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Conflict in Mecca: The Prophet Muhammad and Soft Power
Featured

Conflict in Mecca: The Prophet Muhammad and Soft Power

Juan Cole

I believe that the earliest source we have for the life of the Prophet is the Quran itself. And I believe the Quran is early.

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“Into this Universe:”  Heidegger and FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:29

“Into this Universe:” Heidegger and FitzGerald’s The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám 1:29

12/14/2025 By Juan Cole

“Identity is never fixed:” Interview with Iranian-American Artist Soraya Sharghi

“Identity is never fixed:” Interview with Iranian-American Artist Soraya Sharghi

12/14/2025 By Global Voices

More Stories

Energy
Massive Offshore Windfarms to Power Green Germany

Massive Offshore Windfarms to Power Green Germany

Note to environmentalists: German utility corporations are building gigantic wind farms offshore that are expected to provide a quarter of Germany’s energy in coming decades. […]

Juan Cole

Afghanistan
NATO Troops Kill MP Relative; Anti-American Demonstrations Nangarhar Demand US Withdrawal

NATO Troops Kill MP Relative; Anti-American Demonstrations Nangarhar Demand US Withdrawal

NATO forces raided the home in Nangarhar of Afghan parliamentarian Safia Siddiqi Wednesday night, in the course of which they killed her brother-in-law. In response, […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Tehran Police Chief Cracks down on Women with Sun Tans

Tehran Police Chief Cracks down on Women with Sun Tans

The Telegraph reports that the police chief of the Iranian capital, Tehran, Brig Hossein Sajediniya, has called for a crackdown on fashionable women as part […]

Juan Cole

Energy
The Horrible Gulf Oil Spill Reality versus the Energy Tomorrow Pantsuit

The Horrible Gulf Oil Spill Reality versus the Energy Tomorrow Pantsuit

Let us contrast reality to the fantasy that Big Oil projects for us on our television screens. I have long despised the character of the […]

Juan Cole

Iraq
Allawi’s Secularists call for Caretaker Gov’t, New Elections

Allawi’s Secularists call for Caretaker Gov’t, New Elections

The London pan-Arab daily al-Hayat [Life] reports in Arabic that the appeals court will issue its judgment on the coming Monday, May 3, concerning whether […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
3 Killed in Qandahar Bombing as the UNO leaves; South Asia now Most Dangerous

3 Killed in Qandahar Bombing as the UNO leaves; South Asia now Most Dangerous

On Tuesday, insurgents bombed an Afghan security company, Homayun at Qandahar, wounding at least 38 of them. Three persons were killed. Homayun provides security services […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Disqualifications of ‘pro-Baathists’ throw Iraq into Political Uncertainty

Disqualifications of ‘pro-Baathists’ throw Iraq into Political Uncertainty

McClatchy/ CSM reporters Jane Arraf and Mohammed al-Dulaimy cover the decision of an appeals court to uphold the disqualification of 52 Iraqi politicians. The exclusion […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Apartheid in Israel, Showing Papers in Arizona

Apartheid in Israel, Showing Papers in Arizona

Jonathan Cook gives concrete examples of the various forms of Apartheid practiced in Israel by Jews toward Palestinian-Israelis and Palestinians. An important recent policy announcement […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Iran Quiz

Iran Quiz

Take the Iran Quiz at Countercurrents. (The quiz is based in part on a chapter in my Engaging the Muslim World, which will be revised […]

Juan Cole

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