In The News

What You Need to Know About Growing Extremist Violence in Bangladesh

Nikhil Kumar and Rishi Iyengar April 29, 2016
Islamic extremists are targeting and killing bloggers, foreigners, atheists and gay-rights activists in Bangladesh. The country of 156 million people, poor and densely populated, has been profiled as a potential battle zone by an Islamic State magazine. Advocates for secularism expect the government to crack down on the violent extremists: “While condemning the blogger killings and promising...

Refugees and the “Globalization of Indifference”

Uri Friedman April 20, 2016
In 2013, Pope Francis met with immigrants in Lampedusa and warned about a “globalization of indifference.” Three years later, steady flows of refugees continue. “Francis has made the plight of migrants and refugees a core component of his pastoral work… by saying Christians should build bridges, not walls,” writes Uri Friedman for the Atlantic. “He’s argued that the wanderings of the dispossessed...

After Chibok, Another Kidnapping Met With Silence

Aminu Abubakar and Robyn Dixon April 13, 2016
Nigerian authorities and the world may have lost a sense of urgency about Boko Haram’s brazen attacks on small villages and mass kidnappings. A UNICEF report points out that girls are regarded as sex slaves, boys are trained to fight, and both are used as suicide bombers. Inequality and a complacency about authority may encourage bullying of victims by both terrorists and communities, thus aiding...

Rohingya Left Behind in Myanmar's Power Transition

Lucy Kafanov April 1, 2016
Inequality and an utter lack of health care, education and opportunity for a minority group of people does not reflect well on governance. “Denied citizenship and voting rights as well as access to proper medical care and education, the Rohingya have been largely left behind in Myanmar's widely-lauded transition to democracy following a November election that swept Aung San Suu Kyi's...

Modi’s Middle East Outreach

Harsh V. Pant March 31, 2016
Investing and trading in the Middle East carry high risk due to difficult political transitions and ongoing conflicts. Like other major economies, India leverages economic clout for strategic purposes, especially to isolate rival Pakistan’s military and intelligence capabilities. India, soon to be the world’s most populous nation, has a minority Muslim population that’s larger than Pakistan’s....

Obama Visits a Mosque to Send Pointed Message to Non-Muslims

Roberta Rampton February 4, 2016
In his chapter on the "Tyranny of the Majority," Alexis de Tocqueville posed the question, "If it be admitted that a man possessing absolute power may misuse that power by wronging his adversaries, why should not a majority be liable to the same reproach?” Respect for minority rights, openness to the possibility that minorities might someday emerge as majority and will likewise...

Wanted: European Grand Strategy for War Against the Islamic State

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller February 2, 2016
Leaders of the Islamic State impose a rigid and fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, maintaining that the religion does not condone Western values of democracy, individual freedom, economic globalization or education. Author Joergen Oerstroem Moeller urges Europe to develop a grand strategy to combat extremism by recognizing how the long history of the Middle East influences political agendas...