In The News

Native Son: Samuel Huntington Defends the Homeland

Alan Wolfe April 21, 2004
According to reviewer Alan Wolfe, Samuel Huntington’s distinguishing characteristic in previous books has been detached pragmatism. However, in Huntington's latest book, Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity, he delves into the issue of immigration to America with unprecedented ardor and nostalgic sentiment. It is this “moralistic passion” that clouds his powers of...

Democracy Gains in Southeast Asia's Islamic Nations

Goenawan Mohamad April 16, 2004
The rise of Al Qaeda has led many in the West to conflate Islam with anti-democratic political views. This is a mistake, argues Jakarta-based writer Goenawan Mohamad, given that the world's two largest Muslim countries - Indonesia and Malaysia - are solidly democratic. In Malaysia, the March elections yielded victory for pluralist parties and defeat for those advocating state adoption of...

Explaining The Passion

Gihan Shahine April 16, 2004
It’s no surprise that Christian Egyptians, like Christians worldwide, flocked to see Mel Gibson’s recent film The Passion of the Christ. Yet the majority of Egyptian moviegoers who bought tickets to the film were Muslims. The turnout is particularly startling because Islam generally condemns representations of prophets, and Egypt itself once banned The Prince of Egypt because of its portrayal of...

Terrorist Chemical Threat 'Worse than Suspected'

Mark Huband April 11, 2004
Small groups of chemical weapons experts uncovered in Europe appear to have a wide network of links. Two separate groups, one arrested in a Paris suburb by French counter terrorism officials and the other uncovered by British intelligence, are both reported to have received chemical weapons training in Chechnya, Russia's breakaway republic. The group arrested in France is said to have links...

Coalition Partners Get Cold Feet

Ewen MacAskill April 10, 2004
As Shiite and Sunni Iraqis banded together to fight American and allied country troops this week, United States military forces found themselves in an increasingly uncertain environment. The political will of US allies is being tested by the deepening hostilities. When South Korean and Japanese military forces came under fire, they retreated to their compounds. But although popular sentiment...

Malaysia Harbouring Militants?

Reme Ahmad April 7, 2004
Bilateral relations between Thailand and Malaysia have been unfailingly polite, states this news report in Singapore's Straits Times. The "diplomatic niceties" appear to have been put aside now, however, as Thailand and Malaysia discuss the contentious issue of terrorist bombings in Thailand. Thailand has accused Malaysia of harboring Muslim separatist terrorists believed to be...

Uzbekistan: A Third Front in the War on Terrorism?

Charles William Maynes April 5, 2004
The US-led war on global terror may face a new challenge in Uzbekistan, a Central Asian country infrequently featured in news headlines outside the region. Charles William Maynes, President of the Eurasia Foundation, argues that US policy toward Uzbekistan is failing to curb the rise of radical Islam. Recent suicide bombing attacks in the cities of Tashkent and Bukhara are symptoms of the...