In The News

Arab Nations Strike in Libya, Surprising US

David D. Kirkpatrick and Eric Schmittaug August 26, 2014
Without asking or waiting for US approval, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates targeted airstrikes against Islamist militias in Libya, reports the New York Times. During the 2011 Arab Spring protests, powerful autocrats, tending to regard any political opposition to their rule as extreme, had warned that extremists could hijack the democracy movements. Elections in Libya have since led to bitter...

Pakistan, Obsessed Over India, Risks Anarchy

Husain Haqqani August 21, 2014
Hope was brief for easing a long troubled relationship after Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif traveled for the May inauguration of Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister. Sharif, who won in a 2013 landslide victory, now confronts protests from the opposition as the Pakistan military and agitators thrive on the notion of India as a permanent enemy, with many even condoning terrorist activities directed at...

The Science Behind ISIS Savagery: 5 Ways Humans Become Hardwired for Violence

Ian Robertson August 20, 2014
Islamic State militants stun the world with senseless acts of violence, with the public beheading of a journalist covering civil war in Syria as the most recent example. Such atrocities are not limited to Islamic extremists and have been waged by throughout history by many other religious fanatics and even governments, reminds Ian Robertson, professor of psychology in an essay for the Telegraph....

Saudis Have Lost the Right to Take Sunni Leadership

David Gardner August 13, 2014
Governments that secretly fund intolerant extremists to harm opponents lose credibility in the international community and with their own citizens. In a globalized world, such financing connections are transparent, and the international community must devote scarce resources to battle groups with bizarre goals, like Al Qaeda or the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Such extremist groups are...

Africa’s Jihadists, On Their Way

August 1, 2014
The most extreme ideologies tap into widespread frustrations and flourish in nations and communities that fail their people with poor education and governance. The Economist interviews youths who live in Chad, a country rich in oil but inept in distributing benefits to its citizens: “Most would rather have jobs than become religious marauders, but given the chance they may be tempted to join a...

The Islamic World and the West: Recovering Common History

Nayef Al-Rodhan July 15, 2014
One out of five people in the world are Muslim, and many Europeans express fear about growing numbers of Muslim migrants. “Islam in Europe tends to be viewed as not only a recent, but also a foreign and threatening presence,” explains Nayef Al-Rodhan, University of Oxford philosopher, neuroscientist and geostrategist. “Europe and the Arab-Islamic world have brushed shoulders for centuries, and...

Islam – Up for Grabs

Ooi Kee Beng June 26, 2014
The world is on the watch for Islamic extremism – recent examples include the execution of some 1,700 Shia solders in Iraq and the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria. Two dynamics are underway that confound international relations, argues Ooi Kee Beng, deputy director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies: First, a tendency among some Muslim nations to extend Islam rigidly...