthening of institutions to create a stable foundation for governance. 

BBC discusses the effect of IS and the current political state of Libya.

Both Britain and France have shunned Syrian President Assad in their quest to fight terrorism. They oppose all that the Syrian government stands for and this is why they will continue to dismiss the Syrian government and any ties with them. 

The family of British woman suspected of encouraging three London schoolgirls to join the Islamic State in Syria said that officials "failed" to stop them from leaving the country.

This article conveys that AS has claimed Benghazi as an Islamic Emirate. While Haftar argues that only certain positions are under Islamic occupation, but the fact that they control the whole city is something he denies. 

This article captures Syria's geography, history, and all events leading up to the state Syria is in today.

This article begins by illuminating the regional democracy assistance cuts that are dropping from $459.2 million to $298.3 million It explains that the Bush Administration began the quest for democracy in the Middle East, and the Obama administration has only continued in his footsteps. The author presents the viewpoint that the U.S. approach to Arab democratization has been in the form of "ad-hoc crisis management" rather than "large scale reform initiatives." Promoting democracy in the form of democratic politics are insufficient, elections and political parties have consistently proved to weather away and fester further civil strife. Consequently, the article proposes a new approach to the region conflict. This approach calls for "systematic reforms" focusing on basic institutions such as the civil service sector, justice and law enforcement, and the military's role in governance. The idea is that addressing these lacking departments in the arab world will eventually pave the way to a smoother democratic transition. 

Not only is Russia aligning with Syria, but it is also getting closer to Egypt and its government. Egypt's president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi believes that its relationship with Russia is a "strategic alliance" which is what other middle eastern countries, such as Syria, believe.