In The News

Toward a Virtual Caliphate

Peter Mandaville October 27, 2005
What does globalization mean for the politics of authority in the Islamic world? Talk of transnational Islamic movements challenging the status quo of Muslim nation-states often brings to mind the destructive extremism of al-Qaida. Peter Mandaville, however, reports that transnational networks of religious scholars – led by figures such as Qatar-based Yusuf al-Qaradawi – have sought in recent...

Vers l’etablissement d’un Califat virtuel?

Peter Mandaville October 27, 2005

China Spending Billions to Better Universities

Howard W. French October 27, 2005
In its latest bid to rise to great power status, China is spending billions of dollars to transform its universities by wooing top scholars and building cutting-edge research facilities. Yet despite China's astounding expansion of education – the number of undergraduates and PhDs in China has increased fivefold in the past decade – many educators lament the dearth of academic debate in...

English Butler Leads China's Latest Cultural Revolution

Jonathan Watts October 26, 2005
The austere refinement and discreet assistance long associated with a traditional English butler is now a commodity available globally. In the past decade, Robert Watson has taken his business – training aspiring manservants in ettiquette, wine-tasting, table-dressing and other skills – to numerous continents. Watson's latest expansion is in the Far East, where Chinese authorities have...

Islam Dot Com

Injy El-Kashef October 20, 2005
Internet real estate has a growing niche market, one that stands to transform the nature of religious dialogue the world over. Websites devoted to the study and discussion of Islam have increased in numbers in the last two decades. From humble beginnings at the start of the internet boom, today, sites like Ramadan.co.uk and Islamicity.com feature reminders and tips for religious holidays, modern-...

Defiant Turkish Writer Says "Genocide" Taboo an Obstacle to EU Entry

Ramsay Short October 19, 2005
In a development that recalls the Iranian theocracy's 1989 fatwa forcing author Salman Rushdie into exile, Turkish officials have criminally charged novelist Orhan Pamuk for his comments condemning the country's slaughter of Armenian residents at the beginning of the 20th century. Pamuk, a native Turk whose work has received numerous accolades, has made no bones about his stance on the...

Aboriginal Remains Will Be Returned

James Button October 6, 2005
Five years ago, world media focused its attention on Gaborone, Botswana, to watch the repatriation of a corpse. The stuffed body of a 19th century African, who had been on display for over a century in European museums, was returned to his native soil. Indigenous populations outside of Europe, from the "Hottentots" of southern Africa to the Maori of New Zealand, were long the subjects...