PolicyMic

Iran's women's rights record is already dismal, and now conservative member of Iran's parliament Ali Motahari is accusing the government of not going far enough to oppress them.

In honor of Sacha Baron-Cohen's 'The Dictator,' consider this: Saddam Hussein was a poet, Ben Ali loved ice cream, and Gaddafi was a fashionista.

François Hollande's flight to Berlin suffered a direct hit from a celestial high-voltage bolt. Is it a sign of bad things to come for France?

You've heard his a socialist, but what else? Here are 5 things you probably didn't know about France's new president.

The French people have spoken and chosen: Sarkozy Exits and François Hollande is the new president of France.

On Sunday, Nicolas Sarkozy's fate will be decided, as France goes to the polls to vote on its next president. Follow along live.

Fireworks were on full display during last night's French election debate. Frequently, this resembled marriage counseling, not a political debate.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande face off Wednesday in the only debate of the 2012 presidential election. Follow along live.

If French political debates are like five-course meals, filled with delicious hors-d'oeuvre like foie-gras, American debates are like a cheap NY hot-dog stand.

Sarkozy will sneer. Holllande will make jokes. 'The Economy' will be the elephant in the room. Let the sparks fly during Wednesday's French presidential debate.

Dominic Strauss-Kahn has gone on the offensive in France, claiming in a newspaper interview that Sarkozy is responsible for his fall from grace.

The mad scrambling for the Far Right's votes has begun in the French presidential election.

It's looking bad for Nicolas Sarkozy. No incumbent president in a French election has ever come second in this first round of voting.

One could almost say “Les jeux sont faits.” The French electorate is now within sight of the electoral volcano of Mordor-France, into whose fiery abyss it may toss Sarkozy.

They say there are yachts, and then super yachts. Wrong. There are yachts, super yachts, and Middle-East super yachts.

The soundtrack of France's leading presidential contender, Jay-Z and Kanye West's 'N*ggas in Paris," is causing quite a stir in France.

Newt Gingrich is on the verge of leaving the Republican race for the presidential nomination, but France's Gingrich has only just got started.

A knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian uprising would be for all Western chains to withdraw from the country. This would be the wrong course of action, as it would hurt Syrians and not the regime.

Rick Santorum has chosen the Jelly Belly factory for the site of his latest foreign policy speech, which is particularly fitting because he lacks any credentials on foreign affairs.

As France deals with the fallout from the Jewish school shooting, it must be emphasized that French society is not broken, but that the election's divisive war of words need to dialed back.

An Al-Jazeera documentary filmed by a Syrian protester entirely on the iPhone shows that one year on, the Syrian revolution is still going strong.

Bashar al-Assad's private e-mails show the private individual behind the very public face; but produce no smoking gun nor any real incriminating evidence of war crimes.

If Europe were a U.S. state, it would be a slam dunk for President Barack Obama.

Whilst Strauss-Kahn may be no saint, he is certainly the best non-candidate in these French elections, and as such is greatly missed.

Iran's rhetoric is designed for public consumption, but should not be taken as a sign that we're on the verge of war.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's re-election bid is increasingly being marred by his overt appeal to the far right in order to gain much needed gain votes.

Two journalists have died in Homs, another two are injured. Without people like them the world would be blind to the atrocities perpetrated by the Assad regime.

Facing a steep battle for re-election, Sarkozy must compromise with the far-right as a means of gaining a second term in the Elysee Palace.

Could choosing a Republican president in 2012 lead to U.S. foreign policy disaster?

A military strike on Iran is nonsensical. The mission cannot be a guaranteed success, it is playing with fire in terms of the global economy, and it risks backlash against the U.S.

Young Europeans talk about their views of America in the Obama-era and whether Europe still respects the United States.

A French law which will criminalize denial of the Armenian Genocide is a danger to freedom of speech.

Gingrich's recent comments about the Palestinian people show a shallow understanding of history.

2011 has been a tumultuous time for the region, and not just because of the Arab Spring.

After the closure of the British Embassy in Tehran, it looks like it will be a cold diplomatic winter for Anglo-Iranian relations.

With French elections upcoming in 2012, now is the time for Americans to dust off their apathy and delve into French electoral politics, as it may prove highly relevant.

A Bahrain-inspired series of demonstrations in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia is the worst nightmare for the Kingdom's rulers.

The French government has decided to honour Marcel Bigeard, a former French general, whose war record includes torture in Algeria.

Sanctions will hit the Iranian youth harder than they will the regime.

Uruguay has repealed the amnesty law protecting those who committed atrocities during the 1973-1985 military dictatorship. Algeria, haunted by its civil war, should take note.

Gaddafi's death marks the decline of the age of Arab dictators.

Qatar has become a key player in a region dominated by the Arab Spring through its patronage and great wealth, making it indispensable to Western nations.

U.S. influence in Africa is ebbing due to commitments in the Middle-East and Central Asia, and France has moved in.

Chinese influence has grown exponentially in Africa in the last decade, and China's methods and morals have made it a new colonial power on the continent.

Once a model for the region, Tunisia has made little progress since the Arab Spring and still suffers from the economic woes which caused the revolution.

Muammar Gadaffi should be put on trial in Libya so the country can begin its transition to democracy

Algeria has been mostly silent during the Arab Spring, seeking to avoid the insecurity of change.

The U.S. should realize that nuclear tests are now reserved for "rogue" states, and should therefore ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The U.S. will have far more impact in Libya if it assumes a behind-the-scenes role in the state-building process.

Putting the former presidents of Egypt and Ivory Coast on trial relieves popular anger but is largely irrelevant to the long-term future of both countries.

Having a well known actor run for the White House is not the answer to the current crises shaking U.S. politics.

The ruling French party has used the burqa-niqab ban as a political means to attract voters from the far right.

In the era of the Arab Spring, the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb group has become an irrelevant non-entity in the region and is a herald of the future demise of Al-Qaeda itself.