arab spring
The New Arabs, by Juan Cole
Juan Cole tells the backstory of the revolutions in North Africa, exploring events in the context of their cultural setting. His conclusions are optimistic yet grounded in realism.
reviewed by Paul-Gordon Chandler
The New Middle East, by Paul Danahar
Christians in the United States who are committed to accompanying the churches of the Middle East are looking for help in understanding the shifting dynamics of the region after the Arab Spring. Paul Danahar’s lengthy study would seem to promise such help.
reviewed by Alain Epp Weaver
Religion and foreign policy: Scholar Maryann Cusimano Love
"After 9/11, religion was put on the State Department's agenda—as a source of conflict. But religion can also be a force for peace."
by Amy Frykholm
Hard choices in Egypt: Will Christians vote for the old regime?
In a runoff election for president, Christians are stuck between the rock of Mubarak's prime minister and the hard place of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The "we" of women's rights
It is difficult to know what to say in response to Mona Eltahawy’s explosive article on the experience of women in Middle Eastern countries. She writes about a level of institutionalized brutality that demands that readers pay attention.
At the same time, she doesn’t say anything new, nothing that wasn’t already made too vividly clear during the Arab Spring.
Winter for Arab Christians?
An irony of Christian life amid the Arab Spring is that Christians have
frequently been protected by the authoritarian regimes that are under
attack.