Steven Cook inspects the role of Islam in Egyptian, Turkish, and Tunisian society and culture.

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.

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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.

Ed Husain writes that the ongoing Arab revolutions were inspired by "other, more direct developments," not the war in Iraq.

Secretary John Kerry and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr gave these remarks on March 2, 2013. During this visit, Secretary Kerry also met with President Morsi, Egyptian business leaders, and nongovernmental representatives, and announced the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund and more U.S. foreign aid.

The Egyptian uprising presents a rare opportunity for the United States to resolve the tension between its strategic priorities in the Middle East and its desire to support democratic change in the region. Washington's past approach to aiding Egypt was based on relations with authoritarian leaders who could be counted on to advance the United States' interests. With the fall of Hosni Mubarak and Egyptian efforts to build a more open political system, a policy based on "authoritarian stability" is no longer possible, and the United States is now forced to alter the way it appropriates and distributes bilateral assistance.

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Ed Husain hosts Bernard Haykel in a discussion of the convergences and divergences in Gulf governments' policies toward the Arab Spring, both domestically and regionally.

Its economy is in terrible condition and state authority is apparently breaking down. It's time to contemplate an intervention by Egypt's military, says CFR's Steven Cook.

Absent a muscular effort by political leaders to contain the crisis, Egypt could be heading into a new season of political violence.

Meghan L. O'Sullivan says, "No single proposal is going to smooth over the acute political division in Egypt. Yet a deal over a constitutional review holds the prospect of at least breaking the impasse."

The Muslim Brotherhood has seen a rapid and fractious ascension to power in Egypt, but questions remain about whether it can maintain a post-revolutionary commitment to democracy.

Egypt today is a different country from the one encountered by previous U.S. administrations, and as a result, the Obama administration's foreign policy strategy approach has to change.

Steven A. Cook says, "This is a critical moment in Egypt's transition; Morsi and his colleagues would do well to recognize that, rescind the decrees, and commit themselves to the democratic process. At this point, it is the only way for the Brothers to burnish their revolutionary credentials."

The State Department released this statement following Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's decrees of November 22, 2012 that grant him broad powers.

Obama acquitted himself well under terrible circumstances, but he must get to the bottom of the last week's five unresolved puzzles, from Libyan warnings to complicit guards, writes Leslie H. Gelb.

In the wake of the deadly attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in Egypt and Libya, Bobby Ghosh writes that the newly-formed democratic governments which replaced long-standing dictatorships, as a result of the Arab Spring, has contributed to greater instability and a more chaotic and unstable Middle East.

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

Violence against U.S. diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt highlights the difficult road ahead for U.S. relations with these struggling states, says CFR's Robert Danin.

Isobel Coleman and Ed Husain discuss the details surrounding the recent attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt and how these attacks could alter U.S. diplomacy and future assistance.

Elliott Abrams says the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya and attack on U.S. mission in Cairo raise troubling questions about leadership of these two countries.