From Soner Cagaptay, the Bangkok Post:  As Egyptians and Tunisians vote to replace ousted despots and the Syrian government teeters on the brink, two old imperial powers are competing to exert their political influence over Arab countries in upheaval.

From Philip Stephens, the Financial Times:  What is true is that, as Washington’s will is increasingly contested, the US-led international system established after 1945 is cracking.

From the Department of Defense:  The United States has played a leading role in transforming the international system over the past sixty-five years.  Working with like-minded nations, the United States has created a safer, more stable, and more prosperous world for the American people, our allies, and our partners around the globe than existed prior to World War II.

From Barack Obama, the White House:  As I made clear in Australia, we will be strengthening our presence in the Asia Pacific, and budget reductions will not come at the expense of that critical region.  We’re going to continue investing in our critical partnerships and alliances, including NATO, which has demonstrated time and again -- most recently in Libya -- that it’s a force multiplier.  We will stay vigilant, especially in the Middle East.

On November 8 and 9, the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and the Transatlantic Relations Program hosted a workshop to identify and examine the key components of an effective and cohesive US and European approach to the transitions taking place in the Arab World.

Iran's nuclear ambitions predate the clerical dictatorship that overthrew the monarchy in 1979. The late last monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, reached the same conclusion when Britain, in 1968, suddenly relinquished all of its geopolitical responsibilities east of Suez -- from Singapore to the Suez Canal, including the Persian Gulf and the oil that then fueled most of the Western world.

American leaders have traditionally explained the foundations of the U.S.-Israel relationship by citing shared democratic values and the moral responsibility America bears to protect the small nation-state of the Jewish people. Although accurate and essential, this characterization is incomplete because it fails to capture a third, crucial aspect: the many ways in which Israel advances U.S.

On October 28th, Michele Dunne, Director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, was interviewed by the Council on Foreign Relations to discuss the ongoing transitions in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya.