Islam

(By Amy Austin Holmes) A single judge in a single court in Egypt has sentenced more people to death this year than the total number of people who were executed last year in the rest of the world combined, with the exception of China. In 2013, at least 778 people were killed as a result […]

Africa

Boko Haram and the Lord’s Resistance Army: Hunted Children & the Problem of Fundamentalism in Africa

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The horrific story of the kidnapping of nearly 300 girls from their school in Borno Province, northeastern Nigeria, by the Boko Haram terrorist group has again underlined the problem of violent fundamentalism in Africa. Reports say more kidnappings have been undertaken today. Boko Haram, which was founded in 2002, has many resemblances […]

media

On how the Death of Turkish Democracy this Year wasn’t exactly Clickbait

Juan Cole

(By Ola Claësson) I can’t help being surprised of how little that has been reported in the foreign media about the development in Turkey after the local elections. Before the Gezi protests less than one year ago, Turkey was perceived as a promising, developing democracy. But now, the country has embarked on a path in […]

Featured

Iraq’s first Post-American Elections by the Numbers

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Iraqis went to the polls on Wednesday in the first national parliamentary elections since US troops pulled out of the country completely (in late 2011). The results won’t be in for a while, but here are some early statistics: 1. Preliminary estimate of turnout: 60% 2. Number of people who died in […]

Dissent

Egyptian Judges shock world again, condemning 683 Muslim Brothers to Death

Juan Cole

Egypt’s judiciary accused of being arm of repression (via AFP) A wave of mass sentences in Egypt, including hundreds sentenced to death this week after a rushed mass trial, has sparked charges that military-installed authorities are using the judiciary as a blunt tool of repression. The sentences handed out Monday… —– Related video: AFP: […]

Islam

Saudi Fatwa against “THE 99” Tolerant Muslim Superhero Comics as “Evil”

Juan Cole

(By Naif Al-Mutawa) Seven years ago, THE 99 [super-hero comics] were granted approvals to Saudi Arabia. What began as a suspicious relationship, my not expecting approvals to begin with, and their suspicion of the subversive nature of the content we were at loggerheads. It turned out that the solution was simple. I had to first […]

Bashar al-Assad

A Widening War: Iraq intervenes in Syria with Helicopter Gunships

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) For the first time, Iraqi helicopter gunships have crossed the border to hit a target inside Syria. They destroyed 8 fuel tankers transporting gasoline to forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, an al-Qaeda affiliate that has begun holding territory both in northern Syria and in al-Anbar Province in Iraq. […]

Human Rights

Turkey’s PM Erdogan between Sultanate and Hobbesian Commonwealth

Juan Cole

(By Kerem Oktem) . . . [Thomas Hobbbes’] Leviathan is about more than the rights of the sovereign. For it to be considered a commonwealth, it requires a covenant between the sovereign and the ruled, with the latter voluntarily giving up their right to govern themselves in exchange for legitimate rule. [Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip] […]

Islam

The Coming Holy War over al-Aqsa Mosque/ Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Juan Cole

Events of the past week in Jerusalem are extremely troubling, and indeed for the past four months. The al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in the world for Muslims, and the Israeli authorities and their squatter movement are becoming more and more aggressive toward the site and the Muslims who try to visit and […]