Although Arab leaders often cite Turkey as a beacon of hope, they rarely acknowledge that the country's recent transformation from the "sick man of Europe" to one of the world's fastest-growing emerging markets would not have been possible had it not pursued regional synergies.

As intractable as many of the region's problems are, Arab youth are proud of what they have achieved and excited by their untapped potential. An impressive 87% say they are more proud to be an Arab today, and this heightened self-esteem is notable in each of the 15 countries we surveyed.

In 2004, nearly nine years ago, at the beginning of the school year, an incident took place of such murderous hatred that its happening serves as the defining dimension of the nature of the separatist insurgency and violence that have shaken Chechnya.

Even before the wild overnight developments in the Boston bombings -- Russians, Chechens, the Caucuses (sic), Kyrgy-what? -- it was clear that we are culturally unprepared for the complexity of the Boston bombings.

"In Hollywood, all you see are women in the Middle East with a veil and covering their faces and living in tents. I laugh because that's not how we live, that was maybe 100 years ago," says Alasousi.

Egyptian Women's Rights vs. Rape and Violence Against Women Egypt's withdrawal of police from the streets has resulted in an explosion of sexual assa...

Obama's visit to the West Bank took him into the center of the Palestinian tragedy where outrage over Israel's military occupation and civilian settlements has been punctuated by bursts of terrorist violence, quiet oppression, and demoralizing acquiescence.

Policy discussions here in the U.S. about Iran and its nuclear program most often focus exclusively on Israeli concerns. Ignored are Arab and Muslim attitudes. It is known that several Arab governments have problems with the Islamic Republic in Tehran, but what of their publics?

Short-term volatility and instability is inevitable as the regional push for change continues. The international community would be well advised to seriously help post-revolt nations manage transition and steer pre-revolt countries towards managed reform.

In a democratic society based on constitutionally guaranteed rights, the role of law enforcement ought to be to help secure these rights for all citizens. This, for decades, has not been the case for Arab Americans.

One often hears the refrain: How come the Arabs, or Arab Americans, have so little influence in America? A fair point, but what influence do the Arabs want or need to have? The Arabs used to have a cause in the past which is Palestine. People still talk about it incessantly.

The most recent protests are unlikely to amount to Western-style liberalism. They do however constitute a watershed in which people for the first time draw lines in which anger pent-up in societies not only spills into the streets but is also being channeled into engagement.

The crisis created by the film The Innocence of Muslims that many feared might spin out of control seems to be subsiding across the Arab World. The appeal by extremists to escalate the situation appears to have given way to more stable and thoughtful leadership.

If 2011 was about celebrating revolution, 2012 is about recognizing the risks that emerge from political vacuums. The most important thing for the U.S. to do now is to redouble our efforts to help build stable democratic institutions.