Mohamad Bazzi | The Nation

The Syrian president is is facing unprecedented pressure rooted in grievances over government repression, corruption, a weak economy and lack of civil liberties. He cannot hunker down and wait for the storm to pass.

The Obama administration's diplomatic engagement with Damascus should not come at the expense of democracy and human rights activists.

By conflating Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah, the President displays his ignorance--and could be laying the groundwork for attacks by Israel on Hamas and Hezbollah.

The bad boy of Iraqi politics is going back to school.
al-Sadr's plan to become an ayatollah has enormous
implications for Iraqis and the United States.

Ostracized by the Bush Administration, Syria is flirting with rogue status. But if Washington restarts dialogue, there is plenty of room for common ground.

Rocked by violence and sectarian hatred, Lebanon faces its presidential elections in paralysis, bound to a political system that's no longer viable and stymied over what kind of country it wants to be.

Recent anti-American rhetoric from the desert kingdom should not be taken at face value.

The story of Hassan Nasr, a victim of "extraordinary rendition" who was interrogated and tortured in Egypt for four years, is finally being told.

One big and underreported reason for Lebanon's slide toward civil war is blowback from Iraq. Fearing the sectarian bloodbath in Iraq and Iran's growing regional influence, Lebanese Sunnis are lashing out.

By empowering the dispossessed, Hezbollah has become a formidable force that is threatening the US-backed Lebanese government.