Criticism has been leveled against the Pakistani government s efforts to hold talks with militant groups. While concerns about the Taliban regrouping remain valid, it is in America s long-term security interest not only to support the multidimensional peace plans being formulated, but also to refrain from words and actions which could jeopardize the process. …

Egyptians believe that the head of state holds the reins and takes control of everything in the country. This belief is popular among the political and cultural elite, or the overwhelming majority, and among the rank and file as well. Almost everyone considers the president as a “pharaoh whose role eclipses all other senior statesmen. …

Serving as a point of departure from the so-called clash of civilizations , African American Muslims counter the claim that hostility is inevitable between Westerners and Muslims. Having barely any historical connections to outside modern nation states, African American Muslims have been entirely formed by the American experience; indeed, their American-ness is beyond challenge. And …

It has happened. After France and the Netherlands rejected the European Constitutional Treaty, Ireland’s “No vote is the second and probably decisive blow against a united and strong Europe. June 12, 2008, will have to be remembered as the day that made European history. No matter what desperate rescue efforts will be undertaken, they cannot …

Israel s peace offensive of recent days may have been motivated in part by personal or domestic politics, but the driving force behind its willingness to negotiate is part and parcel of a much larger plan. As the dynamics in the Middle East shift in response to Iraq war backlash and Iran s increasingly vigorous …

One reader reproached me in a letter to the editor about the column I ran a few weeks ago in which I responded to an observation by another reader who criticized me for referring to Naguib Mahfouz as “our greatest author instead of “the great author – a title that is now conferred upon any …

European integration implies successive transfers of national sovereignty to the Union. But, while member states readily comply with decisions that abolish protective measures – say, import duties – they hesitate to formulate or advance policies that would grant the European Union discretionary powers to take initiatives. Typical examples of this are the stalled Lisbon Strategy, …

Reconciling global economic growth, especially in developing countries, with the intensifying constraints on global supplies of energy, food, land, and water is the great question of our time. Commodity prices are soaring worldwide, not only for headline items like food and energy, but for metals, arable land, fresh water, and other crucial inputs to growth, …

Senator Barack Obama has positioned himself as an independent thinker unafraid to break the Washington mould. He says that, as president, he would pursue “direct diplomacy and talk to Iran and to Cuba. There was no such challenge to Washington norms in Obama’s recent speeches to the pro-Israel lobby in Washington and to a synagogue …

Dear Editor, Why? I really would love to have an answer to that question. We talk about one strong united Arab community and then you face an incident which makes you wonder “what Arab union are you talking about? You must be kidding! And you ask yourself the question why. I work in a multinational …

While campaigning for his first term as US President, Bill Clinton made headlines when he made a guest appearance on MTV in 1992 in an effort to court the American youth vote. The appearance was regarded as a historical landmark in the relationship between politicians and the media. With today s technology, Clinton would likely …

When discussing Afghanistan, many newspapers continue to suggest that some of Europe’s NATO allies are under-performing in Afghanistan, and are either unable or unwilling to make a greater effort. Naturally, these allies feel that their efforts are under-valued. What is a fair and equitable burden? First of all, the debate about burden-sharing should not be …

US Senator Barack Obama represents a phenomenon that has drawn global attention and captivated the minds of Muslims around the world as he wages a spirited campaign to become the next president of the United States. In spite of the campaign s heated debate and some controversial rhetoric regarding Islam, large segments of Muslims remain …

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is a global phenomenon, which is not confined only to the United States but also to the whole world. I believe that if there was an international vote on Obama and John McCain the former would meritoriously win because not only is he the first American of African descent that …

A low profile consultant, Abbas Palizdar, who has allegedly served at the Economic Commission of the seventh Iranian Parliament, has publicly linked the high profile figures of the Islamic Republic to the country’s widespread corruption, fraud and favouritism. In his controversial speeches at Hamedan and Shiraz universities, he identified over 50 influential clerics and officials …

