Five months of primaries and the Middle East has not yet had a walk on part in the US elections. Not that that should come as a surprise, writes Ayman El-Amir

US think tanks may have coined the term "failed state". They refuse, though, to apply it to Israel, the one state that meets all their criteria for failure, argues Gamil Mattar

While Putin's legacy sets the framework for his tenure, President Medvedev appears more pragmatic than his predecessor, writes El-Sayyed Amin Shalabi

There are no surprises in Lebanon, just an obvious case for change, writes Galal Nassar

Touring the region, Bush has no one to blame but himself for the sorry state of Middle East affairs, writes James Zogby