This Blog is intended for use by students in the Islamic Middle East course at Northfield Mount Hermon School and guest students and teachers from other participating schools.
On the Op-Ed page of today’s New York Times, writer Paul Berman sounds a pessimistic note on how the battle against Muslim extremism seems to be going:
Paul Berman, “Why Radical Islam Just Won’t Go Away,” New York Times, March 23, 2008
Discussion Question:Is Berman’s pessimism completely or even partially warranted? See William Dalrymple’s comments on the [...]
Three foreign affairs experts (two of them former ambassadors) have proposed a way of resolving the dispute between the United States and Iran over Iran’s nuclear program.
Excerpts:
“We propose that Iran’s efforts to produce enriched uranium and other related nuclear activities be conducted on a multilateral basis, that is to say jointly managed and operated on [...]
We will soon view a new PBS Frontline program on Iran entitled Forbidden Iran. Follow this link to the PBS web site devoted to the program.
More on the history of Iran
Next week, we will view the PBS Frontline documentary “Saudi Time Bomb?” Follow this link to the PBS web site for this program: it contains background material and links to other useful content.
More on the history of Saudi Arabia
More on the Wahhabi Movement
In the wake of an Israeli blockade of the Gaza strip, which has caused Hamas officials to shut down the area’s only power plant, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appealed to the UN, the Mideast Quartet, and the Arab League to exert pressure on Israel to lift the blockade to resume the import of fuel [...]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has arrived in Iraq on a state visit.
He is the first Iranian president to visit Iraq since the two neighbours fought a war in the 1980s that killed more than a million people.
Ahmadinejad went straight into talks on Sunday with Jalal Talabani, the Iraqi president, and Nuri al-Maliki, the prime [...]
Conservatives claimed victory in this past week’s parliamentary elections in Iran.
Story from the BBC
See Tim Franks’ piece from the BBC on the challenges facing Arabs who live in Israel.
Story from the BBC
In today’s New York Times Magazine, constitutional law expert Noah Feldman examines the challenges to Islam’s claim to govern according to divine will. Feldman asks, “Can Shariah provide the necessary resources for such a rethinking of the judicial role?” His assessment: ”In its essence, Shariah aspires to be a law that applies equally to every human, [...]
Two articles in the media today look back on the approaching fifth year anniversary (March 19, 2003) of the U.S. led war in Iraq:
1. BBC correspondent Paul Reynolds surveys the fallout: Go to article
2. John F. Burns looks back in an article in today’s New York Times.
IME course study guide on Iraq
BBC Middle East