In The News

Censuring the U.S. Gave Jordan No Security

Rami G. Khouri November 14, 2005
The recent terror attacks in Jordan marks a new turn in the global war on terror. Jordan itself is no stranger to terrorist attacks, but since September 11, the rules of the game have changed. Where Jordan once battled terrorism at a local level, now the country is caught up in a global struggle. Events are now defined by the conflict between Washington and its allies, and a plethora of anti-...

Trade Not Aid is the Key to Development

Mustapha Nabli November 10, 2005
Success at the Doha Round of world trade talks would be a major step towards reducing poverty in developing countries. Looking back over the last four decades and focusing on East Asia and China, where trade has been instrumental in surmounting poverty, it is obvious that trade, not aid, is responsible for successful development. The opportunity of the Doha Round is crucial for the Middle East...

In Iraq, They’re Revisiting Vietnam-Era Counterinsurgency

David Ignatius November 8, 2005
The insurgency in Iraq after the so-called ‘end of major combat operations’ has proved pretty intractable for US military planners. As David Ignatius writes, many of those strategists are looking back to counterinsurgency planning during the Vietnam War for ideas about how to “win the peace.” The technique, which is attracting considerable interest from US Central Command leader General John...

How the West Came to Run Islamic Banks

Owen Matthews October 29, 2005
It may come as a surprise to some that when wealthy Muslims have millions of oil dollars to invest they are increasingly turning to subsidiaries of giant Western banks like Citigroup to manage their money. Attracted by oil money and the desire to participate in the Middle East’s fastest growth in a generation, Western banks have successfully established Islamic subsidiaries that are dominating...

Attracting the Adults

Hicham Safieddine October 28, 2005
As the threat of terrorism, too often conflated with Islam itself, continues to dominate Western consciousness, it is instructive to note instances in which US, and Arab culture overlap. One such instance is the Arab television network MBC’s plan to popularize the classic US cartoon The Simpsons in Egypt. The idea of marketing The Simpsons to an Egyptian audience presupposes a certain shared...

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