From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Whatever happened to the Arab Spring?

Hello again, I'm Armin Al-Ni, and this is To the Poet from Public Radio International.

The daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Syria's president al-Assad is destroying cities and killing his own people, but refugees who

fled to other countries are voting to re-elect him. Is tyrannical order the only alternative

to chaos and the spread of terror? Egypt's former General L. Sisi overthrew an elected government,

outlawed political opposition,

and staged his presidential election.

Is another military dictatorship preferable to the Muslim Brotherhood?

With the collapse of the so-called freedom agenda, we'll look at the options for U.S. influence in the Middle East.

Today's talking point mixed reactions to the recovery of an American POW.

First, here's the news.

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Program Fund. Hello again, Warren. I'll be back with To The Point. Just three years ago, it appeared that dictatorships in the Middle East might become relics of the political past replaced by democracy. Now, strong men in Syria, Egypt, and elsewhere have found ways to use the electoral process to maintain power and or attain it. We'll look at America's options.

Today's talking point, did Army Sergeant Bo Bergdahl desert or go AWOL five years ago in Afghanistan

was release of five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo Bay the right price for getting him back

versus news update. President Obama today

asked Democrats to please go on offense in support of the Environmental Protection Agency.

...