Is the War in Afghanistan Over? | Said Sabir Ibrahimi

SAID SABIR IBRAHIMI, 22 NOVEMBER 2021 On August 15, 2021, the Taliban militant group ousted the quasi-democratic Islamic Republic of Afghanistan backed by the U.S. and reinstated the Islamic Emirate in Kabul. The Taliban argues that since the group controls the entire country, the conflict is over, and the international community should recognize the group […]

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Dealing with Dictatorships: The Paradox of Great Power Support | Sean Yom

SEAN YOM, 15 MARCH 2021 During President Biden’s first month in office, the US raised the possibility that relations with Saudi Arabia would need “recalibration,” given its harrowing record of recent human rights violations. This move signaled a familiar scene that plays out in Washington whenever a non-democratic American ally commits egregious human rights abuses. […]

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Are Muslims to Blame for Islamophobia? | Turan Kayaoğlu

TURAN KAYAOĞLU, 6 APRIL 2020 On February 27, in the New York Times, Mustafa Akyol wrote that, “the justification of many terrible deeds in the name of Islam today, from terrorism to tyranny, from patriarchy to bigotry” is a cause of Islamophobia. He argues that the solution is “right there in the Quran”:  Muslims should […]

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The Changing Landscape of Political Islam in Indonesia: A Backgrounder | Alexander R. Arifianto

ALEXANDER R. ARIFIANTO, 26 APRIL 2021 Indonesia, the largest Muslim majority country in the world, is considered a prime example of a successful democracy with a Muslim majority society. Leading Indonesian Muslim organizations and intellectuals have promoted its brand of moderate Islam. Recently, such a reputation had come under serious challenge. New and more theologically […]

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We Crossed A Bridge and It Trembled: Voices from Syria | Wendy Pearlman

WENDY PEARLMAN, 2 SEPTEMBER 2019 The war in Syria can seem bewilderingly complex. Over more than eight years, a dozen states supported hundreds of rival groups that competed on the ground in a kaleidoscope of shifting alliances and rivalries. A web of sectarian tensions, economic interests, ideological clashes, and geopolitical jockeying overlay a fundamentally political […]

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