In The News

Trading Civil War for Small-Town Sweden

Charles Hawley May 29, 2007
Almost 4 million Iraqis have left their homes, fleeing sectarian violence in Iraq. Millions of refugees have fled to neighboring countries of Jordan and Syria, but growing numbers look to the stability of the West. Iraqi security, language and computer workers who assisted US troops shortly after the invasion in 2003 quickly became targets for assassination. Asylum policies vary widely...

Was Osama Right?

Bernard Lewis May 22, 2007
Wars of ideology extend over the long term, and the patient believer waits and allows, even encourages, his various enemies to destroy one another. Bernard Lewis, professor emeritus of Princeton, analyzes how the former Soviet Union and the US had contrasting responses to attacks throughout the latter part of the 20th century. In general, the Soviets had less trouble interacting in Muslim nations...

Drop in Students Abroad Threatens Japan's "Edge"

Crystal Wong May 21, 2007
A growing number of Chinese and Korean students attend college in the US, but the number of Japanese students crossing the Pacific has been on the decline for the last decade. While this trend can be attributed to a variety of factors, the most significant is Japan’s traditional labor system: Firms hire graduates straight out of college, offering them in-house training and lifetime employment....

Feminist, Socialist, Muslim: Woman Puts Denmark Into Turmoil

Ian Traynor May 17, 2007
Asmaa Abdol-Hamid, 25, upends many people’s assumptions about a candidate for parliament – and not just because of her age. The young social worker is a devout Muslim who declines to shake hands with men and wears a traditional headscarf, but also supports progressive Danish policies including abortion and gay rights. Her positions – and particularly her insistence on wearing a headscarf, which...

The Islamist Mouseketeers: Hamas Mickey Mouse Teaches Jihad

May 10, 2007
Clips from the Palestinian show “Tomorrow’s Pioneers,” feature a bright-colored set and a human-sized mouse with big black ears. But resemblance to the cartoon character of Mickey Mouse stops there. The voice of this Disney look-alike, Farfur, is shrill – more urgent than happy – as he rattles off vocabulary that goes beyond the understanding of most young children: world leadership, liberation,...

Malaysia Backpedals on Modernity

Sadanand Dhume May 3, 2007
A fundamentalist streak of Islam within Malaysia is coming into conflict with the flourishing civil society that has made the nation a model of peaceful and democratic development in Southeast Asia. Muslims in Malaysia, unlike their Hindu or Christian compatriots, are ultimately subject to strict Islamic law, known as sharia. In fact, the national judiciary cannot override a ruling by a sharia...

The Strange Death of Multiculturalism

Ian Buruma May 1, 2007
European society once was organized according to religion. People headed to neighborhoods, schools, hospitals and even jobs based on religious affiliation and word of mouth from fellow congregants. Muslims began immigrating into European communities after secularization took hold, and secular society became alarmed about a religious pillar rising alone in integrated communities. “In the end, the...