These are perilous times for the desert kingdom, which sees itself as the very center of Sunni Islam, which for Sunnis is the only true Islam. It is facing a highly complex and dangerous confluence of circumstances that would have seemed most … [Read more...] about The Saudi Dilemma*
Muslim Brotherhood
The Ideology of Militant Islamism in Southeastern Europe
Since the fall of communism two and a half decades ago, militant Islamism has been planting seeds and spreading roots in various parts of southeastern Europe, particularly the former Yugoslavia. With the help of local allies, militant Islamists have … [Read more...] about The Ideology of Militant Islamism in Southeastern Europe
The Fatwa: From the Middle East to South Asia
In early February 2014 Egypt's shadowy Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (the ABM, or Partisans of Jerusalem) were continuing their attack on government forces and institutions. The Sinai-based Islamist intransigents, whose leadership appears tied to Al Qaeda … [Read more...] about The Fatwa: From the Middle East to South Asia
Straws in the Wind?*
I never cease to be amazed at the well-honed ability of the media to devote most of its time and space to completely unimportant matters (yes, fans, such as the Super Bowl), while downplaying or completely ignoring events of potentially great … [Read more...] about Straws in the Wind?*
The Media & The Muslim Brotherhood
Western media coverage of Egyptian politics seems to focus almost entirely on the depredations of the military-backed interim government, with a strong residue of sympathy for the Muslim Brotherhood. There is no mention of the Brotherhood’s … [Read more...] about The Media & The Muslim Brotherhood
What They Don’t Tell You About Islamic Banking
Islamic banking is erroneously viewed as an ancient practice. “Neither classical nor medieval Islamic civilization featured banks in the modern sense, let alone ‘Islamic’ banks,” notes Timur Kuran, professor of economics and law at the University of … [Read more...] about What They Don’t Tell You About Islamic Banking
Coddling the Muslim Brotherhood
The TSA public review that was released last week reports a16.5% (257) increase in guns discovered in 2013 over the previous year. Checkpoints across the countrydiscovered1,813 firearms in carry-on bags. Of those, 1,477 (81%)were loaded, averaging … [Read more...] about Coddling the Muslim Brotherhood
The Caucasus Snake Pit
An Islamic militant plot target, the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, was reported in late May 2012. News reports indicated that Russia's security agencies, working with Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee in Georgia's former Abkhazia region, … [Read more...] about The Caucasus Snake Pit
Erdogan’s Russia Problem and Vice Versa
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's growing Islamist tendencies, his crackdown on the military and the media have upset many in Turkey. Revelations of the gold-for-oil raid and the extent of his and his associates' corruption, bribes to members of … [Read more...] about Erdogan’s Russia Problem and Vice Versa
Hurtling Downhill
If recent events are any indication, the pace of U.S. withdrawal from the world and the extent of our fecklessness (and the West's generally) in the face of threats coming from Islamist terrorism, Russia, China, and Iran promises to pick up in 2014. … [Read more...] about Hurtling Downhill