In The News

Extremism Isn’t Islamic Law

Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid May 26, 2006
The Koran is clear: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.” (2:256). Yet the government of Afghanistan came close to executing a Muslim man who had converted to Christianity. Bowing to international pressure, the government ruled that the man was insane and called off the trial. The man’s life was spared, but using the Koran to justify the death penalty for apostasy in Muslim society remains...

Put Movie Scenes Into Perspective

Rousseau Chen May 26, 2006
Like any other residents whose city is featured in a major film, the people of Shanghai have eagerly awaited the Chinese release of “Mission: Impossible III.” Some of the scenes shot in the metropolis, however, must be cut before the film’s release in China, according to a ruling by humorless censors in the Chinese Film Bureau. Images of drying laundry and criminal activity offended the bureau...

“I’ll Make It to Europe, Or Die Trying”

Matthias Gebauer May 25, 2006
Mauritania, like other African countries, offers a desperate future. Residents age with a fatalism born of a failed education system, joblessness and constant violence. Any endeavor to escape is a testament to the human spirit, and many pin their hopes on a treacherous Atlantic journey to Europe. The risk often ends in death or disappointment as patrols from Europe capture makeshift boats,...

“We the Japanese People” – A Reflection on Public Opinion

Hikari Agakimi May 22, 2006
For more than 60 years following its devastation in World War II, Japan has held onto an intense fear of militarism, renouncing the right to wage war and limiting its self-defense force. A side effect of such pacifist policies, according to scholar Hikari Agakimi, is a carefree people who struggle to find a national identity. In a 2005 survey of high school students, only 13 percent reported...

France Debates Downloads, With Teenager as Top Expert

Thomas Crampton May 17, 2006
At 18, Aziz Ridouan is a normal teen who likes to download music. But his adversaries compare him to a modern-day Robin Hood, and the French Interior minister gives him a note allowing him to skip school to meet with top government officials. Ridouan suggests that the internet is the library of the future and the entertainment industry must adapt. The teen started his own nonprofit –...

The Perils of Soft Power

Josef Joffe May 16, 2006
Any nation has an array of options for extending influence throughout the world: One is “hard power,” or military escalation. Another method, touted by a group led by Harvard Professor Joseph S. Nye Jr., is “soft power,” or cultural capital deployed across the globe. But soft power can produce antagonistic reactions. US movies, music and education may be popular in other nations, but world...

Prejudice Forms a New Line Between East and West

Nicholas Watt May 9, 2006
A new boundary is forming between east and west in Europe. While official policy in the west has extended tolerance toward the gay community, conservative governments in the east take a hard-line stance to control what they regard as a growing threat. In countries like Poland and Russia, politicians openly declare homosexuality to be a deviant lifestyle that must be reigned in. Often, anti-gay...