Articles

The mother of all Jirgas, touted as the panacea for all of Afghanistan’s problems, is turning into a grand farce. Amid allegations that tribal elders have been offered bribes of up to US$1,000 by various warlords in Paktia province to elect them to the Loya Jirga...

Pakistani president general Perwez Musharraf walked a fine line in his televised address to the nation on May 27, defiantly asserting Pakistan’s willingness to defend itself against India for popular consumption while also asserting his commitment to prevent ‘terrorists’...

There is an effort afoot all over the world to "reform" education. The overall message is "west knows best, we lead and you follow." More specifically, practically everyone in the West has realized that the old factory schooling system they have been using for a hundred years is obsolete intellectually. Socially, the move away from government to corporate control calls for privatization.

A History of Iraq by Charles Tripp. Pub: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2000. Pp: 311. Pbk: £13.95.

The routine use of the labels ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism’ to criminalise Muslims and legitimise any action against them has reached new levels in India, with cabinet minister Shanta Kumar claiming on April 28 that the Godhra train incident was an act of "international terrorism" whose objective was to "weaken" Indian defence positions on the border and make it more porous for infiltration by jihadis.

​In a speech on May 1, the Rahbar of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Khamenei, addressed the centralty for the Islamic movement. We present an extract from his speech

ZAFAR BANGASH, director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, suggests another way to mark the birthday in this Islamic month of Rabi al-Awwal of the Last and Seal of all Allah’s Messengers (as).

The boycott of American and Israeli goods and products is gaining momentum, especially in the Middle East, although most Arab regimes have not officially endorsed it. The movement is spreading rapidly, with individuals and groups taking the campaign to new areas, largely through the internet...

Yasser Arafat’s diminishing standing and credibility among Palestinians was highlighted on May 13, when he was forced to cancel a visit to the devastated Jenin refugee camp because of fears for his life.

Recent reports that US forces were preparing to leave their bases in Saudi Arabia created the initial impression that the US’s military presence in the Gulf Cooperation Council states was about to be reduced...