Religious Extremism

Saudi-Iran Islamist Proxy Wars Drive Decades of Mideast Destruction

November 22, 2016

The struggle for Islamist hegemony in the Mideast between Saudi Arabia and Iran is now completing its third decade, with the Sunni and Shiite giants supporting proxies that are destroying states from Yemen to Iraq and destabilizing states such Egypt, Bahrain, and Lebanon.
Mauritanian Sharia Supporters Push for Blogger's Execution

November 22, 2016

The consolidation of support for sharia law in Mauritania, a country that practices slavery and female genital mutilation, has led to renewed calls from the country's Islamist hardliner Forum for Ulemas and Imams for the execution of a young blogger convicted of blasphemy for critiquing the Islamic Prophet Mohammed.
Blasphemy Trial Signals Growth of Hardline Islamism in Indonesia

November 22, 2016

The decision by Indonesian police forces to recommend the trial of the Christian governor of Jakarta on blasphemy charges has evoked warnings by international human rights experts that the world's most populous Muslim-majority country is moving away from tolerance for religious pluralism.
Islamist Mentality in Egypt Exacerbates Christian Persecution

November 16, 2016

Coptic Christians in Egypt face a continuing barrage of state discrimination and societal violence and hostility, as Egyptian state authorities, under both Muslim Brotherhood and military-secularist governments, reinforce an Islamist majoritarian mentality that positions the country's indigenous Christian community as second-class citizens.
Islamist Ideology Blocks Incrementalist Change in Saudi Arabia

November 09, 2016

The embeddedness of Wahhabi ideology in Saudi Arabia's social mores and political culture and the dominance of Islamist norms in public education form strong impediments to the gradualist program of socio-economic reform from the Vision 2030 modernization package launched by Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.
Murray Warns of Dutch Religious Speech Restrictions

November 08, 2016

Commentator Douglas Murray identifies the trial in the Netherlands of anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders for a speech in which he supported removing Moroccans from the country as a modern European "blasphemy" trial in which the state polices religious criticism.
NATO Member Turkey Moves Toward Islamist Autocracy

November 07, 2016

Last week's continuing political and media purges and emergency decrees on the annual Republic Day celebrations by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan moved the NATO ally one step closer to an Islamist autocracy and signaled that the consolidation of an Islamist dictatorship amounts to a return to an Ottoman Empire model of governance and geopolitics.
Shiite Iran Makes Gains on Sunni Saudi Arabia

November 07, 2016

The geopolitics of the Mideast reflect rising threat levels for the region and global stability, given the intensification of Islamist power struggles stretching from the Arabian Gulf to the Eastern Mediterranean that indicate Shiite Iran registering gains in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, at the expense of Sunni Saudi Arabia.
Islamist Extremists Flex Power in Indonesia

November 07, 2016

The growing power of Islamist extremists was on full display in a violent public protest in the capital city of Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population, where the Islamic Defenders Group led a massive rally demanding the resignation of a Christian mayoral candidate for comments deemed "insulting to the Koran."
Violence Is Backbone of Turkey's Islamist Autocracy

November 07, 2016

Turkey's President has appointed hardline Islamist nationalists throughout the country's police force and has weaponized "Ottoman youth brigades," indicating that violence is the backbone of the country's consolidating Islamist autocracy.