Two attacks on American diplomatic buildings in Cairo and Benghazi, Libya, illustrate the ugly bigotry of two sets of religious fundamentalists in different ends of the world.

President Obama issued this statement regarding the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Isobel Coleman argues that the rise of Islamist groups in North Africa may threaten women's rights, but women's participation in the economy and in political movements has set them down a path that will be difficult to reverse.

Commodities traders are looking to countries beset with internal unrest to make high-risk bets for high rewards.

This weekend's successful nationwide elections are a major first step in a long process of building new political and civic institutions, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

The West may no longer be the main target for terrorist organizations; turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa has given rise to an increased number of more locally-focused attacks in the last year.

Victoria Taylor leads a conversation on Tunisia's attempts to reconcile a role for religion in what had been, until last year's pivotal revolution, a staunchly secular society.

Muammar Qaddafi's was overthrown more than eight months ago, but now violence in the south of the country is even worse than it was during the struggle to oust him, writes Nicolas Pelham. Although last October Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the National Transitional Council chariman, declared an end to the civil war, Libyans are still being killed and injured every day, and tens of thousands are being displaced in ethnic feuding.

Steven A. Cook says that regardless of whether the June 17 decree by Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was in fact a military coup, precedent in Turkey in Algeria shows that officers' interests are safeguarded, and society as a whole will pay.

In this policy review by the Hoover Institution, Nicholas Eberstadt and Apoorva Shah discuss the current demographic changes taking place in the global Muslim population.

Jose W. Fernandez, assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, speaks about the State Department's work in North Africa, with a focus on fostering entrepreneurship, building public-private partnerships, and stamping out corruption.

Ahead of Egypt's first presidential election since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, Steven A. Cook and Michele Dunne assess the country's current political landscape and U.S. policy options moving forward.

Ahead of Egypt's first presidential election since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, Steven A. Cook and Michele Dunne assess the country's current political landscape and U.S. policy options moving forward.

Victoria Taylor discusses Tunisians' attempts to reconcile the role of religion in what had been a staunchly secular society.

In a post-conflict analysis of the air strike campaign in Libya, NATO finds numerous flaws in its system impairing its efficiency, including over-reliance on the United States, faulty coordination, and numerous civilian casualties, reports the New York Times.

This January 2012 UN report from a special Secretary-General appointed mission to the Sahel region assesses the "scope of the threat of the Libyan crisis in the region and the national, regional and wider international capacities to respond to those challenges".

Robert M. Danin and Eugene Rogan with Gideon Rose assess the American interventions in countries like Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt. They say the American response was a 'reactive' one while Europe remained 'confused.'

Isobel Coleman, Ed Husain, and Michael Willis discuss the relationship between Islam and politics following the Arab uprisings, including how Islam affects women's and minority rights, democracy, and secularism.

This session was part of a CFR symposium, Implications of the Arab Uprisings, which was made possible by the generous support of Rita E. Hauser, and organized in cooperation with University of Oxford's St. Antony's College.

Elliott Abrams says the United States should be leading efforts to protect freedom of the press in Tunisia.