Haroon Moghul

Left or Right, the market always seems to win. This is actually where I would locate the greater threat to Arab democracy, and the temptation to slide into some form of authoritarianism, older or newer. As the people of the region confront the reality that they have little say over economic policy, and will be forced to accede to the contingencies of global capitalism, they may well become immensely frustrated by the scale of change and demand something different. Considering how volatile European and American politics have become, and how frequently we now see street protests and even supposedly stable and demure countries, how much more so these new democracies?

Conversion, magic, flogging, the New Third World, Muslim philosophy, Malcolm. Compelling reading, in any year.

While a valiant effort at a compassionate depiction of individuals swept up in the horror of the Bosnian Genocide, Angelina Jolie’s main character, Danijel, simply ends up humanizing genocide.