Congo’s elections on December 20 are unlikely to deliver meaningful change to address massive insecurity in the east, corruption scandals, and persistent poverty.

U.S. Special Envoy Andrew Natsios says there is a risk of new large-scale bloodletting in Darfur unless peace talks intensify and peacekeepers are deployed.

Some U.S. analysts recommend a national ID database with biometric cards to identify insurgents in Iraq, but the proposal faces resistance from the U.S. military.

Syria’s Assad dynasty appears to be on a long path to collapse, posing new challenges to the Obama administration’s efforts to break the axis of Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, says expert Andrew Tabler.