Amb. Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Nations, discusses democracy promotion in the Middle East following the Arab Spring with Mark Lagon, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Human Rights at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Isobel Coleman says "virginity tests" performed on women protesters in Egypt are a new twist in the longstanding mistreatment of Egyptian women by military and civilian men.

In a piece for the Weekly Standard, Ellen Bork writes that Washington needs to revive its relations with Cairo in order to reignite the transition from dictatorship to democracy that has stalled in Egypt since Mubarak ceded power more than three months ago.

Steven A. Cook argues that Egypt's leaders must ensure the prosecution of Hosni Mubarak does not distract from the need to address the country's bigger problem: its increasingly dire economic condition.

Regional analyst Issandr El Amrani discusses the reasons for electoral dithering in post-revolutionary Egypt and Tunisia.

Isobel Coleman, Director of the Council on Foreign Relations' Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative, discusses new initiatives announced by President Obama in support of the democratic transitions in Egypt and Tunisia, including trade, investment, debt forgiveness, and loan guarantees.

Steven A. Cook discusses the implications of President Obama's upcoming speech on the Middle East.

CFR Senior Fellow Steven Cook and Foundation for Defense Democracies Research Fellow Tony Badran discuss the increasing violence and political change sweeping the region with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose. Cook and Badran have authored articles in the recently released eBook New Arab Revolt, published by CFR and Foreign Affairs.

In this article in the National Interest, Walter Laqueur writes that despite the ideal revolution, this generation will not witness the fairy-tale ending owed to the Egyptian people.

This session was part of the Democracy, Civil Society, and Countering Radicalism Roundtable, organized by CFR's Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative.

Mubarak's ouster was the natural outgrowth of his regime's corruption and economic exclusion, the alienation of Egypt's youth, and divisions among the country's elites.

Despite Egypt being the model of "durable authoritarianism” Husni Mubarak's regime fell in a matter of weeks. Mona El-Ghobashy believes that the country may transform itself into a model of revolution.

Ed Husain says the United States cannot ignore the Muslim Brotherhood as part of Egypt's future.

Uncertainty pervades Cairo as the country weighs its post-Mubarak democratic options. Washington should stand ready to assist an Egyptian-led transformation, writes CFR's Robert Danin.

Ray Takeyh says events happening outside of Libya are the more critical regional developments in the Arab world.

For over a half-century the Egyptian government has sold cut-rate wheat flour to bakeries for the production of bread. Many Egyptians rely on this subsidy, but in the face of a looming global food crisis, the program may cost billions of dollars for the new Cairo leadership.

Isobel Coleman states, "While Egyptians have every right to take pride in the 'people protests' that brought down the government of Hosni Mubarak, such revolutionary euphoria is premature."

Steven A. Cook argues that Egypt's youth groups must unite and participate in building a new Egypt, in order not to waste their efforts over the past two months.

Egypt's constitutional referendum passed in the country's fairest polls in decades, but concern persists over the ability of non-democratic forces to gain the advantage in the next parliamentary and presidential elections, says CFR's Steven Cook.