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From today’s Thomas Friedman op-ed: What is going on in Iraq today is not only a war between radical Islam and America, it is, more importantly, a war within Islam — between those who want an Islam with a human and progressive face that can meld with the world and those who want an Islam that is exclusivist and hostile to the world. So, yes, we need all the Arab and Muslim support we can get to see Iraq through to some decent outcome. But the Arab-Muslim world needs a decent outcome in Iraq just as much — if not…

Wajahat Ali and the Doha Debates

While we were in Doha for the MLT Conference, we were able to attend a special session of the Doha Debates. The topic was “Motion: This House believes that political Islam is a threat to the West.” Wajahat Ali, of AltMuslim and Goat Milk, has done a nice write-up of the issues discussed. He was also gracious enough to make me sound intelligent. I have his permission to include his original questions, and my responses, below. 1) How would you personally define “political Islam” and “the West?” Do you think the debates adequately defined these two terms? The problem with…

Education and Ignorance

This article is a nice discussion of what’s at stake in the education process in Pakistan, particularly for women. I particularly like the closing paragraph, cliché as it is: we cannot afford to allow a minority to hold a majority at ransom. We just cannot afford to allow any individuals or any groups to derail the present efforts in the education sector or give foreign agencies working in this field any reason to pull out.