In The News

Disowned by Mentor, Bin Laden Seeks New Pastures

Fawaz A. Gerges September 19, 2007
Just before the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden released a new videotape, in which he adopts a neo-Marxist posture, suggesting that mortgage debt, global warming, growing wage inequality and other ills are a result of greed from multinational corporations and politics of the West. “The capitalist system seeks to turn the entire world into a fiefdom of the major corporations...

Muslims and the Tale of Two Continents

Shada Islam September 14, 2007
Ever since the 9/11 attacks, Islamic extremists have chosen the US as the target of their ire. But in the six years since 9/11, actual attacks planned on US soil are few in number, with more plotters emerging in Europe. Shada Islam, journalist and policy analyst based in Brussels, suggests that Muslim immigrants in Europe and US both share frustration about Western prejudices and...

Bin Laden Unplugged: Analyzing the Latest Video

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross September 12, 2007
Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, released a video criticizing global warming, capitalism, campaign financing by corporations and interest-bearing loans. From hiding, the international fugitive derides the media as “a tool of colonialist empires,” yet tailors a message hinting that he follows the news. Urging that religion, as outlined in the Koran, can replace current standards in...

India's Lower Castes Seek Social Progress in Global Job Market

Emily Wax September 5, 2007
For 3000 years, India operated with a caste system; from birth, Indians understood their status and role in society. Prohibited by law, the caste system remains a source for discrimination in India. By law, the public sector and public universities set aside a percentage of jobs for people born into the lowest castes, and activists encourage similar affirmative-action programs within the private...

Doing God’s Work for the Taliban

Shim Jae Hoon September 4, 2007
Missionaries from South Korea travel to remote and dangerous lands, intent on spreading their Christian faith. Christianity contributed to modernization in South Korea, and missionaries often link their beliefs with the country’s miraculous economic growth. In July, the Taliban kidnapped 23 young Christian volunteers in Afghanistan, killing two before releasing the remaining hostages in late...

If Iraq Falls

Josef Joffe August 29, 2007
More than 30 years ago, US officials warned that communism would sweep through Asia if the US walked away from its mission in Vietnam. The US did leave Vietnam, the North Vietnamese took control of the nation, and communism did not sweep the continent. But with oil and some ruthless neighbors, Iraq has geopolitical significance. “The world's worst political and religious pathologies combine...

Party With Islamist Roots Set to Modernize Turkey

Hasan Kösebalaban August 28, 2007
With the rise of liberal conservative Abdullah Gül as Turkey’s new president, the country is at a crossroads. His Justice and Development Party (AKP) has unflinchingly stood for internationalism, economic reform and integration with the European Union, winning steady support of Turkish voters. But the party has faced strong opposition from secularists and nationalists, including the military...