U.S. calls for Syria's Assad to step down can only be realized if combined with stronger measures to forge a diplomatic coalition and drive a wedge between Assad and his supporters, says CFR's Robert Danin.

The trial of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has sparked a debate in Egypt about retributive justice versus the rule of law, which will be among the many issues to play out in the fall's parliamentary elections, says CFR's Steven A. Cook.

Joshua Kurlantzick says the election victory by the party of Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, puts Thailand's already wobbly democracy at greater risk.

Joel D. Hirst says the Kingdom of Morocco has emerged from the Arab Spring as a model of Arab governance.

In a post at the New Statesman, Matthew Partridge asserts that income inequality and institutional elite favoritism played a central role in inciting the protests of the Arab Spring.

With Israel facing a regional democratization movement, a unity pact between Hamas and Fatah, and a possible UN vote on Palestinian statehood in the fall, Prime Minister Netanyahu should offer a swap of territory in return for Palestinian acceptance of a Jewish state, says Israel expert David Makovsky.

Maciej Bartkowski and Annyssa Bellal write that the international community needs a more comprehensive set of guidelines to keep governments accountable for violence conducted against demonstrating citizens.

Human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi discusses the impact of the Arab Spring on the democratic movement in Iran with Isobel Coleman, Director of the Council on Foreign Relations' Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative.

As some NATO countries move to send advisers to help Libyan rebels, debate remains unsettled on whether charting a path to greater military involvement or a negotiated political solution is the right approach.

CFR's Adjunct Senior Fellow For Middle Eastern Studies, Mohamad Bazzi discusses the current crisis in Syria and its possible consequences.

Listen to CFR Expert Mohamad Bazzi and Consulting Editor Bernard Gwertzman discuss violent anti-government protests and rising tensions in Syria.

CFR senior fellows Jendayi Frazer and John Campbell discuss the implications regarding the recent capture of former Ivorian President Gbagbo.

Alyse Nelson, Co-Founder and CEO of Vital Voices, discusses the organization's work to empower women around the world with Isobel Coleman, Director of CFR's Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative.

Concern about Arab world pro-democracy movements has caused Iran's government to get tougher with opponents and is affecting political jockeying for parliamentary elections in 2012 and the presidential election in 2013, says Iran expert Farideh Farhi.

The story of a young woman's entrepreneurial success during the Taliban reign in Afghanistan is an argument for international investment in women, says CFR's Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

The uprisings of Yemen may not be able to have the same outcome of those in Egypt and Tunisia.

In this op-ed, Doyle McManus ponders whether the U.S. intervention in Libya, or rather the administration's plans for democracy in the region, are beginning to represent an "Obama Doctrine".

The Century Foundation recently released a report from an international task force sent to Afghanistan, in the hopes that it might help to identify possible ways in which to end the war in Afghanistan.

Opposition movements in Bahrain and Yemen are hobbled by societal and sectarian divisions that were finessed in Tunisia and Egypt, says Middle East expert Kristin Smith Diwan.

Senior Vice President of CFR, James M. Lindsay, responds to comments to his post on CNN's GPS Blog. Here's the blog post - http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/09/7-ugly-options-for-the-u-s...