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Q&A: Anwar Ibrahim discusses trial, Muslim issues – CNN.com

Interview is conducted by my friend Wajahat Ali from Goatmilk. Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who is on trial in Kuala Lumpur on sodomy charges for a second time, speaks to journalist Wajahat Ali about the controversy and discusses the country’s ethnic and religious conflicts as well as issues facing the Muslim world. Q&A: Anwar Ibrahim discusses trial, Muslim issues – CNN.com.

More on “Obsession” [Updated]

Aziz links to a thorough review of the movie. Josh finds a good break down at TPM. And of course, check out Obsession with Hate. Update: Both Aziz and Svend point me to a new deconstruction by Jews on First. The point is that this fight is bigger than us, and we have many natural allies who can take this apart without making it about identity politics.

Islam and the Lagging Economies of the Arab World : The New Yorker

Islam and the Lagging Economies of the Arab World : The New Yorker. But, before consigning a fifth of humanity to the dustbin of economic history, one might consider, more broadly, whether it makes sense to place such an emphasis on religion in explaining the underdevelopment of so many Muslim countries. To start with, it’s worth noting—and Kuran and Lewis, to their credit, do note it—that Islam, at least in its original formulation, was far from hostile to business. As the centuries passed, many Muslim regions fell badly behind the West, but the most immediate explanation involves not Islam but…