President Barack Obama’s speech in Cairo University on 4 June, rivals the brilliance of John F Kennedy’s Ich bin ein Berliner 1963 speech in Berlin.  Shrewdly, the event was hosted by Cairo University, founded in 1908, al-Azhar University, founded in 975.  I could not resist watching its entire 54 minutes.  Of course, words alone [...]

In a 2006 Gallup poll, 9% of the Muslim world thought that the Q’ran should be the only source of national law; 46% that it should be a source. Unsurprising? And what if I tell you that this is not true but is the transposition of the results of a poll of Americans, 9% of [...]

Kuwait – Afghanistan – Iraq – Jordan – Israel – West Bank – Berlin – Paris – London, was the Barack Obama itinerary for the past week.  The ‘celebrity tour’ element was a great success.  However, the tour was part of his American electoral campaign, and the degree of its success will be seen in [...]

That great Communitarian, Amitai Etzioni, compellingly argues that the first priority in foreign policy is to provide basic security, not to democratize (Security First, 2007, Yale University Press). He argues for a “muscular, moral foreign policy” for the United States. Security cannot, however, be mainly based on military forces, police and other methods of law [...]

The great thing about Karen Armstrong’s ‘ISLAM: A Short History’ is that it is short (161 pages) and clearly written. The book is a must for those who need to understand more about Islam than they do – which means most of us. I’m a fan of the author, who converted me with her ‘A [...]

Anyone reading some of the thousands of words in the English media, in blogs and on the net and in text messages about his 7 February speech, may be forgiven for believing that the Dr Rowan Williams, head of the Church of England, is crazy. Did he not say that the introduction of certain parts [...]