October 30, 2021 By James M. Dorsey Sunni Muslim ultra-conservatism is having a field day. Barely three months after the Taliban claimed...

By James M. Dorsey Societal struggles and reform often take unexpected turns in vast swaths of land stretching from the Middle East into...

By James M. Dorsey Saudi and Emirati efforts to define ‘moderate’ Islam as socially more liberal while being subservient to an autocratic...

By James M. Dorsey Indonesian religious affairs minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas set the bar high for President Joko Widodo as well as...

By James M. Dorsey Controversy over a recent ‘Dismantling Global Hindutava’ conference that targeted a politically charged expression of...

By James M. Dorsey The Taliban’s record in recent weeks on making good on promises to respect human and women’s rights as well as uphold...

By James M. Dorsey At the very outset of the 21st century, Osama bin Laden wittingly or unwittingly positioned himself with the 9/11...

By James M. Dorsey The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan perpetuates a paradigm of failed governance in the Muslim world based on a...

By James M. Dorsey Pakistani efforts to exploit the Taliban victory in Afghanistan threaten to reinforce ultra-conservative inclinations...

By James M. Dorsey Having taken control, the Taliban want the world to believe that they have become more pragmatic and inclusive in the...

...and raises questions about Emirati campaign against political Islam By James M. Dorsey This month’s indictment of a billionaire,...

By James M. Dorsey A major Muslim and Evangelical organization joined forces this week to significantly advance hitherto state-backed...

By James M. Dorsey Education is emerging as a major flashpoint in competing visions of a future Muslim world. Rival concepts being...

By James M. Dorsey In a sign of the times, Turkish schoolbooks have replaced Saudi texts as the bull’s eye of criticism of supremacist...

By James M. Dorsey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ushered in the new year, pledging to employ his country’s military to secure Turkey’s...

By James M. Dorsey President Joko Widodo’s recent cabinet reshuffle suggests that Indonesia may adopt a more critical attitude towards...

By James M. Dorsey Punching above its weight, the United Arab Emirates is wielding a combination of religious soft power, commercial and...

By James M. Dorsey Saudi support of religious ultra-conservatism in Indonesia contradicts Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s promotion of...

AHMET T. KURU Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment A Global and Historical Comparison CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS 2019 March 25,...

By James M. Dorsey A podcast version of this story is available on Soundcloud, Itunes, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, Spreaker, Pocket Casts,...