In The News

Music Marches to Globalization’s Drum

Richard Boursy January 18, 2007
Music is an integral part of human history and culture, and it’s no surprise that cultural globalization has shaped the evolution of music. Neither is this phenomenon new: For centuries, musicians have sought to evoke distant and exotic locales and adapted musical instruments and notes from afar. European colonialists entertained themselves with adaptations of music from Africa and Asia and the...

Let's Burn the Burqa

Taslima Nasrin January 17, 2007
Women wear burqas to conceal their faces and bodies from public view. Writer Taslima Nasrin reviews the history and many theories offered about the personal and social motives behind the concealment: The burqa may constrain sexual reactions from other people, or women may simply want privacy, refusing to endure any stares. Some opponents argue that the burqa reduces women to the status of sexual...

Iraq War Fuels Global Jihad

Fawaz A. Gerges December 21, 2006
Muslims initially condemned Al Qaeda’s 2001 attacks on the US. But then the US invaded Iraq, triggering chaos that could overwhelm more than one country throughout the Middle East. As a result, even more moderate Muslims support anyone who defends Muslim lands and values against occupiers, particularly in Palestine and Iraq. Jihadists emerged during the early 1980s, opposed to Egypt and Israel...

Theologians Battle Female Circumcision

Amira El Ahl December 19, 2006
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 140 million women worldwide are circumcised, most living in Africa, with some also in Asia and the Middle East. Some cultures – mostly in Africa, but also in Asia – have embraced female circumcision for thousands of years, expecting it to decrease sexual desire in women. The practice is common in Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, but not in Iraq,...

India: Emerging as Eastern or Western Power?

Kishore Mahbubani December 19, 2006
Asian nations grow more confident, more optimistic, even as the US withdraws from global leadership, fearful after the 9/11 attacks and lashing out in anger like a wounded animal, without plans or purpose. By condoning torture and instigating war while overlooking pressing problems, the US has abandoned lofty principles it once embraced. With that context, former Singapore ambassador to the...

Revisiting the Debate on America's Pro-Israel Lobby

Rami G. Khouri December 14, 2006
When it comes to issues of conflict and hatred, debate is best managed with a calm, evidence-based approach, according to analyst Rami Khouri. The comment comes amid world condemnation for Iran hosting a conference that questions the Nazi effort during the mid-20th century to kill all Jews. Khouri bemoans the lack of “rational middle ground between those who question or deny the Holocaust...

China Eases Limits on Foreign Media for 2008 Olympics

Mei Fong December 11, 2006
China will temporarily lift restrictions on foreign journalists, allowing them to scrutinize the Olympic Games as well as the Chinese economy, politics and society – but only through October 2008. Foreign journalists will no longer have to request or wait for formal invitations from Chinese groups before conducting interviews or writing articles. However, domestic journalists will still confront...