International Political Will

If ever there was a symbol of the conflict between female education and tradition in Central and South Asia, this was it.
One of my students from the slums of Mumbai (where full black burqas are not uncommon), 15-year-old “Sally” takes the train to school everyday. Her parents had no idea that she was secretly meeting [...]

The embarrassing praise and adoration that the media is pouring on Obama after his “speech to the Muslim world” in Cairo is proof that liberals no longer have a voice in public policy.
Instead, we are left with a pseudo-debate between the right and the center, with spin doctors trying to convince Americans (and even the [...]

A story about a women’s shelter in Afghanistan should be an opportunity to showcase what can really drive progress.  It could be a chance to commend those handling the day-to-day operations.  It might be an opening to demonstrate what role Islam plays in women’s lives who, although they have been victims of a brutal misogynist [...]

All too frequently, the media sensationalizes non-stories as they attempt to whip up anti-Islamic fervor in the name of ratings.  FOX News ran a story headline Sunday: “Islamic Law’s Influence in America a Growing Concern.”
What exactly is the concern?  Apparently, some taxi drivers in the U.S. decided not to carry passengers with alcohol, a university [...]

There is yet another obscure way our government is trying to fight the so-called “war on terror” (besides actually stopping it).
Pomegranates.
Apparently these delicious (but ridiculously hard-to-peel) fruits are the key to fighting terror in Afghanistan and thwarting the Taliban. Unable to keep local Afghan farmers from growing the lucrative opium poppies, the U.S. government is [...]