In The News

At Mecca Meeting, Cartoon Outrage Crystallized

Hassan M. Fattah February 9, 2006
Recent violence in response to the infamous cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammed may have not been as spontaneous as initially thought. At a December meeting in Mecca of Muslim leaders, Saudi, Iranian, Syrian and Lebanese officials thumbed through a dossier of the Danish cartoons. Ahmed Akkari, a Danish immigrant leader, brought the folder to the Middle East after appeals for redress to the...

The Opportunity of the Cartoon Crisis

Kishore Mahbubani February 9, 2006
In keeping with the Chinese definition of “crisis,” the uproar over recent Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed offers opportunities that both Europeans and Muslims would do well to recognize. European and Muslim worlds have become inextricably linked, and Europeans should understand Muslim anger over the cartoons. The author argues that the outrage has come against the backdrop of a growing...

The Mural Maze

Robert Tait February 8, 2006
For decades, large-scale public art in Tehran has praised the acts of suicide bombers and urged boycotts of Israeli products. But traditional painted murals took time to produce. So the government relies on new high-tech murals, such as those adorning the World Without Zionism conference where President Ahmadinejad made his first call for wiping out the Jewish state. Ironically, experts have...

Cartoon Jihad

Sadanand Dhume February 7, 2006
The forces of globalization are responsible not only for spread of capitalism, but the growing influence of radical Islam. Enraged Muslim protesters rely on the tools produced by modern capitalism: mobile text messaging, the internet, satellite television, and desktop publishing. Such technology is contributing to a united community of believers, or “ummah,” a long-held Islamic goal. Analyzing...

Iran the Great Unifier? The Arab World Is Wary

Michael Slackman February 7, 2006
With a confrontational foreign policy, the world’s only Shiite Islamic government is striving to fill a power void in the Middle East resulting from the fall of Arab nationalism and the absence of any dominant nation. Yet other leaders in the region are wary. Drawing popular support for its hardline stance towards the US and Israel, Iran maintains connections to militant groups such as Hezbollah...

China and the Iranian Nuclear Crisis

Jing dong-Yuan February 6, 2006
China has joined the US, Britain, France, Germany and the EU in deciding the time has come to report Iran’s pursuit of nuclear power to the UN Security Council. Despite joining the unified front, China has expressed less anxiety over Iran’s actions and continues to press, along with Russia, for a diplomatic solution to the standoff. China depends on Iranian oil and political ties, and hesitates...

Free Speech and Civic Responsibility

Tariq Ramadan February 6, 2006
The controversy over the recent Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed should be cast as an issue of free speech versus civic responsibility. The cartoons fly in the face of a Muslim prohibition against making an image of Mohammed or other prophets. They also portray religion as subject for humor – an alien concept in Muslim culture. Scholar Tariq Ramadan calls for restraint and civic...