Isobel Coleman speaks on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" about democratic transitions in Egypt and Tunisia. In Egypt, Islamists are assuming powerful roles. Many women's rights activists fear that a shift toward democratically-elected Islamist rulers will limit personal and political freedom for women.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the January 25th protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square. On The Agenda with Steve Paikin, Isobel Coleman joins Steve Paikin to discuss the progress and setbacks for women's rights in Egypt one year later.

2011 was a year of protest across the Middle East and North Africa. Amid each uprising, women were visible, fighting not just for the rights of their country, but often for rights of their own. Host Audie Cornish talks with Isobel Coleman of the Council on Foreign Relations about women in the Arab uprising and their role going forward.

Isobel Coleman, senior fellow and director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations, speaks with Joan Hamurg on WOR radio in New York about Col. Muammar Al Qaddafi's death and what it impact it will have on the region.

Isobel Coleman speaks with Foxnews.com's DEFCON3 with KT MCfarland about whether the election victory by the Islamist party in Tunisia is a cause for concern.

Much to the surprise of women in Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah on Sunday granted them the right to vote and serve in office. Saudi Arabia is the only country on Earth that prohibits women from driving. The only one that allowed only men to vote. The only one that scored a zero for female political empowerment in the 2010 World Economic Forum global gender gap report.

Yet women now represent the majority of college graduates, and as they push for jobs, restrictions on them grow more untenable, says Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women Are Transforming the Middle East. She spoke to editorial writer for the New Jersey Star Ledger Julie O'Connor about why voting isn't as radical as driving, but it's a good start.

Isobel Coleman, senior fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East, speaks with journalist Lauren Bohn about the days ahead for women in Egypt.

Isobel Coleman, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women Are Transforming the Middle East, speaks with KIRO radio in Seattle about a planned public demonstration in Saudi Arabia in favor of women's right to drive.

Within the ongoing war on terrorism in the Middle East, a quiet revolution of Islamic feminists is unfolding; with both men and women searching for answers to extremists who feel a woman's role within the religion involves no educational or economic rights. Isobel Coleman highlights the quest of Islamic feminist activists for change in Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East. In this interview on Southern California Public Radio (KPCC), Coleman talks about how these efforts towards a more tolerant Islamic community are playing a key role in maintaining stability and decreasing extremism within Muslim countries. But can a sweeping movement for women's rights actually end the war on terrorism? What exactly is the link between economic and political freedom for women and widespread peace and stability in the Middle East?

Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Isobel Coleman, author of Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East, visits Zócalo to discuss Islamic feminism, the women behind the movement, and why their success is crucial to fighting extremism and creating progress and stability in the Islamic world.

Isobel Coleman speaks with NPR's Talk of the Nation about Islamic feminism. Some Muslims hope to create political, economic and educational opportunities for women, while others condemn women's empowerment as anti-Islamic. A new brand of feminism is taking hold in the Middle East and beyond. It's lead, more often than not, by women.

Isobel Coleman speaks with NPR's Talk of the Nation about Islamic feminism. Some Muslims hope to create political, economic and educational opportunities for women, while others condemn women's empowerment as anti-Islamic. A new brand of feminism is taking hold in the Middle East and beyond. It's lead, more often than not, by women.