Author Archive
Destiny and Defiance in Port Said
By Maurice Chammah "Port Said, once the pariah, is now the vanguard. As the protests turn to street battles, Port Said’s traditional independence from the rest of the country is coming out in a way it never has before."
Ahbash Rising: Religious Freedom in Ethiopia, Part 2
Protests in Ethiopia could have profound ramifications for Muslim-state relations in Ethiopia and beyond, writes Alex Thurston in the second of two posts on Ethiopia's Muslims.
Syria: Stronghold of Secularism?
Secularism has been a central part of dominant Syrian ideology since at least the 1960s, writes Irina Papkova, but is Assad's Syria truly the last secular state in the region?
Hispaniola: Trujillo’s Voudou Legacy
In the aftermath of a 1937 massacre, Rafael Trujillo’s violent regime launched a campaign to demonize Haitians, using voudou as a principal identifier, reports Ezra Fieser from Dajabon in the Dominican Republic.
Ahbash Rising: Religious Freedom in Ethiopia, Part 1
In the first of two posts on the deterioration of religious freedom for Ethiopia's Muslims, Alex Thurston looks at Ethiopia's relationship with the U.S. and the "Global War on Terror"
Arakan, Displaced
Conflict in western Burma's Arakan state has displaced thousands of Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhist Arakanese. From the Burmese border, Francis Wade examines the complex origins and motives behind the violence.
In The World
By Natasja Sheriff On breaking the deafening silence surrounding two international human rights and climate change events.
In The World
By Natasja Sheriff From Tibet, Burma and India, the first of a weekly round-up of religion-related news from around the world.
Sweeping Air
From Varanasi, India, Meera Subramanian’s inner pragmatist ponders the meaning of strength and devotion as she witnesses the Hindu ritual of aarti.
Lebanon: War, Peace and Pluralism, Part 2
From Beirut, Irina Papkova describes in the second of two posts how former political opponents are maintaining Lebanon's fragile peace through a pluralistic, democratic system.
Divine Intervention: American Faith in Foreign Policy
Gale Kenny reviews Andrew Preston's new book, "Sword of the Spirit, Shield of Faith: Religion in American War and Diplomacy," a narrative history of foreign policy and piety in America.
Lebanon: War, Peace and Pluralism
"The relationship between Lebanon and Syria is intricate and complicated, and the chaos in Syria presents serious challenges for its tiny neighbor to the west," writes Irina Papkova in the first of two posts from Beirut in the aftermath of the October 19 bomb blast.
