A sweeping account of Egypt in the modern era: what Egypt is, what it stands for, and its relation to the world.

Experts from the Council on Foreign Relations and the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution propose a new, nonpartisan Middle East strategy drawing on the lessons of past failures to address both the short- and long-term challenges to U.S. interests.

A critical examination of how the legacies of military control in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey affect political development in these countries, highlighting the often-overlooked difficulties of promoting democratic change in military-dominated political systems.

A week away from crucial parliamentary elections in Turkey, relations between the United States and Turkey are severely strained. CFR Fellow Steven A. Cook says a recent major poll shows that “in Turkey, a NATO country firmly allied with the United States over the last fifty years, only 9 percent of Turks have a favorable view of the United States.”

Ruling But Not Governing provides valuable insight into the political dynamics that perpetuate authoritarian regimes and offers novel ways to promote democratic change. In this new CFR book, author and Council Douglas Dillon Fellow Steven A. Cook highlights the critical role that the military plays in the stability of the Egyptian, Algerian, and, until recently, Turkish political systems.

Steven Cook discusses his new book, Ruling But Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey and how it applies to current developments in the region.

Steven A. Cook, a CFR expert on Turkey, says “the great underreported story” of the Iraq war is the serious deterioration in U.S.-Turkish relations. “It has already blown up,” says Cook.

A critical examination of how the legacies of military control in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey affect political development in these countries, highlighting the often-overlooked difficulties of promoting democratic change in military-dominated political systems.

CFR’s Steven A. Cook says the decision to speak with Iran and Syria on Iraq, marks “a positive change in policy.”

Steven A. Cook, a leading Middle East expert, says the current U.S. effort to make progress in the Israeli-Palestinian talks is inevitably linked to the U.S. desire to get Arab support for the shaky government in Iraq.

CFR Fellow Steven A. Cook discusses the impact of Pierre Gemayel’s assassination on Lebanese politics. He says Gemayel’s murder marks a return of Syrian influence in Lebanon and presents an opportunity for Hezbollah to consolidate its power.

Steven A. Cook, CFR’s leading expert on Turkey, says the country is so preoccupied with issues of European Union membership, continuing problems over divided Cyprus, and the Kurdish issues that the pending visit of Pope Benedict XVI has not aroused much interest.

Steven A. Cook says relations between the United States and Turkey are strained due to conflicting interests in Iraqi Kurdistan. Washington does not want to upset the relative stability in northern Iraq, whereas Turkey seeks to remove the threat of Kurdish militants in the region.

“The growing schism between the West and the Islamic world is one of the primary challenges confronting American foreign and defense policymakers. As a consequence, the relationship between the United States and Turkey—a Western-oriented, democratizing Muslim country—is strategically more important than ever,” asserts a new Special Report.