Former member of parliament Rola Dashti was appointed state minister for planning and development and state minister for National Assembly affairs in Kuwait.

During a lockdown, if you try to walk across the street to buy bread, your compound guards will not only deny you exit, they’ll reprimand you for being outside at all. It's all part of living in Kabul, former Wilson Center research assistant Matt Trevithick writes.

Pro-democracy rebellions have erupted across the Middle East since December 2010. The Wilson Center's Middle East Program continues to hold meetings to explore effects in different countries and among different groups, including women. Events included a June event in which three female panelists participated in the Wilson Center session from Egypt, via Skype.

Of all the states that rose against tyranny, Egypt and Tunisia have traveled the furthest on the road to democratic transformation. However, concerns about the Islamists’ fidelity to democracy continue to mount. This is particularly so in Egypt where the president seems susceptible to authoritarian proclivities and the Islamist elite show little inclination to compromise. In Tunisia, the prospects for democracy are relatively better as Ennahda, partners in the governing coalition, have little choice but to be flexible. It is rather ironic that democratic transformation is left in the hands of those professing fidelity to principles whose compatibility with democracy is contested.