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The majority of the youth argue that whether they vote or not Tunisia will not see progress. The youth are choosing to not participate in the election.

In this NY Times article, the authors give a decent "state of affairs" as seen through Israeli and US eyes. Published a few days after Netanyahu's re-election, it touches on his reversal of the Palestinian state issue and the US Government's response to such.

Iran's reformist have come together to ensure that hardliners, such as Ahmadinejad, do not regain control in parliament. The are willing to live with other factions in order to prevent this from taking place.

This article talks about how women's economic and social empower remains low in 2016. According to the Egyptian Centre for Women's Rights, gender equality status remains low in terms of economic and social empowerment and violence against women. Though some progress has happened with equality, about a 14% increase in female representatives in the parliamentary elections.

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. 

Ninety-eight percent of Egyptians voted yes for a new constitution. Sharia law was debated by the Egyptian Christians. The new constitution is seen as an improvement to the Muslim Brotherhood constitution. 

Though many of the youth leaders who participated in the 2011 revolution are in prison, youth-driven political campaigns will continue under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. A new movement that has risen, called the "We have had enough" campaign has several demands from the Egyptian youth. These include holding accountable anyone who was involved in killing any Egyptian, a debate about implementing separation of powers, setting minimum and maximum wages, and amending the protest law. These demands have led the state to release some of the prisoners of conscience, in an attempt to prevent any chaos before parliamentary elections. A similar movement, called the Dhank movement, arose in protest of the living conditions for the poorest Egyptians. The leaders of this movement encourage protests like refusing to pay electric bills because of a lack of service. The activists describe the need for the Dhank movement coming from Sisi's poor treatment of the lower class that included removal of subsidies and raising prices of commodities. The "We have had enough" campaign spokesman says they insist on the implementation of 14 human rights amendments. He ends by reiterating the consistent suspicion the youth groups have of the state and a lack of confidence that their demands will be met. This shows that there is no clear strategy or realistic possibility to ending the tension between youth groups and the state.

Beji Caid Essebsi, 88-year-old former minister from Tunisia's years under dictatorship won the country's first ever democratic vote for president. He became the nation's new head of state with 55 percent of the vote, capping a four-year-long democratic transition.

Any doubts that Libya has pivoted to a proxy war have been eliminated with the recent bombings outside UAE and Egyptian embassies as a backlash against their role in the regional "tug of war" on Thursday. Each side of the conflict has its own government as well as city headquarters. Islamists have occupied Tripoli and Haftar's forces Tobruk. The actions of regional players are escalating the civil war to the utmost extent.

This article basically highlights the significance of Libyan oil fields in terms of the international community. Chaos in Libya not only affects the eastern region, but all OPEC members and importers of crude oil across the globe. After the recent attacks on Sharara, the biggest field in Libya, production has significantly slowed down. Libya's elected parliament assures the global community that they will resume normal outputs soon, but as the country deepens further into civil war, international actors remain skeptical.

As their sole source of income the control over oil policy and revenue proves to be a huge factor in which government will gain control over the greater Libya. Thinni, the prime minister recognized by the international community, has assured OPEC members that oil revenues are deposited into the Libyan Bank, which then transfers them to the central bank. While this may be true, OPEC members are worried that the continuation of Islamist militant aims for political autonomy through the occupation and attacks on oil ports. BPD have already become a fifth of what they maintained just one year ago. 

This is an article from sada discussing how Egypt is comparative to the book "1984". In it is discusses how the government is not allowing for the media to criticize state institutions, and taking many journalists into custody.  

This article discuses Egypt's attempt to combat the Muslim Brotherhood by shutting down the violent protests at Al Azhar University. Azhar University is one of the world's last remaining centers for Islamic learning. Ever since the freely elected president Mursi was elected, Al Azhar has become an emerging hotspot for the battle against him.

In this article, Salwa Bugaighis was stabbed and shot through the head by gunmen who broke into her house in Benghazi. Her husband was also abducted and remains missing. Salwa and her husband had just returned from an election and the attack is a reminder of the growing number of extremists taking over Libya. "Her killing triggered outrage on social media, with one supporter tweeting: "Salwa Bugaighis was hope. Shocked and saddened." Salwa was a part of the National Transitional Council, but left after accusing it of freezing-out female members. She also opposed moves to make the wearing of the hijab compulsory, and her views brought her into conflict with the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist extremists.

In this Electronic Intifada article, the blatant racism against all Arabs during the Israeli elections is highlighted and examined. Beginning with the motion to amend voting rules, and ending with Netanyahu's highly charged statement, this article points out the rampant hatred exhibited to a group of people making up 20% of Israel's population.

In this New York Times article, the author covers the final statements made by both front runners during the recent Prime Minister elections in Israel. Chief among the comments was Netanyahu's strong statement against a Palestinian state.

Hamas disregards the statements about peace that Netanyahu decreed. Netanyahu also said that if re-elected, he would not pull troops out of Gaza.