This piece will examine the strategies utilized by radicals within the Shi’i clerical realm, namely those who push wilayat al-faqih, the politicized Iranian conception of Shi’ism, on more traditionalist forms of Shi’i Islam. In addition, a look at efforts by those traditionalists to counter Iran’s and their allies’ tactics will be presented with an assessment […]
RUSSO-TURKISH DIVERGENCE (PART II): THE ENERGY DIMENSION
Part I of this article is available here. Energy issues figure prominently in the Russo-Turkish relationship. Their impact is not nearly as clear-cut as are the Iranian and Syrian issues. Turkey and Russia have a complex, evolving relationship characterized by mutual dependencies in the oil and gas spheres. As Richard Weitz stated, “Energy relations between […]
WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN: A HUMAN RIGHTS TRAGEDY A DECADE AFTER SEPTEMBER 11
Over a decade after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and the military campaign in Afghanistan, there is some good news, but still much bad news pertaining to women in Afghanistan. The patterns of politics, military operations, religious fanaticism, patriarchal structures and practices, and insurgent violence continue to threaten girls and women […]
SYRIAN REGIME STRATEGY AND THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR
The Asad regime has always suffered from a legitimacy deficit. When an uprising against it began in March 2011, the regime possessed few options other than brute force. Following a few desultory attempts at offering cosmetic reforms, the regime declared war against the insurgency in June 2011, seeking to crush it by force. Given the […]
THE ARAB SPRING AND THE PROSPECTS FOR GENUINE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL REFORMS
There is a guarded optimism that the Arab Spring could result in genuine religious and political reforms. This optimism is grounded in the belief that for the new governments to be reelected, they must reduce unemployment and poverty quickly and convincingly. Dogmatic posturing produces neither jobs nor prosperity. Islamists, Salafists, and jihadists-with Wahhabi inspiration and […]