Congressmen Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Robert Wexler (D-FL) and Mike Ferguson (R-FL) led a bi-partisan group of House Representatives in a press conference today in response to the announcement of an arms deal being discussed with Saudi Arabia. The Representatives have announced their intention to block the deal by supporting a Joint Resolution of Disapproval “the minute Congress is officially notified.”Rep. Wexler said, "e need to send a crystal clear message ...

The International Crisis Group has just released a new report; "Elections, Democracy and Stability in Pakistan." In the executive summary, they note that, "Moderate political parties, all segments of civil society and the public at large are vociferously demanding restoration of democracy and rule of law and the military's withdrawal from politics. The choice is not whether a transition will come but whether it will be peaceful and orderly, ...

David Schenker, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, released yesterday an analysis entitled, "Jordanian Islamists and Municipal Elections: Confirmation of a Problematic Trend?" in which he discusses the effect of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) on the elections.Today, underscoring the political sensitivity of this exercise in democracy, the IAF announced its withdrawal from the elections, accusing the government of fraud.

With a nod to her debate last week with Ezra Klein over the place of values in US foreign policy, Anne Marie Slaughter writes in an op-ed to the IHT that " sensible strategy of supporting democracy around the world, then, would recognize the long-term and complex nature of the task."

Steven Groves, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, gives a thorough backgrounder on the challenges facing democracy promotion in Iraq, touching on the need for security, civil society resource centers, provincial reconstruction teams, democracy promotion NGOs, and the effects of "middle-class flight." Groves argues that a precipitous withdrawal "would scuttle democracy promotion" efforts in Iraq.Meanwhile, the L.A. Times discusses Iraq's parliament and its failure to move past recurrent deadlock.

In the continuing debate over the nature of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP), Howard Eissenstat argues that concerns that the party is "nothing more than an Islamist wolf in democratic sheep's clothing," are overstated.

News this weekend reported on the Bush Administration's plan to offer a huge arms deal to Saudi Arabia and the Arab gulf states, amounting to $20 billion worth of military equipment, including "advanced satellite-guided bombs, upgrades to its fighters and new naval vessels."The deal comes at a time when concerns over Saudi Arabia's support for Sunni insurgency in Iraq are being raised. Administration officials have said Iraqi security issues ...

This morning the House votes on two pieces of legislation expanding sanctions on Iran:HR 2347: Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2007A bill to authorize state and local governments to direct divestiture from, and prevent investment in, companies with investments of $20,000,000 or more in Iran's energy sector, and for other purposes. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)HR 957: A bill amending the Iran Sanctions Act of ...

As mentioned here yesterday, on Friday the House passed H.R. 1, the "Implementing 9/11 Commission Recommendations Act of 2007," after the Senate passed the bill on Thursday. The final version of the bill includes most provisions of the ADVANCE Democracy Act, a historic piece of legislation that declares it to be U.S. policy "to promote freedom, democracy and human rights as fundamental components of United States foreign policy" and includes ...

According to a blurb by Yaakov Lappin on ynetnews.com, Rudy Giuliani's foreign policy advisor Norman Podhoretz suggested in an interview last week that a potential Giuliani administration would take a different tack in its relations with Saudi Arabia. The website quotes Podhoretz as saying, "I think that Rudy does actually have a different attitude (than Bush) and might very well try to change our policy." Podhoretz goes on to suggest ...

In his Sunday Times (of London) column, Andrew Sullivan ruminates about the strength of the Barack Obama and Ron Paul candidacies, and whether their continuing appeal portends a transformational shift in America's foreign policy--toward a sort of "neo-isolationism". Sullivan writes, "Many Americans look at trying to coax democracy or even stability in the Arab world and conclude that it's a mug's game." As a result, he wonders whether a candidate ...

POMED's Weekly Wire for July 30th has been released, covering the past week's developments related to U.S. foreign policy and prospects for democracy in the Middle East. The Weekly Wire features key legislative news, ongoing policy debates in Washington, as well as updates from the Middle East. Read this week's Weekly Wire here.

Check out POMED's Event Calendar for upcoming events touching on democracy and the Middle EastTue, July 31st10:00 am - Brookings: Moving Forward: Interpreting Turkey's July 22 Election. Dr. Soli Ozel of the Department of Political Science of Istanbul's Bilgi University will speak.10:00 am - House Committee on Foriegn Affairs: Mark up, including several pieces of legislation regarding the Middle East, human rights and democracy.Wed, Aug 1st11:30 am - Atlantic Council ...

Newsweek and the Washington Post's joint forum On Faith features a "Muslims Speak Out" section which includes diverse discussions on the role of Islam in the modern world.

This morning's news brought an incredible story - a story that quite honestly got me a bit choked up on the metro ride into work this morning. Against all odds, the Iraqi national soccer team defeated the Saudi team 1-0 on Saturday to win their first ever championship in the prestigious Asian Cup. A 50-1 longshot going into the tournament, the Dubai-based sportscaster calling the game said, "This is not ...

An editorial in the CS Monitor examines the challenges posed to a democratic reform in Pakistan, and argues that the U.S.'s security interests compel it to promote this process.

Writing in the WSJ, WINEP's Soner Cagaptay questions the liberal nomenclature attributed to Turkey's governing party, the AKP, pointing to growing anti-American sentiments under their leadership. Although business and the economy have blossomed under AKP governance, says Cagaptay, "capitalism alone does not make a country liberal. It also needs a sense of common destiny with the Western world, a sense sorely missing in the AKP's Turkey."

On Friday, Congress passed the conference-approved version of H.R. 1, the "Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007," which includes provisions of the ADVANCE Democracy Act of 2007 co-authored by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) in the House and Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the Senate. The legislation was passed by the Senate Thursday night. The legislation affirms that ...

In a column published in the Chicago Tribune on July 26, Steve Chapman professes surprise at the hesitance to intervene militarily in Darfur expressed by Hillary Clinton in the latest Democratic debate. Chapman sees this statement as an aberration that contravenes most of Clinton's past statements, which seem to be broadly supportive of U.S. military intervention in support of liberal ideas like democracy promotion. Elsewhere, Steve Clemons agrees with Barack ...

In the Weekly Standard Louis Wittig takes a critical look at Iran's newly launched government funded English news channel, Press TV. Wittig challenges Press TV's claim to good journalism by claiming "that their bias is merely a corrective for the other networks' bias."