Contributor(s): Hussain Abdul Hussain | From military intervention in Iraq, to supporting an uprising in Lebanon, forcing elections in the Palestinian Territories and imposing international isolation on Syria, the world has tried several scenarios to spread democracy in Middle Eastern countries. In light of the Lebanese elections on June 7, Hussain Abdul-Hussain will explore the status of democracy in the Middle East as well as look at broader impact of these elections on the regional balance of power between Iran and the US. Hussain Abdul Hussain is a visiting fellow at Chatham House, and author of the forthcoming paper Confrontation through the Ballot Box: Middle East Elections and the US-Iranian Relationship. An Iraqi-born journalist, Hussain is the former managing editor of Beirut's Daily Star and an expert on the Levant region of the Middle East.