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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. 

This article explores the idea that the Constitution with Ba'ath Party intentions and ideology, intertwined in every word, allows for unlimited actions that Assad could take. It is at the point where the president could constitutionally change the Constitution simply if all of his demands are not met.

Thsi article explores the state of Christians in Syria. Patriarch Gregorios and Bishop Ibrahim add to this discussion.

Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) is a militant Kurdish nationalist group with bases in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq that has perpetrated numerous attacks in western Iran, southern Turkey and the northeastern parts of Syria where the Kurdish populations live.

In this article for Al Monitor, a news site launched during the Arab Spring which brands itself as "the pulse of the Middle East", a physician from Hamburg talks about her more than 20 years in the Kurdistan Workers Party in a rare interview.

In this article for Al Monitor, a news site launched during the Arab Spring which brands itself as "the pulse of the Middle East", a physician from Hamburg talks about her more than 20 years in the Kurdistan Workers Party in a rare interview.

REUTERS - Weddings in Iran have long been an over-the-top affair with families spending thousands of dollars to celebrate a union. But now some couples are splurging on an entirely different sort of nuptial celebration: a divorce party. Local media outlets and blogs have been abuzz for months about lavish parties, complete with sarcastic invitations and humorous cakes, for couples splitting up.

"Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah Sunday announced that Hezbollah had covertly sent fighters to combat ISIS in Iraq, saying that his party had fought under local command and not interfered in the country's internal affairs as Saudi Arabia had in some Arab states."

This is an article about Yugoslavia which doesn't want the interference of NATO in their lives any more. NATO and Yugoslavia gets into details about foreign policy 

Several political parties and journalists have began hunger strikes in protest of prisoners locked up under the draconian anti-protest law enacted after Morsi was deposed by the military. The law has drawn international criticism and the post Morsi period saw violent crackdowns, torture, and executions that some say rival the darkest days of the Mubarak presidency.

Compiled by faculty members at the German University in Cairo, this working paper series addresses the effect that watsa has on competence and morality in Middle Eastern economics and society. The authors define watsa as, "the intervention of a patron in favor of a client to obtain benefits and/or resources from a third party." In simpler terms it is a system of social networking in Arab culture in which family and social ties play a significant role in the attainment of economic advantages and resources, largely in the hiring process in businesses and organizations. A person applying for a job seeks out watsa to increase their chances of getting hired. Comparable to nepotism and cronyism, but is not restricted to friends and associates, watsa can also involve strangers linked through some social web of people. Watsa runs somewhat parallel to a Chinese concept of guanxi, based on Confucian ethics and focusing on strong collective ties. While guanxi is a part of Chinese ethics it actually defies Muslim ethical values, which advocates hiring the person most capable. In a Jordanian survey, 87% of respondents want watsa eradicated. While we know that unemployment in the Arab region is widespread, we can assume that this motivates people to do anything they can to improve their chances of obtaining a job. However, the practice of watsa as a whole is actually degrading the economic systems in the Arab sates even further. The article explains the linkage between watsa and poor job performance, economic decline, and the festering of injustice and frustration among the masses in Arab countries.

This looks super interesting, but I can't get the link to open. Thanks for writing a thorough summary of it!

In this news article on the BBC, a PKK commander claims that while the both sides leadership desires to move forward with the peace process, the peace talks with Turkey are in danger of turning into conflict. Cemil Bayik, a PKK commander in the Qandil mountains, says that the Turkish government's treatment of Kobane shows that it still views the PKK and the Kurdish people as a bigger threat than ISIS. Meanwhile, a Turkish government official, Yasin Aktay, vice-chairman of the ruling AK Party, gave a statement saying that the PKK and the Kurds are using current time of instability to try to "upset the status quo", and try to set up a system of self-governance like Iraqi Kurdish groups. This article ends with dire warnings by both sides. Aktay warns that in the coming weeks and months, Turkey will actively try to prevent a "power grab" by the PKK in Kurdish towns. Meanwhile, Cemil Bayik says that unless the Turkish government changes its policies, the conflict between the Kurds and Turkey will continue, asserting that "if necessary the Kurds will fight against the Islamic State and the Turkish army."

A PKK commander tells the BBC that the peace process with Turkey is in danger of turning into conflict.

The Turkish President was subject to international criticism after his remarks at a gathering in Istanbul aimed at discussing women's rights and freedoms, in which he said that gender equality is "against nature". In his speech, Ergodan stated that Islam has defined a role for women in society, and that that role is motherhood. He also offered a strong admonishment to Turkish feminists, whom he says have rejected motherhood. Women's and human's rights activists have consistently criticized Ergodan and the AKP party since they came into power in 2003, claiming that Turkey has increasingly become authoritarian and politically conservative.

Moscow continues to push for peace talks between all the oppositions groups and the Syrian government. Russia believes that the best way to have peace is to avoid foreign interference and they call for sanctions to be lifted. 

In this Times of Israel article, a statement made by South Africa's ruling party, the ANC, is examined. Made in protest to a planned meeting of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the ANC's statement accused Israel of being a state founded in apartheid. More dramatically, the article references a quote made by the ANC where they liken Israel's most recent attack on Gaza to the Nazis.