After generations of authoritarian stagnation punctuated by moments of domestic repression and interstate war, in recent years, the Middle East has begun to move. The rise of radical Islamism, the invasion of Iraq and its chaotic aftermath, the uprisings of the Arab Spring and their bloody issue, and now a sustained drop in oil prices and successful negotiations with Iran—together these have opened up what could be an unsettling new era for all involved. What are the contours of this new Middle East?

Source: The Post-American Middle East | Foreign Affairs