Category: Islamists

A realist case for advancing Arab democracy

     

Despite the reportedly path-breaking retreat from even the rhetoric of promoting democracy and human rights, there is a robust realist argument for advancing freedom in the Middle East, according to Elliott… Read more »

Rethinking Political Islam?

     

  The Qatar quarrel may seem like a tempest in an Arabian teapot, The Washington Post’s David Ignatius writes. But at its heart is the question that has vexed the… Read more »

What comes after ISIS? ‘There is nothing, no plan.’

     

The announcement of the so-called caliphate was a high point for the extremist fighters of the Islamic State. Their exhibitionist violence and apocalyptic ideology helped them seize vast stretches of… Read more »

False Dawn? How (not) to advance Middle East democracy

     

Supporting indigenous democrats would be a more successful approach to promoting democracy in the Middle East than external intervention, especially militarized regime change, says a leading Arab democrat. “Foreign intervention… Read more »

Turks marching to fight rise of illiberal populism

     

Tens of thousands of Turks are marching from Ankara to Istanbul in an attempt to fight the rise of illiberal populism and defend democratic values, opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu writes… Read more »

Time to prepare for Iran’s political collapse?

     

In a region littered with failed states, Iran is often mischaracterized as an island of stability, notes Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The history… Read more »

Is Indonesia’s ‘pious democracy’ safe from Islamist extremism?

     

  Indonesia remains a model of moderate Islam, the country’s president said on Monday, countering critics who point to mass rallies by radical Muslims and the jailing of a Christian… Read more »

Erdogan ‘taking steps to end Turkish democracy’

     

On June 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced as illegitimate the ongoing protest march from the Turkish capital, Ankara, to Istanbul, organized to demand justice regarding Erdogan’s media crackdown… Read more »

Promoting modernized Islam to counter jihadist ideology

     

This week’s Brussels train station bombing renews the focus on the attraction and motivating power of jihadist ideology, The New York Times reports. Meanwhile, the attack on Muslim worshippers at… Read more »

Tackle ideological roots of jihadism to counter terrorism

     

The increasing threat of terrorism has not just influenced American perceptions of the liberal international order. It has had an impact in European democracies as well, contributing to Brexit and… Read more »