In The News

Massive MMA Rally Flays Iraq War

Tahir Hasan Khan March 3, 2003
When Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf agreed to cooperate with the United States to root out terrorists after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he alienated many conservative Pakistani Muslims. As the UN Security Council considers a second resolution about war in Iraq, Musharraf once again faces heat from Islamic groups at home. In a rally in Karachi that organizers called a “Million March...

Why Unity Is Essential

Zbigniew Brzezinski February 19, 2003
The bedrock of the alliance with NATO that supported the US for the past half century may be in jeopardy. Zbigniew Brzezinski, the former National Security adviser of President Jimmy Carter, says that the sharp differences with NATO and accompanying vitriol have led to grave doubt about American intentions toward the Atlantic alliance. Some Europeans, he says, are beginning to believe that the...

Less Sheep for Sharing

Injy El-Kashef February 13, 2003
The sacrifice of sheep traditionally marks the Islamic celebration of Eid Al-Adha. For Muslims, the sacrifice is a non-obligatory act of charity, with those of all classes donating a share of their sheep to the less fortunate. In Egypt, however, recent economic troubles have interfered with the celebration. The floatation of the Egyptian pound and its subsequent decline in value in relation to...

Anti-Terror Fight Has to Be a Marathon Run on Wilsonian Principle, Not Cheap Oil

Thomas L. Friedman February 8, 2003
Who were the September 11 hijackers? What impelled them to bring about "such a bursting of the frontiers of civilization"? Thomas L. Friedman, the foreign affairs columnist at The New York Times and author of "The Lexus and the Olive Tree," spent the last fourteen months traveling to find answers to these questions. In an address at Yale University, he offered his personal...

The Qaeda Vipers in Europe’s Bosom

Jonathan Stevenson February 1, 2003
Europe has been a hotbed of al Qaeda activity, even serving as a planning center for some of the militant Muslims who carried out the September 11 attacks on the US. Social conditions for Muslims in Europe are such that many Muslim immigrants feel alienated in places like Britain. Though European governments have been aggressive in arresting terrorist suspects since September 11 and have...

Stepping into a Burgeoning Gap

Amira Howeidy January 29, 2003
What effects would a UK- and US-led war on Iraq have on Egypt’s economy, society and political position? What effects are already taking place at the prospect of war? This article in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly says Egypt would suffer heavy economic losses, for not only would the war hurt its vital tourism industry, it would also disrupt trade with Iraq and destabilize jobs for Egyptian...

With Asian Hands

Anouar Abdel-Malek January 28, 2003
This editorial from Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly says that Malaysia, an economically rising Asian nation whose population is predominantly Muslim, is the type of nation with whom Egypt must forge closer ties in the century to come. Thanks to the forces of globalization, the author says, the West is losing power to the other nations of the world, and Egypt and other Muslim nations of the Middle...