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Conflict in Mecca: The Prophet Muhammad and Soft Power
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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

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Two Extremists Attack Rawalpindi Mosque, Kill 40, wound Nearly 100

Two Extremists Attack Rawalpindi Mosque, Kill 40, wound Nearly 100

The Taliban Movement of Pakistan, headquartered in South Waziristan, struck at Rawalpindi again on Friday. Two militants scaled a ladder to drop into a mosque […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
OSC: Pakistani Editorials on Obama AfPak Policy

OSC: Pakistani Editorials on Obama AfPak Policy

The USG Open Source Center rounds up Pakistani Urdu editorials concerning President Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan policy. Pakistan: Urdu Press Roundup on Barack Obama’s New […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Bin Laden Said in Afghanistan; Pakistanis complain that Obama 'Kept them in the Dark'

Bin Laden Said in Afghanistan; Pakistanis complain that Obama ‘Kept them in the Dark’

A Taliban guerrilla in Pakistani custody insists that he met Bin Laden in the mountainous province of Ghazni inside Afghanistan. The allegation is plausible. The […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Carter: Soviets "attempting to conquer the fiercely independent Muslim people of that country"

Carter: Soviets "attempting to conquer the fiercely independent Muslim people of that country"

Jimmy Carter, Speech on Afghanistan (January 4, 1980), warning “Fifty thousand heavily armed Soviet troops have crossed the border and are now dispersed throughout Afghanistan, […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Sachs: ‘There hasn’t been two seconds of intelligent discussion about living standards in Afghanistan’

Sachs: ‘There hasn’t been two seconds of intelligent discussion about living standards in Afghanistan’

Nieman Watchdog > Ask This > 'There hasn't been two seconds of intelligent discussion about living standards in Afghanistan' Afghanistan is an economic basket case. […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Afghanistan, Neighbors React to the Obama Plan

Afghanistan, Neighbors React to the Obama Plan

Radio Azadi reports in Dari Persian that the government of President Hamid Karzai has greeted the Obama plan for that country “warmly”. Kabul interprets the […]

Juan Cole

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Cole in Salon: Obama’s Surge and the Iraq Fallacy

Cole in Salon: Obama’s Surge and the Iraq Fallacy

See my just-published Salon.com article, “Obama’s surge: has the president been misled by the Iraq analogy?” Excerpt: ‘ President Barack Obama’s just-announced plan for Afghanistan […]

Juan Cole

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Top Ten things that Could Derail Obama’s Afghanistan Plan

Top Ten things that Could Derail Obama’s Afghanistan Plan

1. Obama’s plan depends heavily on training 100,000 new soldiers and 100,000 new policemen over the next three years. It has taken 8 years to […]

Juan Cole

Uncategorized
Obama Partnering with Afghan Gov’t But is there any there there?

Obama Partnering with Afghan Gov’t But is there any there there?

President Barack Obama’s commitment to “finish the job” in Afghanistan by sending 55,000 US troops to that country (counting the 21,000 he dispatched last winter […]

Juan Cole

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