NEW YORK: Morocco owes its image of a modern Muslim nation to Sufism, a spiritual and tolerant Islamic tradition that goes back to the first generations of Muslims and has sustained the religious, social and cultural cohesion of Moroccan society for centuries. Sufism provides answers to some of the most complex issues in the contemporary …
BOSTON, Massachusetts: Last spring, dogged by looping video of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright howling “Not ‘God bless America’, ‘God damn America’, presidential hopeful Barack Obama cracked open the tense discussion of race in this country with his groundbreaking speech in Philadelphia. He drew on his personal history – “I am the son of a black …
WASHINGTON, DC: On Jan. 26, my office received a call from an immigration agent at Dulles International Airport, who said that my colleague Rashad Bukhari had been refused entry to the United States. He was not charged with anything, the agent said, and would be eligible for a future visa. In fact, when Rashad arrived …
KYIV: Since World War II’s end, France has consistently risen to the challenge of restructuring Europe in times of crisis. In doing so, France became the catalyst not only for building European unity, but also for creating the prosperity that marked Europe’s post-war decades – a prosperity now under threat because of the global financial …
NEW YORK: The Golan Heights, an area of roughly 690 square miles bordering Syria, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan could hold the key to peace in the Middle East. Recent events in Israel and Gaza make any rapprochement between Israel and the Palestinians beyond a ceasefire rather improbable at the moment. Peace talks with Syria could …
BETHLEHEM: Every Friday, the West Bank village of Ni lin is home to some of the most violent clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian, Israeli and international demonstrators. Each week, activists from the village s Land Defence Committee stage demonstrations at the Separation Barrier which cuts off as much as half the village s farmland …
PARIS: Ever since mankind began to map the world, the north and south poles have fascinated us, both poetically and scientifically. But, save for a few whalers and explorers, not many people ever went to have a closer look. The serene stillness of the Arctic and Antarctic was a perfect match for human indifference. The …
CAMBRIDGE: Don’t look now, but capitalism – maligned in these bailout-ridden recessionary days – is reshaping Africa inexorably. What is different today is that it is emanating from China and India, rather than from the conventional bastions of capitalist prowess. Devi Shetty, a celebrated cardiac surgeon in Bangalore, brings health relief to India’s masses through …
ESFAHAN, Iran: At Palestine Square, opposite a mosque called Al-Aqsa, is a synagogue where Jews of this ancient city gather at dawn. Over the entrance is a banner saying: Congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution from the Jewish community of Esfahan. The Jews of Iran remove their shoes, wind leather straps around …
LONDON: In recent weeks, the UK – and the rest of the world – witnessed both widespread optimism and heartfelt grief. Like others around the world, people of faith in the UK came together with great excitement about Barack Obama’s inauguration and the new possibilities it represents. Sadly, we also watched the tragedy of violent …
BERLIN: The legendary American investor Warren Buffet once said, “It’s when the tide goes out that you find out who has been swimming naked. That particular piece of wisdom referred to the situation of companies in an economic crisis. But it can also be applied to countries and economies. In Europe, the situation is cause …
ISLAMABAD: The new US Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, identified Kashmir as one of the world’s hot spots and bracketed it with contested regions such as the Balkans and Golan Heights during her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations committee last month. Likewise, in an interview with Time magazine in November 2008, US …
JAKARTA: When the media covers a conflict, accusations of bias can land on its doorstep. The debate following the three-week Israeli offensive into Gaza is a case in point. The BBC received more than 11,000 complaints when it decided not to broadcast an appeal by aid agencies for victims of Israel’s assault on Gaza. Yet …
BERKELEY: Of all the strange things that have happened this winter, perhaps the strangest has been the emergence of large-scale Republican Party opposition to the Obama administration s effort to keep American unemployment from jumping to 10% or higher. There is no doubt that had John McCain won the presidential election last November, a very …
Sentimentality isn’t really my thing and as a rather hard-bitten and hard-biting political columnist I do have a reputation to maintain. So there was no-one more surprised than me to note that every time I think about the 100-vehicle British aid convoy that left London for Gaza on Feb. 14 my eyes become, strangely, damp. …
