Sponsored by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, the US Mission to Germany, and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the Atlantic-community.org’s "Your Ideas, Your NATO" policy workshop competition challenged students and young professionals to make recommendations on how NATO should support the long-term transition process prompted by the Arab Spring. 

In Jordan, Iraqi refugees are commonly referred to as ‘brothers’ yet at the same time also suffer a variety of social stigmas. But do Ali and his family have a better chance, having worked for the coalition forces?

While international attention on Iran focuses on the country's nuclear programme and anti-western rhetoric, few have noticed the country's constructive attempts to develop a sphere of influence in its fellow Persian-speaking Tajikistan. But as western states ramp up sanctions against Iran, will the overlooked Tajikistan be the one to lose out? asks Brenton Clark

For Israel, the opportunity to do business with Syria and break its alliance with Iran is more valuable than the Assads’ so-called contribution to the Golan Heights status quo. 

The toxins of the Israel-Palestine conflict continue to spill into a region that with difficulty and with setbacks is striving to embark on a new future. 

An accurate reading of the Syrian crisis must take into account the political interests and motives of leading regional actors, says Rein Müllerson.

The Arab spring has cast Turkey back into the western fold and away from alternative alliance patterns which seemed to be in the pipeline only a few years ago. Turkey won't act in Syria without its western partners. Meanwhile it is the very incompleteness of the Turkish model which is of such interest to its neighbours.

Qatar plays a key role in the Middle East, mostly because of its successful foreign policy, which has the characteristics of a balancing act. With so many different allies with contradictory interests, how has Qatar managed to obtain this central position and how long can they hold on to it

The movement was in disarray until the historical revolution offered it a second life - a revolution that they did not plan and certainly did not start.

A military build-up, harsh rhetoric, third-country attacks - and the political calendar - make war against Iran a real possibility. It is all the more vital that those attempting to avert it should succeed.

The uprisings across the Arab world are becoming more complex and variable as they enter their second year. This makes it all the more important to identify their main dynamics, says Volker Perthes.

The diplomatic and political elites of Iran and Turkey give the impression that they are keen to adopt some form of leading role in the transformation processes of the Arab Spring. But how will their messages be received in the region?

With increasing geopolitical instability in oil producing states and the barriers that stand in the way of reaching a multilateral policy, the threat of sanctions in Iran only serves to intensify uncertainty surrounding oil price forecasts for 2012

The real Iranian threat is not its nuclear capacity but its independence. If Iran continues to stand as a model of defiance for increasingly poverty-stricken and restless populations of family fiefdoms in the Gulf, the current US-backed setups will either fall or be forced to democratise. These potentially catastrophic losses of empire go a long way to explaining the rising beat of war drums in the region.

Iranian military action in the Strait of Hormuz is highly unlikely. It would not at all benefit most global and regional powers and would have disastrous consequences for Iran itself.

There are good reasons not only for the media, but for western governments to begin taking an active interest in the ongoing street conflict in Eastern Province

The Arab uprisings of 2011 are provoking the European Union into a rethink of its approach to encouraging democracy in its neighbourhood. A European Endowment for Democracy with a new kind of mandate could be at the centre, says Jacqueline Hale

The Arab uprisings expose the self-delusion of the powerful - from the region itself to Turkey, Germany and the rest of Europe. This is a moment to register and build on, says Kerem Oktem.

If the Gulf Cooperation Council wanted to support democracy and stability, they would have invested in Tunisia and Egypt. Instead, they are investing in regimes that mimic their own Umayyad model of governance.

Iran captured a CIA Sentinel drone - now the Republicans want Obama to "go get it"