In The News

His Faith, Our Faith

Ramachandra Guha January 30, 2008
Mahatma Ghandi’s model of non-violent political and social activism offered a new paradigm for world politics, a way for ordinary and oppressed people to join together in convincing powerful nations to change callous ways. Historian Ramachandra Guha questions whether Ghandi’s essential message can be separated from his religious beliefs. He writes in the Hindustan Times, “The distinctiveness of...

Sudanese Teddy Saga Lays Bare Islamic Inferiority Complex

Waleed Aly December 6, 2007
People of one culture can never perfectly understand the fine points of another culture, and extreme reactions to any mistakes or misunderstandings only widen the divide. A British teacher in Sudan devised a class project that required her students to name a toy bear, take turns bringing it home, caring for it and writing about the experience. After the children named the bear Muhammad, police...

The Costs of Containing Iran

Vali Nasr December 5, 2007
A US intelligence report published December 3 concludes that Iran abandoned its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The report from 16 US intelligence agencies could slow an aggressive policy on Iran from the Bush administration. The US has failed to build a US-Israeli-Sunni alliance against Tehran – and also fails to recognize that, even if possible, such an alliance would further inflame...

As Mideast Realigns, US Leans Sunni

Howard LaFranchi October 10, 2007
US President George Bush began his second term with a sweeping determination to spread democracy and freedom around the world. In the face of continued struggles in Iraq and a rising threat from Shiite Iran, that idealism has faded into "realpolitik." The main criterion for White House support today is opposition to Tehran rather than liberalization, which means that the Bush...

Iran’s Unlikely TV Hit

Farnaz Fassihi September 25, 2007
A popular television show reveals a big divide in Iranian society. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has questioned the historical basis of the Holocaust. But the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei approves all programming for Iranian state television, including a well-funded show about an Iranian-Palestinian Muslim man who loves a Jewish woman: The hero rescues his love from Nazis who would send her to a death...

Burma’s Growing Dilemma

A. Lin Neumann September 25, 2007
Burma has endured harsh military rule since 1962, which has devastated the economy, making the nation, since re-named by its rulers as Myanmar, an embarrassment among the fast-growing economies throughout Southeast Asia. Over the years, pro-democracy activists participated in various protests, only to face brutal crackdowns from the authoritarian government, with protestors facing long prison...

Democratize or Disintegrate

Bahey Eldin Hassan September 20, 2007
Political drama born of the waves of pro-democratic and anti-democratic influences in the Middle East has created a breeding ground for terrorism, argues analyst Bahey Eldin Hassan. He argues that a wave of democratization has not swept through the Middle East because of a loss of US credibility and moral standing, following the difficult occupation of Iraq and troubling images of prison torture...