STONY BROOK, NY: Iran’s continued unrest, now extending through the 30th anniversary of the revolution that toppled the Shah, raises the question of whether the Islamic Republic is about to fall. As in 1979, millions of Iranians have taken to the streets, this time to protest electoral fraud in the presidential vote last June. The …
CAIRO: Over the past decades, numerous polls have demonstrated that the majority of Egyptians want shari’a – or Islamic principles – applied to parts of their country s legal system. Egypt’s constitution reflects this: Article 2 of the constitution states that shari’a is the principle source of legislation. Even with the popular support that Article …
The Egyptian regime is a master at exposing its own weaknesses and vulnerabilities. It commemorated the 50th anniversary of the construction launch of the High Dam in Aswan by erecting an underground metal barrier along Egypt s border with Gaza. By doing that, it gave commentators a golden chance to ponder the drastic changes that …
BRUSSELS: The Haitian earthquake has made two things horrifically clear: security challenges are not only man-made, and military forces are often a vital part of humanitarian aid. This is a timely reminder, because security and defense are now the focus of a major debate within both NATO and the European Union. Generals, it is said, …
The international community can no longer afford to ignore Somalia. States in the grip of prolonged internal conflict tend to turn into safe havens for extremists. Insecurity remains widespread throughout Somalia. Clashes in Mogadishu continue to restrict the international community s ability to fully implement critical humanitarian programs. We are looking today at a potential …
The sectarian strife that has been plaguing Egypt for more than four decades is so ruinously dangerous that it should be addressed prudently and with much vigilance. As it mars the atmosphere of tolerance and peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians in Egypt, approaching such an extremely sensitive issue superficially will be nothing short of …
DALIT AL-CARMEL, Israel: Recently I have been hearing again the all-too-familiar Palestinian threat that the lack of progress in the negotiations with Israel will eventually lead to a third Intifada. Some Palestinians even speak about the option of a third Intifada as if they are going to a wedding celebration or a night of pleasure …
ANKARA: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of the Orthodox Church recently said on American TV that he feels “crucified in Turkey, upsetting many Turks. Sadly, his Holiness is right. Yet his complaint is not with Islam but with the secular Turkish Republic. The Turkish state has kept the Halki Seminary, the only institution able to train Orthodox …
When the Haitians will have received their life-saving emergency food, water and health care, the world must invest in adequate risk reduction for this disaster ridden nation. Or do we want to continue to administer expensive band-aids every five years for the rest of this century? In every big disaster the same things happen: There …
NEW YORK: Do nations have psychological processes – even Freudian processes, such as collective egos that can be injured, and repressed guilt feelings that can well up from the collective unconscious – just as individuals do? I believe that they do. I also believe that just as an individual’s dreams and slips of the tongue …
LAUSANNE, Switzerland: The year 2010 has started off as a difficult one for Muslim-European relations. Switzerland’s Nov. 29 referendum banning the construction of minarets is still producing an outcry in the country and abroad. Critics point not only to the discriminatory character of the vote against Swiss Muslim minorities, but also the negative image it …
WASHINGTON, DC: As Palestinians press the international community to live up to its commitment to ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestine alongside Israel, conversation is intensifying about the character of this new state. In their own interest, Palestinians should buck the regional trend towards religious politics and ensure, from the outset, that it is …
DAKAR: There is something dismally familiar about the tide of news reports concerning Africa’s increased suffering – more poverty, malnutrition, civil strife, and death – in the face of the recent global financial crisis. Almost everywhere, the media translates academic conclusions into graphic illustrations of brutality and despair in places such as Guinea and the …
WASHINGTON, DC: As we set out in the new year, many of us search for ways to bring deeper meaning to our lives. Sometimes that meaning can be found in the most unlikely places, places like the slums of Nairobi, Kenya where Jamii Bora, a microfinance program, offers savings and loans to people who have …
CAIRO: We did it! Egypt beat Algeria 4-0. In this cutthroat African Cup of Nations’ semifinal, three of Algeria’s players were “dishonorably discharged for doing what they do best: intentionally (an unscrupulously) kicking and punching our players, who were miraculously able to stay calm through what player Mohamed Zidan later described as the most important …
