Former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, just pardoned after ten years in prison, is unlikely to challenge Putin at the ballot box, but don’t rule out a role for him in Russia’s political opposition, …

Afghanistan expert Thomas H. Johnson says Western efforts to force a runoff election will not produce a legitimate leader in the eyes of Afghan voters, and could further destabilize the country.

Steven A. Cook, director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ new independent Task Force report, In Support of Arab Democracy: Why and How? says that, despite widespread criticism of the United Stat…