In The News

Seething Anger in a Broken Middle East

Fawaz A. Gerges June 12, 2007
Early in 2003, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman applied a rule common in retail pottery stores, “You break it, you own it,” to the then-impending invasion in Iraq. The succinct analogy warned that the US and other invading nations would bear responsibility for rebuilding Iraq. More than four years later, political and social institutions throughout the Middle East are in ruins, with...

The Islamist Mouseketeers: Hamas Mickey Mouse Teaches Jihad

May 10, 2007
Clips from the Palestinian show “Tomorrow’s Pioneers,” feature a bright-colored set and a human-sized mouse with big black ears. But resemblance to the cartoon character of Mickey Mouse stops there. The voice of this Disney look-alike, Farfur, is shrill – more urgent than happy – as he rattles off vocabulary that goes beyond the understanding of most young children: world leadership, liberation,...

Malaysia Backpedals on Modernity

Sadanand Dhume May 3, 2007
A fundamentalist streak of Islam within Malaysia is coming into conflict with the flourishing civil society that has made the nation a model of peaceful and democratic development in Southeast Asia. Muslims in Malaysia, unlike their Hindu or Christian compatriots, are ultimately subject to strict Islamic law, known as sharia. In fact, the national judiciary cannot override a ruling by a sharia...

The Strange Death of Multiculturalism

Ian Buruma May 1, 2007
European society once was organized according to religion. People headed to neighborhoods, schools, hospitals and even jobs based on religious affiliation and word of mouth from fellow congregants. Muslims began immigrating into European communities after secularization took hold, and secular society became alarmed about a religious pillar rising alone in integrated communities. “In the end, the...

Against the Wall: The US Faces a United Iraq

Humphrey Hawksley May 1, 2007
The US still has a chance to deliver stability in Iraq, as hinted by widespread Iraqi rejection of a wall dividing Sunni and Shia neighborhoods in Baghdad, argues BBC correspondent Humphrey Hawksley. First and foremost, the US must focus on its fight with Al Qaeda. Also, the US must overcome any distaste for Islamist rule and embrace the Shias as the only viable, cohesive body with state-like...

Regime Change in the Arab World

Shlomo Ben-Ami April 30, 2007
The American-led invasion of Iraq was motivated, at least in part, by the desire to create a model state that would influence its Middle Eastern neighbors towards democracy. This did not happen, largely because the US policy of favoring pro-Western dictatorial regimes over hostile democracies did not end with the Cold War; therefore, the US has resisted the election of popular, yet threatening...

Is France Cooling Toward Its Arab Friends?

Pascal Boniface April 18, 2007
During the Cold War, France emerged as a Western advocate for the interests of the Arab world. Although conventional wisdom ascribes this special relationship to economic and political calculations, foreign affairs specialist Pascal Boniface argues that France’s motivations are more complex. A number of strategic concerns have been at the root of the French-Arab alliance since 1967. Good...