Regardless of how events develop in the days that will follow June 30th in Egypt, consideration must be given to the situation that now exists:

June 30th marks Mohamed Morsi's first anniversary as President of Egypt. It is also the date set for nationwide demonstrations protesting Morsi's increasingly authoritarian leadership and the role his Muslim Brotherhood is playing in post-Tahrir Egypt.

Two events this past week pushed me to reflect on my community and the trajectory of our progress in American life.

In Looking at Iran, a report on Iran's precipitous decline in Arab public opinion, our polling establishes several trends in attitudes unfolding across the Middle East.

One can only hope for the success of the recently announced U.S.-Russian plan to convene a conference aimed at finding a resolution to the conflict in Syria. As difficult as it will be for this effort to succeed, and as bitter a pill as it may be for the warring factions to swallow, it may represent the last chance to avert a greater disaster.

Last week an Arab League committee proposed a change in their 2002 peace initiative in which they promised to normalize relations with Israel following a complete Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967 and an agreed upon resolution of the issue of the Palestinian refugees. Modifying this somewhat, what the Arab League committee did last week was reaffirm that the 1967 borders should be the basis for a final peace between Israel and Palestine, while acknowledging the notion that "land swaps" would be an acceptable part of such a deal.

Earlier this week, a U.S. Senate subcommittee held hearings on the use of drones. Most of those who testified were Constitutional law professors or terrorism experts

American public opinion has soured on Egypt, with one-half of all American voters now holding an unfavorable view of that country and its leadership. This was not always the case. 

In "Looking at Iran: Iran's Rise and Fall in Public Opinion", I detail the dramatic shifts that have occurred in Arab and Muslim attitudes toward Iran, its regional policies and its nuclear program.   

The big lies of the Iraq war were not the faulty intelligence about weapons of mass destruction or the fabricated link between Saddam and 9/11. More serious were the infantile fantasies promoted by the Bush Administration and their supporters that the war would be a "cake walk".

A few weeks ago, I assumed that the main emphasis of President Barack Obama's upcoming visit to the Middle East would not be the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Former Senator Chuck Hagel's confirmation as Secretary of Defense was important for several reasons, many of which have been exhaustively examined by media commentators

In a week, John Kerry travels to the Middle East and the Arab Gulf states for his first trip as Secretary of State. A few weeks later, President Barack Obama will make his first trip to Israel as President, followed by his first visits to Palestine and Jordan.

In what can only be described as "chutzpah", David Keyes, the Executive Director of a group calling itself "Advancing Human Rights", penned "Palestine's Democracy Deficit" a column that appeared earlier this week in the New York Times.