There is nothing new about Lebanon’s “new prime minister.” A billionaire, of a certain age, Najib Mikati has, in fact, been in the job twice before. His plan to approach “Arab brothers to hold Lebanon’s hand and stop the freefall” is also, sadly, not new.

As a founding member of the Arab League and bastion of Arab nationalism, Iraq has traditionally held great sway in regional politics. Its over-involvement in regional affairs under Saddam Hussein, however, has been replaced by its near disappearance since 2003.

Iran’s Guardian Council disqualified all but seven of last month’s 592 presidential hopefuls — including the country’s longest-serving parliamentary speaker, a vice president and a former president — in the most extreme interference by a supreme leader in the electoral process.