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Debating ‘moderate’ Islam

By Demdigest on September 1, 2010

The debate over Islam, democracy and modernity continues in this insightful Wall Street Journal symposium on moderate Islam.
Muslims need not discard their beliefs and traditions in order to embrace pluralism and modernity, writes Anwar Ibrahim, opposition leader in Malaysia.
Holding fast to the principles of democracy, freedom and human rights, these hundreds of millions of [read full story]

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Human rights and nukes: a delicate balance?

By Michael Allen on October 23, 2009

Is Abdolkarim Soroush the Leszek Kolakowski of Iran’s Green revolution? This intriguing question was raised at the recent memorial meeting for the communist-turned-dissident philosopher who became the intellectual godfather of Solidarnosc and, by extension, of democratic Poland.
Similarly, Soroush was once a fanatical ideologue, committed to Ayatollah Khomeinei and complicit in the Islamic Republic’s violent purge [read full story]

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Iran: regime suppresses dissent, but has lost semblance of legitimacy

By Michael Allen on July 1, 2009

Amid signs of growing police brutality and arbitrary violence, the Iranian authorities are stepping up their repression of dissenters now that the Guardian Council has validated the June 12 election presidential results.
The government closed the reformist newspaper Etemad Melli after defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi, who is associated with the publication, insisted that Mahmoud Ahmedinejad [read full story]

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South Asia’s democracies – resilient but challenged amid backlash

By Michael Allen on March 4, 2009

The world’s largest democracy goes to the polls next month when India’s 714 million voters cast their ballots in a five-phase parliamentary election stretching from April 16 to May 13. Observers suggest that the results will highlight the rise of regional politicians at the expense of national parties, such as the Congress and Bharatiya Janata.
South [read full story]

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