In The News

Mursi Role at Syria Rally Seen as Tipping Point for Egypt Army

Yasmine Saleh, Tom Perry July 3, 2013
Egypt’s army has ousted Mohamed Mursi. Concern intensified in mid-June when the president attended a rally that called for “holy war” in Syria and was said to have called for foreign intervention. The army responded by suggesting its duty was to guard Egypt’s borders. The powerful, largely secular army has long mistrusted the Muslim Brotherhood, which supported Mursi as president and claimed it...

Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn

Seyla Benhabib June 6, 2013
Parks are civic gathering places. Plans to turn Istanbul’s Gezi Park and Taksim Square into a shopping mall were weighted with symbolism – galvanizing protests and representing what “seems an effort to erase the face of the old, majestic Istanbul, which has largely disappeared in recent years in favor of shallow, gaudy, stupefied consumerism,” writes Yale professor Seyla Benhabib in an opinion...

Tunisia Turns Up Heat on the Salafis

Roula Khalaf May 30, 2013
Salafi Muslims promote a fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran, insisting on original Arabic translations and rejecting moderate Muslims as infidels. Freedoms won in Tunisia after the 2011 Arab Spring revolution allowed Salafis to evangelize. Now the government is cracking down on the controlling ways of Ansar al-Sharia. “As elsewhere in the region, not least in Egypt, formal politics in...

Turn to Religion Split Suspects' Home

Alan Cullison, Paul Sonne, Anton Troianovski, David George-Cosh April 25, 2013
Investigators are scrutinizing every routine for the family of two brothers, 26 and 19 years old, who set off two homemade bombs at the Boston Marathon. The hope is to prevent a tragic repeat. The Wall Street Journal presents one of the more comprehensive reports, with attention focused on the family’s divide over religion. The mother and farther met in Elista, provincial capital of the Kalmykia...

Pope Francis, Known for Simplicity and Conservatism

Anthony Faiola March 14, 2013
Early reports about Pope Francis point to an anti-globalization streak, in that he has spoken out against the “evils of globalization.” But such characterizations center on a narrow definition of globalization, restricting the phenomenon to financial activities. In his first address, Pope Francis asked, “Let us pray for the whole world that there might be a great sense of brotherhood.” The...

The Kafkaesque Reality of Pakistan's Blasphemy Laws

Samira Shackle March 13, 2013
Blasphemy is a serious crime in Pakistan, but the law sets out no guidance, standards on evidence or safeguards against false accusations. As such, the law is subject to great abuse. Witnesses, police and court officials avoid repeating alleged comments, out of fear of attracting new charges. “The blasphemy law has created and facilitated a culture of vigilantism,” writes Samira Shackle in the...

Pakistan’s Two Worlds

Hassan Siddiq January 30, 2013
Pakistan’s youth confront two stark realities: one that’s ambitious and cosmopolitan and the other radical and inward looking. Oddly enough, young Pakistanis obtain much of their news from international sources like BBC or CNN, even as those same broadcasts focus on violence and radical elements of society. Young, educated Pakistanis are as disturbed as audiences in the West about a vicious...