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.

Reza Aslan says, "It has always been extremely easy to inject God into political conflicts... But if we are to find an equitable end to such intractable conflicts as the one between Israel and Palestine, we must learn to actively strip them of their religious connotations. Otherwise, we will never stop fighting them."

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.

The quest by Palestinian officials for statehood recognition could have major repercussions for the Mideast peace process. This Backgrounder outlines the potential impact of the UN vote.

Middle East expert Robert Malley discusses how the United States is crafting policy for a Middle East it may no longer be accustomed to.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave these remarks to the UN General Assembly on November 29, 2012 following the UNGA's vote to grant Palestine observer status.

After decades of fueling hunger for oil in the United States, Europe, and China, Blake Clayton says that the Middle East itself has developed a voracious appetite for energy.

UN Ambassador Susan Rice gave this statement explaining the United States' vote on Palestine's non-member observer state status, on November 29, 2012.

UN General Assembly draft resolution A/67/L.28, according Palestine non-member observer state status in the United Nations, passed by a vote of 138 to 9 on November 29, 2012.

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.

Thanks to the rift between Turkey and Israel, Ankara's days as a power broker in the Arab-Israeli conflict are over, says Steven A. Cook.

Israel must accept that negotiating with Hamas is the only way forward, says Ed Husain.

Elliott Abrams says, "The next three to six months in the Middle East will make Obama administration officials look back to 2012 with nostalgia as a quiet time when they were able to focus on the campaign. The coming year will be much tougher—starting now."

Throughout the Middle East, Micah Zenko finds blistering criticisms of U.S. foreign policy alongside serious misunderstandings about the limits of American power.

The Gaza conflict has been brewing for a while, and although Egypt and others are working to deescalate it, there are no guarantees, says CFR's Steven Cook.

Steven A. Cook says Gaza's radiating instability proves once again that Palestine is at the center of the region's problems.

Leslie H. Gelb says all parties involved share some responsibility for the crisis in Gaza. But Hamas is by far the biggest villain.

The IAEA Board released the Director General's quarterly report on progress of the NPT Safeguards Agreement with Iran, on November 16, 2012. The report provides an update on the nuclear situation in Iran since the last report of August 2012.

Steven A. Cook says leadership in the Middle East is up for grabs as the Syrian war intensifies, the Arab Spring changes regional power dynamics, and Israel's airstrikes and Hamas rockets again roil Gaza. Last year, Turkey was the assumed role model for the region. But it has fallen down on the job.