Since the postponing of Libya’s presidential election, political uncertainty and institutional divisions have intensified, making it more difficult to hold elections in the future and increasing concerns of a return to armed conflict.
The Iraqi presidency is effectively reserved for a Kurdish leader, but Salih and Zebari may point the country in very different directions.
This report is based on the discussions held during a workshop co-hosted with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung on Shia communities in Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait.
Libya’s first major election since 2014 is scheduled for December 24. However, with just a week left, the list of presidential candidates has not been finalized and campaigning has yet to officially begin.
Recent Iraqi governments have pushed for reintegration with the Arab world, but continuation of that trend depends on the next government.
Gulf states like Saudi Arabia and the UAE see the decline of Islamist groups in North Africa as a win for regional stability and cooperation; but even if Islamist parties may be slowly fading from the picture, this by no means suggests they are disappearing.
Results from Iraq’s elections show that a determined young generation can organize and win seats, no matter the obstacles placed in the way by a political system most Iraqis lost faith in long ago.
AGSIW's Geneive Abdo spoke with Akeel Abbas, an expert on Iraqi politics and sectarian identities, to discuss the results of Iraq's October 10 parliamentary elections.
The new Shura Council is neither a democratic wand changing Qatar’s political culture nor a pointless exercise. Instead, it is a small evolutionary step in the state’s governance in a more democratic direction.
No matter the outcome, the October elections will show that a young generation has altered the political landscape in Iraq.
Learn MoreThrough its careful examination of the forces shaping the evolution of Gulf societies and the new generation of emerging leaders, AGSIW facilitates a richer understanding of the role the countries in this key geostrategic region can be expected to play in the 21st century.
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