FREMONT, California: Haiti is experiencing unimaginable suffering from its devastating earthquake, with more than 150,000 dead and one to three million individuals displaced. Individuals, groups and governments from around the world have stepped in to do what they can. United by their religious tradition of charity, Muslims have emerged as effective partners in aid and …
NEW YORK: In 2009, Forbes magazine named US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao the “world’s most powerful people. In 2010, we will discover that neither has the power to keep US-Chinese relations on track. That is bad news for those who believe that US-China cooperation is essential for reviving the global economy, …
MADRID: Barack Obama’s first year in office has been a sobering exercise in the limits of presidential power. It also carries lessons about how the resilient and impersonal forces of history can constrain any leader’s drive for change. Obama’s current “winter of discontent genuinely reflects the mixed record of his first year. The Massachusetts electoral …
CAMBRIDGE: Although the strength of the US economy in 2010 remains uncertain, it is important to look ahead to its likely performance in the coming decade. The rise of GDP over the next ten years will reflect the very positive effect of the eventual recovery from the current deep downturn, combined with a below-trend rise …
WASHINGTON, DC: Increasingly, you hear them at public events and symposia. You read their analyses in the press and on blogs. They are the “no-solutionists . Ultra-skeptical, hyper-cynical, often giddy about their political nihilism, they typically argue something along these lines: “As a realist, I realize that there are problems in this world that simply …
NEW YORK: Even as a Jew in New York, I know what it is like to be Muslim in France. While studying abroad in the French city of Strasbourg in 2007, I decided to grow a bushy beard. Little did I know that in France only traditional Jewish and Muslim men don anything but the …
RAMALLAH: With pressure mounting on the Palestinians to return to negotiations with Israel even without a full settlement construction freeze in occupied territory, the onus has very much shifted onto US diplomatic efforts to ensure that talks are renewed. Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, continues to resist the pressure, which is …
NEW YORK: The horrors of Haiti’s earthquake continue to unfold. The quake itself killed over 100,000 people. The inability to organize rapid relief is killing tens of thousands more. More than one million people are exposed to hunger and disease and, with the rain and hurricane seasons approaching, are vulnerable to further hazards. Even an …
LONDON: When former Czech President Václav Havel knocked on the door of the Chinese embassy in Prague to demand the release of the writer Liu Xiaobo, I had an eerie sense of déjà vu. Thirty-three years ago, Havel helped initiate Charter 77, the landmark document that crystallized the ideals of all the dissidents – and …
GIVATAYIM, Israel: Recently I took part as a moderator in an international conference that examined dialogue between people from different backgrounds in a multicultural society. The conference was also attended by the American writer Rebecca Walker who was born in the United States in the mid 1960s to a white Jewish father and a black …
SYDNEY: The appointment of five provincial-level Chinese Communist Party chiefs in early December is a reminder that the ascension of China’s next generation of leaders, who will take power in 2012, may be the most significant development in Chinese politics since Deng Xiaoping’s reign begin in 1978. The upcoming generation of leaders will be the …
BERKELEY: President Barack Obama has not had an easy first year economically. He inherited a financial system on the verge of collapse. He was bequeathed an economy in recession and an unemployment rate destined to rise. And he faced a Congress and an economics profession with a tendency to confuse these real demons with imaginary …
PARIS: The United Nations’ General Assembly is the world’s only body in which all countries vote, with majority rule prevailing. There is no unanimity requirement or veto in the General Assembly, which might well be why it has not been called upon in the effort to fight climate change. Yet the General Assembly is the …
TOKYO: 2010 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-United States Security Treaty. But, instead of celebrating an agreement that has helped stabilize East Asia for a half-century, the treaty is now at serious risk, as much from indecision as from kneejerk anti-Americanism. In August 2009, Japan’s people voted for “change. The Liberal …
TEL AVIV-JAFFA: “Be the change you want to see in the world said one great informal educator. Modern technology empowers us to be that change – for peace. By enabling self-expression and interaction, new media tools are helping our efforts for conflict resolution in the Middle East. Horizontal transfers of knowledge on social networks like …