Last week, Japan pledged more than $1.9 billion to Africa over the next five years. The announcement was made on the first day of a timely Japan-Africa summit in Yokohama. Japan’s Prime Minister, Yasuo Fukuda, promised a further $4 billion in soft loans over the same period to help improve infrastructure on the continent, and …

Saudi Arabia s call for an ongoing interfaith dialogue has raised a few eyebrows in the West. The kingdom has long been perceived as a piece of desert ruled by an ultra conservative clergy with radical interpretations of Islam. Women are oppressed, it is often alleged; Wahhabi scholars want to convert the world over; and …

Pope Shenouda III, the Patriarch of Copts in Egypt and abroad, is currently in the United States for another surgical operation in less than two years. Not surprisingly, Copts and the government are already thinking of the pope’s successor, especially now that he is 83 years old and suffering from kidney failure. During his 37-year-papacy, …

The prime minister of His Majesty s Government, the rotund Lord North–reputed (falsely) to be the bastard son of George III – once sniffed to his cabinet that if it were not for the interference of France, the American colonists would surely return to the loving arms of their mother country. He said this in …

It is not clear whether Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recent call for national and comprehensive dialogue with Hamas is a significant change of position. Some PA leaders claim that the Hamas coup in Gaza must be reversed before talks can begin, others believe that such political conditions have been dropped. What is clear is …

Ireland should do the rest of Europe a favor and withdraw from the European Union. That seems to be the only tenable solution to the situation created by the Irish “No to the Lisbon Treaty. The Irish have created a problem for themselves. They should not let it be a problem for others. It would …

On June 1, the Indian Premier League came to a thundering climax with a cliffhanger final match, watched by 60,000 cheering fans in a new stadium and an estimated 300 million television viewers around the world. As cheerleaders danced and waved brightly colored pom-poms, and star sportsmen from across the globe, clad in their teams’ …

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, one of the most powerful lobby groups in the United States, recently concluded its annual Washington conference. It drew a long line of administration officials and the presidential candidates to its doorsteps, all touting orthodox lines on what it means to be pro-Israel – messages carefully crafted to please …

I am fighting the anti-Israel boycott in academia and science by doing the opposite, says Mark Gluck, professor of Neuroscience at Rutgers University-Newark. Any boycott of Israeli research would not only stifle Israel s enormous ongoing contributions to biomedical research, but hurt Palestinian healthcare as well, he tells ISRAEL21c. To prove his point, Gluck and …

RAMALLAH, West Bank-When I reported from Israel in the mid-1980s, the big debate here was whether Israel s settlement-building in the West Bank had passed a point of no return-a point where any serious withdrawal became virtually impossible to imagine. The question was often framed as: Is it five minutes to midnight or five minutes …

Obama’s vehemently pro-Israeli speech at the annual conference of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) was not surprising. What was surprising was the shock and disappointment it provoked in the Arab World. Obama has made clear right from the beginning that he represents a new generation of black leaders who view the US and …

Jesus said that we should give alms in private rather than when others are watching. That fits with the commonsense idea that if people only do good in public, they may be motivated by a desire to gain a reputation for generosity. Perhaps when no one is looking, they are not generous at all. That …

Nibbling doughnuts and deciphering computer code, the workers at this Internet start-up might be holding their weekly staff meeting in the same room – not on opposite sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide. Instead, they trade ideas across flat screen monitors, their images broadcast through a video conference hook-up that connects their two offices, one in …

What Ehud Olmert should – but probably won’t – tell George Bush last Wednesday in the White House. Thanks for seeing me, George. This may be my last meeting with you as Israel s prime minister. I m in a pinch, you know, and I m fighting to save my political life. All these calls …

Hillary Clinton, who, not so long ago, was Barack Obama’s arch-enemy, has started to display a lot of goodwill towards him. In fact, she’s even enthusiastically trying to persuade her supporters to give him their voice in the coming presidential race against the Republican candidate John McCain. I was impressed with the sort of party …