Juan Cole

A car bombing in a market district of Shaab, Baghdad, killed 26 and wounded 37 on Thursday, the fifth large bombing in March. The LAT underlines that blast walls separating Shiite Shaab from nearby Sunni Arab areas have recently been removed. But it should be remembered that Shaab used to be mixed and is now […]

As the Obama administration announces that it will send 4,000 further troops to Afghanistan to train the Afghan army, the USG Open Source Center translates a talks show from Islamabad that alleges that US predator drone strikes on Pakistan are increasing hatred of the US in Pakistan Karachi Geo News television in Urdu at 1400 […]

Hamza Hendawi of AP says his interviews and on-the-ground researches in Baghdad support my contention that the Iraqi capital is now only 10 percent to 15 percent Sunni (in 2003 it was roughly 50/50 Sunni and Shiite): ‘ Among the statistics obtained by the AP: — Only an estimated 50,000 of 300,000 displaced families — […]

My two-part interview with Riz Khan of Aljazeera English regarding my new book, Engaging the Muslim World, is now available at YouTube. Part I: and Part II of the interview: Engaging the Muslim World End/ (Not Continued)

Wednesday witnessed a new round of deadly violence in Afghanistan. In Khost to the east, a roadside bomb incinerated a civilian vehicle, killing 10. It was probably intended for the new Afghan army. In Uruzgan, the home province of Mulla Omar, a blast wounded 3 Australian soldiers and their interpreter. End/ (Not Continued)

The Obama administration is so discouraged by the poor performance of the government of Afghan president Hamid Karzai that it is contemplating appointing a prime minister who would do the serious work that Karzai appears to avoid. The plan raises questions of constitutionality in Afghan law, and has a “great man theory” that what is […]

Thanks so much to Steve Clemons and the New America Foundation for hosting my talk regarding my new book on Tuesday afternoon. It was live streamed, and I will post links when it is available as a clip. Engaging the Muslim World Here is a response to a point I made in my talk at […]

McClatchy reports that four bombings around Iraq killed 37 and wounded 60 on Monday. A bombing at a mechanic’s shop in Abu Ghraib to the west of Baghdad killed 9 and wounded 27. There were also bombings in Mosul and near the northern Turkmen city of Tal Afar. But most worrisome of all was an […]

Listen to my interview with Steven Inskeep of National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” on myths about Saudi Arabia’s puritanical and hyper-Protestant Wahhabi branch of Islam. I argue that there is no statistical or social scientific evidence that Wahhabis are more prone to violence or terrorism than other branches of Islam. Note that it is a […]