In The News

Toward a Virtual Caliphate

Peter Mandaville October 27, 2005
What does globalization mean for the politics of authority in the Islamic world? Talk of transnational Islamic movements challenging the status quo of Muslim nation-states often brings to mind the destructive extremism of al-Qaida. Peter Mandaville, however, reports that transnational networks of religious scholars – led by figures such as Qatar-based Yusuf al-Qaradawi – have sought in recent...

Islam Dot Com

Injy El-Kashef October 20, 2005
Internet real estate has a growing niche market, one that stands to transform the nature of religious dialogue the world over. Websites devoted to the study and discussion of Islam have increased in numbers in the last two decades. From humble beginnings at the start of the internet boom, today, sites like Ramadan.co.uk and Islamicity.com feature reminders and tips for religious holidays, modern-...

Yahoo’s Mess of Pottage

Philip Bowring September 21, 2005
That Yahoo helped the Chinese government track down a reporter now imprisoned for leaking information to pro-democracy groups is shameful, say many critics. That the company did so at a time when it seeks to expand its own journalism, writes Philip Browning, is intolerable. "[T]he spreading of this virus of unprincipled greed into the heart of the Internet is deeply disturbing," he...

Invisible Earth

Annalee Newitz August 31, 2005
Technology giant Google has recently extended its global reach. It's new product, Google Earth, is a 3-D mapping program that allows users to view any point on the planet at the click of a mouse. With detailed satellite photos, Google Earth is touted as a tool not just for education, but also for communication; special features include comments "tagged" to specific locations, as...

Creating Islamist Phantoms

Adam Curtis August 30, 2005
In a Guardian commentary, Adam Curtis writes that it was a mistake, in the wake of 9/11, for the West to exaggerate the status of al-Qaida by painting a hyperbolic picture of an organized and far-reaching terrorist network. Curtis suggests that the true threat came not from a sophisticated network, but from individuals and groups linked by an idea. After the London bombings, many experts seem...

FBI Sees Big Threat from Chinese Spies; Businesses Wonder

Jay Solomon August 12, 2005
David Szady, assistant director of the FBI's counterintelligence division claims, "China is the biggest (espionage) threat to the US today." Yet, the bureau's recent campaigns to combat Chinese corporate espionage are receiving mixed reactions, at best. The prosecution of several accused workers has led to anger within the Chinese and Chinese-American communities, as well...

Wiki-mania

Rory O'Connor August 12, 2005
Wikipedia – the free online encyclopedia that allows anyone to create or modify its contents – is revolutionizing information technology. Drawing more traffic than the websites of The New York Times and USA Today combined, Wikipedia has seen explosive growth in merely two years, becoming one of the 50 most-visited websites in the world. In addition to its use of open-source technology, what...