In The News

The Opportunity of the Cartoon Crisis

Kishore Mahbubani February 9, 2006
In keeping with the Chinese definition of “crisis,” the uproar over recent Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed offers opportunities that both Europeans and Muslims would do well to recognize. European and Muslim worlds have become inextricably linked, and Europeans should understand Muslim anger over the cartoons. The author argues that the outrage has come against the backdrop of a growing...

From Cartoon War to Trade War

February 9, 2006
Europe views a recent decision by Tehran to boycott Danish products as a blatant financial attack against the EU itself. Ostensibly a response to the Danish cartoons of Mohammed, the Iranian move puts Europe on the defensive about Iran’s nuclear program. Financial Times Deutschland counsels that the EU must remain calm and not antagonize Iran. The center-left paper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, has...

At Mecca Meeting, Cartoon Outrage Crystallized

Hassan M. Fattah February 9, 2006
Recent violence in response to the infamous cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammed may have not been as spontaneous as initially thought. At a December meeting in Mecca of Muslim leaders, Saudi, Iranian, Syrian and Lebanese officials thumbed through a dossier of the Danish cartoons. Ahmed Akkari, a Danish immigrant leader, brought the folder to the Middle East after appeals for redress to the...

The Mural Maze

Robert Tait February 8, 2006
For decades, large-scale public art in Tehran has praised the acts of suicide bombers and urged boycotts of Israeli products. But traditional painted murals took time to produce. So the government relies on new high-tech murals, such as those adorning the World Without Zionism conference where President Ahmadinejad made his first call for wiping out the Jewish state. Ironically, experts have...

Bonfire of the Pieties

Amir Taheri February 8, 2006
Many commentators have framed the recent furor over Danish newspaper cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a harbinger of a clash of civilizations, a sign that Islam and Western secular and religious traditions are incompatible. But, as author Amir Taheri writes, the violent protests over the cartoons do not reflect true Islamic theology or practice. The rioting is largely the result of...

Iran the Great Unifier? The Arab World Is Wary

Michael Slackman February 7, 2006
With a confrontational foreign policy, the world’s only Shiite Islamic government is striving to fill a power void in the Middle East resulting from the fall of Arab nationalism and the absence of any dominant nation. Yet other leaders in the region are wary. Drawing popular support for its hardline stance towards the US and Israel, Iran maintains connections to militant groups such as Hezbollah...

Cartoon Jihad

Sadanand Dhume February 7, 2006
The forces of globalization are responsible not only for spread of capitalism, but the growing influence of radical Islam. Enraged Muslim protesters rely on the tools produced by modern capitalism: mobile text messaging, the internet, satellite television, and desktop publishing. Such technology is contributing to a united community of believers, or “ummah,” a long-held Islamic goal. Analyzing...