CAIRO: Earlier this week, like all Egyptians, I was discussing the bomb that went off at Al-Hussein on Sunday in the presence on my young nephew. “So what happened? he asked. “A bomb went off at a popular tourist bazaar in Cairo, killed a 17-year-old French girl and wounded 24 others, I said. “It was …
CAIRO: Three cheers to those who are behind the Al-Hussein explosions on Sunday: The first goes to the righteous people of Egypt, who made a wonderful bomb, which was described by the malicious media as primitive but in fact it is so ingenious that its shrapnel has blazed Egypt’s name across the four corners of …
JERUSALEM: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. -Albert Einstein There is no symmetry or equality in the situation in Israel and Palestine – not in terms of power, resources, privilege or the lived experience of each side. There are, however, shared paradigms and emotions …
WELLINGTON: Paracetamol (known as acetaminophen in the United States) is one of the world’s most commonly used drugs. It is the preferred medication for relieving fever and pain because of its safety profile. However, 10 years ago, a hypothesis was proposed that the use of paracetamol may increase the risk of developing asthma. It was …
ISTANBUL: In the past two decades, a movement of some 30 Turkish non-governmental women’s rights organizations has spearheaded legal, political and social change to promote equality and eliminate violence against women. Change, however, is not coming easily as these NGOs try to battle ingrained traditional views toward women amidst much turmoil. Today in Turkey, people’s …
CAMBRIDGE: The massive downturn in American’s economy will last longer and be more damaging than previous recessions, because it is driven by an unprecedented loss of household wealth. Although the fiscal stimulus package that President Obama recently signed will give a temporary boost to activity sometime this summer, the common forecast that a sustained recovery …
The period during and after the three-week long Israeli war on Gaza has witnessed numerous calls by different parties to investigate allegations of Israeli war crimes. These include calls by Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organizations. One of the incidents that proved a turning point in international public opinion was the Israeli shelling of …
NEW YORK: Even the most cold-hearted realists would agree that the failure of Communist censorship played a role in the collapse of the Iron Curtain: Voice of America, the fax machine, rock ‘n’ roll, and the lure of Western capitalism helped to win over the people of the Soviet Bloc. Today, similar hopes are often …
LONDON: “Enrich yourselves, China’s Deng Xiaoping told his fellow countrymen when he started dismantling Mao Zedong’s failed socialist model. In fact, elites everywhere have always lived by this injunction, and ordinary people have not minded very much, provided that the elites fulfill their part of the bargain: protect the country against its enemies and improve …
CAIRO: Although the concept of the “national interest (or “public interest ) is frequently used by scholars and practitioners, little agreement has been reached on its exact definition and the specific methods used to delineate it. Some scholars argued that intangible goals, such as “prestige and “glory, constitute an integral part of the national interest. …
THE HAGUE: Although the global recession is serious and its duration uncertain, the world must nevertheless continue to focus on the far-reaching threat of climate change. Indeed, if we are smart, public policy can serve the twin goals of stimulating growth and fighting global warming. Governments hammering out a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol …
MOSCOW: I have just returned to Star City (Russia’s spaceflight training center) from a long weekend in Moscow, and it struck me how much – and how little – has changed since I first came here 20 years ago, in the spring of 1989. As I passed an ad in the Moscow metro promoting advertising …
JERUSALEM: There is no shortage of opinions when it comes to Middle East affairs, and the recent events in Gaza have not muted them. A minority of Middle East pundits have recently emerged as advocates for a one-state solution, which would undermine Israel s legitimacy and internationally recognized right to exist as a sovereign Jewish …
BERLIN: With the world s focus on the recent war, a less-noticed aspect of the current Palestinian malaise is the expiry of President Mahmoud Abbas’ term this January. While the two-state peace solution with Israel is premised on an emerging Palestinian state with functioning institutions, the constitutional legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority is dwindling. Without …
NEW YORK: The world has yet to achieve the macroeconomic policy coordination that will be needed to restore economic growth following the Great Crash of 2008. In much of the world, consumers are now cutting their spending in response to a fall in their wealth and a fear of unemployment. The overwhelming force behind the …
