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.

An array of internal challenges looms over Iraq’s future as the country votes in its first general election since the 2011 U.S. withdrawal, explains expert Ned Parker.