The recent rise in Islamist violence in Bangladesh is caught up in a polarizing political debate over the country’s identity.

Amid political paralysis in Baghdad, the populist Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is pressuring lawmakers to approve Prime Minister Abadi’s proposed reforms, says expert Mohamad Bazzi. 

Libya’s UN-brokered unity agreement is fragile at best and could fracture in the event of a stepped-up Western intervention against Islamic State forces, says expert Mary Fitzgerald.

The battle for Kunduz highlights the military and political challenges facing Afghanistan and the narrowly defined U.S. mission there, says CFR’s Stephen Biddle.