In The News

New Dissent in Japan Is Loudly Anti-Foreign

Martin Fackler August 31, 2010
As Japan’s economy stagnates, young men stuck in menial jobs use the internet to plan demonstrations against foreign influences. Their “main purpose seems to be venting frustration, both about Japan’s diminished stature and in their own personal economic difficulties,” explains Martin Fackler for the New York Times. The discontents resent rising unemployment and lack of global respect for Japan...

Shariah in Aceh: Eroding Indonesia’s Secular Freedoms

Dewi Kurniawati August 26, 2010
Indonesia has a secular constitution, but in 2003 gave a nod to the Aceh province adopting partial sharia law, supposedly an attempt to stem recruiting by a rebel movement. This separate set of laws, often targeting the poor and women, discourages tourism and economic development. Hard-line groups intent on gaining power in other provinces press for similar laws. Though scholars still debate what...

Facebook Deletes Accounts Purporting to Be From North Korea

Jun Yang August 25, 2010
It’s unclear if Facebook, Twitter and Google accounts claiming to represent North Korea are truly from the isolated nation. Facebook, insisting that the social networking site is for real people aiming for real connections with real identities, deleted two suspect accounts. “The move comes as South Korea, which bans its citizens from communicating with the North, clamps down on Twitter Inc....

Manhattan Project: The Great Mosque Divide

Sadanand Dhume August 24, 2010
A proposal to build an Islamic center two blocks away from the target of the 9/11 attacks steadily moved through New York City’s planning process, meeting regulations and winning approval each step of the way. The World Trade Center attacks united the United States for a short while, whereas almost nine years later, the center and plan to “build bridges” raise another in a long line of issues...

The Rise of Islamic Rap

Peter Mandaville August 19, 2010
Some South Asian Muslim youth in British cities, seeking art and music that reflect their own alienation, embrace the hip-hop and rap of urban black America. Styles and messages converge, as young Muslim teens blend cultural and political expression with their Islamic faith, explains author Peter Mandaville. Islamic fundamentalists warn against any music at all, let alone provocative hip-hop....

China Discovers World Expo Is No Olympics

Maura Elizabeth Cunningham, Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom August 17, 2010
After the dazzling 2008 Olympics, China had hoped to draw attention once again with the World Expo, exceeding previous World’s Fair records with visiting nations, exhibitions and attendance. But even before the Expo, Shanghai and many other cities around the globe already carry significant international cachet, displaying futuristic trends, or what Maura Elizabeth Cunningham and Jeffrey N....

The Age of Peace

Carolyn O’Hara August 2, 2010
Much attention is directed to nations with low birth rates and aging populations, blamed for diminished economic growth and strained government budgets. Another magazine, Foreign Policy, once even labeled the demographic phenomenon as a “Gray Menace.” But every cloud has its silver lining – and economics is not the only measure for quality of life. Developing nations with “youth bulges,” such as...