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Asia Society Releases Report on the Arts

The Asia Society has released a new report “Making a Difference through the Arts: Strengthening America’s Links with Muslim Communities in Asia.” I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but it looks very interesting. From the Executive Summary: This report offers examples of the diverse ways in which stakeholders in cultural development and ex- change initiatives in and with Asian Muslim communi- ties have built successful projects by drawing on cultur- ally grounded knowledge and strategies . The panoramic range of projects, the impressive degree of imagination and innovation with which they have been designed and carried out, and the…

Law and Cultural Purity

Not all fundamentalism is about violence. Sometimes it’s about using the law. Unfortunately, some of our elected representatives are aiming to use the law to define what it means to be “American” by excluding Muslims. They seek to turn back the clock on American inclusion, forgetting that when you can exclude one group, you can exclude any group. We must accept that we live in a global village. Without that basic premise, we miss many of the political patterns emerging both in the US and around the world. We can react to the “new” in two ways: embrace it or…

The Case for Calling Them Nitwits – Magazine – The Atlantic

The Case for Calling Them Nitwits – Magazine – The Atlantic. They blow each other up by mistake. They bungle even simple schemes. They get intimate with cows and donkeys. Our terrorist enemies trade on the perception that they’re well trained and religiously devout, but in fact, many are fools and perverts who are far less organized and sophisticated than we imagine. Can being more realistic about who our foes actually are help us stop the truly dangerous ones?