Democracy

By Ali R. Abootalebi | (Informed Comment) | – – The emergence of political Islam in the mainstream politics in the Middle East and across other Muslim countries since the 1970s has impacted socioeconomic and political development in so many different ways. The return of religion–a symbol of traditionalism–to the mainstream debate about and the […]

Campaign Finance

Why are American Elections so much worse than Everybody Else’s?

contributors

by Pippa Norris | (The Conversation) | – – The world is currently transfixed by the spectacle of American elections. From New York, London and Paris to Beijing, Moscow, and Sydney there is endless heated debate in the news media and across dinner tables about the factors fueling the remarkable success of Donald Trump, speculation […]

Democracy

Nine Takeaways From Iran’s Elections

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL) | – – Iran's moderates and reformists have had nearly a week to celebrate their return from a decade of political marginalization in elections that recast the ranks of the parliament and the clerically dominated Assembly of Experts, which selects and oversees the supreme leader. But how much has […]

Democracy

Machiavelli: To combat Muslim Extremism, see Prophet Muhammad as bringer of a Constitution

contributors

Miguel Vatter | (The Conversation) | – – Everyone wants to die for Allah. We all want to live the best life in the hereafter and we want to make it to the top of the seven levels of Jannah – heaven. So thinks a young “anonymous Islamic State supporter” who was friends with the […]

Democracy

“Tehran is liberated territory” as Pragmatists & Centrists win Iranian Capital & Expert Assembly

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The era of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also a former mayor of Tehran, is completely over. Ahmadinejad’s so-called spiritual mentor, Mohammad-Taqi Misbah-Yazdi (actually an extremely hateful individual), lost his seat on the Assembly of Experts, as did far right figure Mohammad Yazdi, the body’s sitting […]

Democracy

Turkey’s Elections no longer for Democracy but for Nationalist-Conservative Domination

contributors

By Umit Cizre | ( OpenDemocracy) | – – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s readiness to circumvent elections, illustrates that promises to end the conflict were contingent on securing a mathematically permanent conservative-nationalist electoral bloc. Two historic general elections were held in Turkey over the course of four months in 2015. The desperate losers in the first […]

Elections

Elections in Iran, a Test for the Regime

contributors

By Farhang Jahanpour | (Inter Press Service) | – – Farhang Jahanpour is a former professor and dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Isfahan. Prior to that he was a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard University. Currently he is a tutor in the Department of Continuing Education and a member […]

Afghanistan

A Teacher in Afghanistan: Is the Future Democracy or Muslim Extremism?

contributors

By Jeffrey E. Stern | (Informed Comment) | – – A few months ago, in downtown Kabul, a small man stood on top of a car with a megaphone in a city liberated by American troops, and faced down his government. His quarrel was with President Ashraf Ghani. Tensions rose, a guard fired on the […]

Democracy

Iranian Pres. Rouhani slams Hard Liners: Ban on Liberal Candidates makes Parliamentary Vote Pointless

contributors

By Golnaz Esfandiari | ( RFE/RL) | – – Iran’s president has criticized the mass disqualification of candidates in next month’s parliamentary elections, suggesting the decision could make the vote pointless. The comments by Hassan Rohani signaled continuing tensions between the president, who has presented himself as a moderate, and powerful hard-liners who control key […]