The impending elections in Libya are a signal of the country's progress since the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime. But the post-revolution landscape is filled with challenges - of region and ethnicity, violence and authority - that must be addressed if Libyans' future security is to be assured, says Alison Pargeter.

The death of the Libyan official convicted over the Lockerbie bombing in December 1988 will not end the question of responsibility for the atrocity.

The surprise formation of a new governing coalition is bad news for Israeli-Palestinian peace - unless another unlikely scenario takes hold, says Yossi Alpher.

The formation of an official agency charged with helping Washington identify and address threats of atrocity around the world is notable. But the United States's own foreign-policy record raises serious questions over its likely impact, says Martin Shaw.

The shared experience of military repression and failure under Saddam Hussein's Iraq and the al-Assad dynasty in Syria is a challenge to the Arab world's political elites, says Hazem Saghieh.

The Syrian capital at first sight offers little sign of the year-long conflict tearing much of the country apart. But a closer look reveals the fractures that are straining its social fabric, says Bushra Saaed.

The Palestinians’ inability to claim their right has been reinforced by long-term failures of thinking and strategy in which the eclipse of politics by essentialism plays a major part. But the new aspirations sweeping the Arab world create potential for progress, says Hazem Saghieh.