Pakistan revamps education at the point of a gun
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi is a rare clerical voice in Pakistan.
A prominent religious scholar and former member of the state-appointed Council of Islamic Ideology...
Christmas arrives in Saudi Arabia as kingdom plays catch-up in religious soft power rivalry
Long banned, Christmas has finally, at least tacitly, arrived in Saudi Arabia; just don’t use the name in marketing or be ostentatious about your...
Are Arab militias losing their usefulness for Iran?
Iranian support for Arab militias has long threatened Iran's detractors, unable to develop an effective counterstrategy. Now, the tide may be turning.
A string of events...
Qatar World Cup sparks culture controversies
Footballers with diametrically opposed views on homosexuality and alcohol consumption have sparked heated controversy about Islamic mores and human and workers’ rights in Qatar's...
China’s BRI crown jewel joins the era of defiance and dissent
The crown jewel of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) increasingly looks like a powder keg that has exploded.
Mass protests have for the past...
Playing cat and mouse: UAE energy company agrees to build power plants in Iran
Increasingly, compliance with US sanctions against Iran could emerge as a litmus test of the United Arab Emirates’ close ties to the United States.
At...
Saudi Arabia targets banned ultra-conservative proselytisers
Saudi Islamic affairs minister Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz al-Sheikh has ordered imams in the kingdom to identify one of the world’s largest Muslim movements as...
Pakistan slips on a slippery slope of religious militancy
Pakistani political and military leaders have vowed to eradicate ultra-conservative religious extremism that drove a mob to torture, brutally lynch a Sri Lankan national,...
The question with contradictory US human rights policies towards Saudi Arabia and Iran
A cursory look at Saudi Arabia and Iran suggests that emphasizing human rights in US foreign policy may complicate relations but has little impact...
Middle Eastern autocrats sigh relief: the US signals Democracy Summit will not change policy
The United States has signalled in advance of next week’s Summit for Democracy that it is unlikely to translate lip service to adherence to...