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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. 

Tunisia kicked off investor meetings for a Eurobond without US guarantees. Tunisia's stock market has already shown political stability. Tunis index rose more than 16 percent in 2014 and trades 10 percent below record highs hit before the Arab Spring. Tunisia has potential to reform but it is in need of foreign direct investment to drive economic growth and job creation. Tunisia signed a two year deal with the international Monetary Fund in 2013, agreeing to follow certain economic policies; keeping its deficit under control, making the foreign exchange market more flexible and structural reforms.

Eighty-eight years have passed since the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood on March 22, 1928 at the hands of Imam Hassan Al-Banna. They expand on the importance of a religiously led government in the region and importance of keeping their mission in mind and reforming to democratic legitimacy they say.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia has died. He was 90 and had been hospitalized for a lung infection. Abdullah was born before Saudi Arabia was even a country. It was the early 1920s, and his father, Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, set out to conquer the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula.

The European Union is having some issues with Syrian refugees not staying in the country to where they first applied for asylum. This, and the ever growing number of Syrian refugees in Europe, has lead to a call to reform the Dublin Law. 

This piece is about the education reform K-12 in Qatar. The program has started to use local education supplies to create a better community attitude toward education. Their have been efforts to create a universal curriculum and higher evaluation and testing. 

Completely off topic regarding the Middle East. However, the proposed plan is in line with market liberalization. Since we just covered that in class, and this applies perfectly, I figured I would save it.

As I read the chapter, I really enjoyed learning about Mohammed Bouazizi. So I did some research and I stumbled upon this. Hope you enjoy!

Last month Tunisia installed a new government. The conference was a way of telling the world that Tunisia is back on track. The Prime Minister talked about how he promises for economic reform as well as hopes that the long delayed free trade agreement between the U.S. and Tunisia could be finally completed.

This article contains different views on the topic of women in Egypt. There is information on husband's permission, four wives rights, and reforms.

Saudi Arabia former leader, King Abdullah, who passed away recently, seemed to be pushing for a slow reform in women's rights. While in power, many small but worthy advances were made for Saudi women. One of the most notable of these advances would be the role of women in the work force growing exponentially.

With a new economic agenda being created and putting into place the people of Tunisia are worried. With the term "reforms" people of Tunisia are worried that the wrong issues are going to be handled. Like for instance creating jobs instead of increasing prices. Authorities tried to raise money by imposing a tax of $20 on foreign travellers, that angered residents but also hurt trade with Libya. This caused protests, caused officers to react with physical abuse.

Prime Minister Habib Essid announced a new minority government that excludes most of the major figures on the political scene, including Islamist and leftist parties. The 24 ministers presented appear to come from two parties that may not have enough seats to survive a no-confidence vote. This means lacking seats in Parliament they may have difficulty carrying out the necessary reforms to fix Tunisia's economic problems.

In 2012 there were signs of rebound from the recession in 2011. The GDP increased by 4.8 percent, tourism and FDI started picking up in the first quarter. Exporting for Tunisia would not be as strong because of the recession in Europe. Achieving higher growth will reduce high unemployment. Directors saw a need to support economic activity while safeguarding macroeconomic stability. Directors considered that structural reforms are needed to reorient the Tunisian economy and harness its potential for higher and more inclusive growth.

This Article explain how Saudi Arabia is moving toward Political succession and also talks about that Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has passed away after nearly 10 years as the country's top leader. "King Abdullah isn't a reformer but a modernist. There's a difference," Ali Alyami, director of the Centre for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, told Al Jazeera. He has empower saudi's women in so many ways. which is illustrated in toward the end of the article .

Education in Pakistan. The Threat to the elite and the poor illiterate suffering.