Islam

The Second Congo War, which gripped the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the turn of the new millennium (1998-2003), is sometimes also called the Great African War or Africa's World War.  The reason is simple, at the height of the hostilities, the armies of no less than eight nations were directly involved in combat, along with two dozen foreign-backed militias, ranging from independence-minded ethnic movements to the nihilistic death cult, the Lord's Resistance Army.  As one would expect from such a multi-faceted conflict, the reasons behind the war are both numerous and complex, but for some of the belligerents, the Great War of Africa allowed f

by Paul Sullivan. Originally published by our partner site, World Policy Blog.

by Hassan Malik. Originally published by our partner site, World Policy Blog.

Recent events in Pakistan have highlighted the best and worst of the country’s politics and society. News outlets worldwide have been running an all-too-rare story about a rich, powerful man of privilege who risked everything to defend a poor woman on the fringes of society from a public lynching. Sadly, this story was revealed through reports of the man’s murder at the hand of his own security guard.

Perhaps it’s the August heat, but invariably whenever the summer months roll around, American political discourse always seems to get fixated on some nonsensical issue - this year is no different with talk of the proposed “Ground Zero Mosque” dominating the airwaves.  Of course the name is something of a misnomer - the “mosque” isn’t a mosque per se, but rather an Islamic cultural center that will contain a dedicated prayer facility within its 13-stories (in fact its creators stress that the prayer space officially is not a mosque) and it will not be at “Ground Zero” (the former World Trade Center site), but on

A stalwart advocate for freedom of speech, Taslima Nasrin is an exiled political and artistic refugee who has had her share of literary revenge. Despite her work being banned in Bangladesh and India, and even as multiple fatwas have called for her head, she continues to write, speak out, and win awards around the world. Her latest North American release, Revenge (Feminist Press, 2010), is a short novel whose title, in keeping with the life of its author, promises struggle and ready action.