Isobel Coleman shows how Muslim women and men are fighting back with progressive interpretations of Islam to support women's rights in a growing movement of Islamic feminism.

It is time for multinational corporations to come to the same realization -- funding education and training female business leaders is good for business.

In a Room for Debate blog post for the New York Times, Isobel Coleman discusses Hillary Clinton's legacy as former secretary of state

Outside of a humanitarian crisis—such as a famine or a natural disaster—it is hard to make the case that any country deserves another's economic support. To paraphrase Britain's Lord Palmerston, countries do not have permanent friends, only permanent interests.

Read full answer

The recent announcement of a BRICS development bank raised many questions. Isobel Coleman writes about the potential structure and purpose of the BRICS development bank and its implications for international development and the global economy.

Isobel Coleman writes that while it is widely recognized that food and fuel subsidies in Egypt are expensive and inefficient, Egyptian leaders do not want to touch the political third rail of subsidy reform. But they also realize that the country's fiscal situation is untenable without it. Sooner or later, serious subsidy reform is inevitable, and a well-planned process is preferable to the alternative.

In response to systemic sexual assaults on women in Egypt, activists have initiated well-organized campaigns to protect women's right to participate in the political sphere and to move in public spaces without fear for their personal safety. Isobel Coleman warns that politically motivated violence against women has still not crested.

Isobel Coleman says that while President Obama's State of the Union address focused on domestic policies, unpredictable events in the rest of the world are unlikely to allow his second administration to stay above the fray in its foreign policy.

A brutal New Delhi gang rape has triggered outrage across India. CFR's Isobel Coleman highlights three things to know about the case, and discusses the larger issue of violence against women in the country.

Women in the Arab world have certainly played a prominent role in their countries' transition, writes Isobel Coleman, but cannot take for granted that their activism will translate into political influence or legal gains in the emerging systems.

Isobel Coleman writes that despite persistent challenges to security and unity, Libya has weathered the year since Qaddafi's death better than many expected.

Isobel Coleman writes about the mixed record that quotas for women's political participation in the Middle East have had, but notes that at least quotas ensure that women's perspectives are represented in government.

Isobel Coleman says the actions of Egypt's president Mohammed Morsi may help shape the outcome of the crisis in the region.

The attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the killing of the U.S. ambassador may be "the first salvo" of a civil war in the country, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

Isobel Coleman argues that the rise of Islamist groups in North Africa may threaten women's rights, but women's participation in the economy and in political movements has set them down a path that will be difficult to reverse.

Climatic conditions across the U.S. farm belt are triggering a rise in global food prices that threatens to fuel political unrest in developing countries, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

This weekend's successful nationwide elections are a major first step in a long process of building new political and civic institutions, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

Isobel Coleman argues that the dissolution of parliament and the upholding of Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq's candidacy for presidency have immediately strengthened the hand of the "old guard" at the expense of the Islamists in Egypt.

Egyptians' first free presidential election is a test of the power of Islamist parties, and the new president will shape the country's future by helping craft a new constitution as well as a new relationship with parliament and the military, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

Isobel Coleman says the Egyptian elections are a roller coaster, and what the role of Islam will be in a new Egypt is uncertain.

Addressing Egypt's economically debilitating subsidy system will be hard amid political transition, but with the country's social contract under review, the time is ripe for reform needed to put the country on a more viable economic path, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

Isobel Coleman discusses the role of women in the Arab Spring.