by David Bukay*

In 1975, Freedom House ranked only 25 percent of the world’s countries to be “politically free.” Three decades later, the proportion had increased to 46 percent, with 122 electoral democracies.[1] Democracy may have taken root in Eastern Europe, East Asia, Latin America, and much of sub-Saharan Africa, but the Middle East has largely been left behind. Except for Israel, Middle Eastern countries have long histories of authoritarianism, influenced by both culture and religion. In modern years, this has manifested itself in the rise, if not of direct military rule, then of states supported by militaries focused more on inward threats than on external enemies. Middle Eastern militaries, whether in Algeria, Egypt, or Turkey, have served as the main bulwark against the spread or empowerment of Islamists. However, Western policymakers must prepare for the day that the regional militaries will switch sides, casting their lot with Islamists rather than more secular autocrats.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s President, has shown his brazen disrespect for his own people, calling them “filth,” and has evicted Black Africans off their own lands. He has also instituted very racist policies towards his country’s remaining whites by confiscating their lands. Mugabe’s economic “leadership” has led Zimbabwe to have, “the world’s highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis and a cholera epidemic that has killed about 4000 people since August.”

Mugabe stuffs his face while millions starve: “The celebration, which reportedly cost $US250,000 ($A391,570), was held as Zimbabwe’s new unity government failed to secure financial aid to rescue the country’s collapsed economy.”

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by Janice Boddy
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007. 402 pp. $65 ($24.95, paper).

Reviewed by Arvid Vormann*
WADI

Recent years have seen serious debates in leftist and feminist circles over the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM), which prevails in parts of Africa as well as in the Middle and Far East. The debate has been shaped by the old tension between universalism and cultural relativism: For many of those who adhere to the latter, FGM has become an anti-imperialist, feminist symbol, an expression of female pride and self-determination, like the head scarf.[1] Among such analysts, the oppressive aspects of these traditions tend to be neglected. Their endorsement of FGM’s cruelties may be the most cynical way yet of challenging the universal claims of Western values.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Radical Muslims have once again perpetrated a heinous, misogynistic act of barbarity against a female child. Such acts reveal the deeply repressed state of some Muslim males. They force their women to cover themselves up so as not to arouse sexual temptations, apparently not trusting themselves. They blame women who are, for example, raped — even executing them. Such “punishments” are almost incomprehensible to most Westerners, but the civilized world needs to pay attention to these acts of violence, as they provide deep insight into the “thinking” of Islamists. From the Daily Mail, entitled, “Somali girl ‘pleaded for mercy’ before Islamists stoned her to death for being raped:”

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By Douglas Farah*

Every once in a while, it is necessary to step back from the abstract world of ideas and see what the ideas actually mean in people’s lives. That is particularly true as the new administration enters and has to think about what the radical Islamist agenda really means to those who live under it.

It is also worth noting the little-noticed support some of the worst parts of the Islamist agenda get from so-called moderate and mainstream Islamist groups who are tied to the Muslim Brotherhood.

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by Scott Carpenter*

When Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali extended his term in 2004 for another five years, making him effectively president-for-life, Mohsen Marzouk realized that for change to occur not only in Tunisia but also in other North African police states, it would be necessary to mesh internal Tunisian networks with ideas and activists from outside the country.

Born in July 1965 and raised in a poor, working-class neighborhood in Sfax, Marzouk has long been politically active. When he was thirteen, he joined a student movement aimed at challenging the rigid control of the governing party. At fourteen, authorities expelled him from his high school for his “political activities.”

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by Asaf Romirowsky*

Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes has argued for years that the solution to Islamism/radical Islam is moderate Islam. But the question is still, who are these moderates and where can they be found. As Pipes states, “Islamism [is] a radical utopian version of Islam. Islamists, adherents of this well funded, widespread, totalitarian ideology, are attempting to create a global Islamic order that fully applies the Islamic law (Shari’a).”

Using this definition, moderation requires rejection of jihad to impose Muslim rule and the rejection of suicide terrorism. No more second-class citizenship for non-Muslims. No more death penalty for adultery or “honor” killings of women. And No more death sentences for blasphemy or apostasy.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Apparently, it is routine in Nigeria for Muslims to kidnap Christian teenage girls, forcibly convert them to Islam, and marry them off to Muslim men. In this case, the Christian girls were held captive “… in the palace of the Muslim leader…” And when police freed the Christian girls, some Muslims went on a rampage, burning down six Christian churches. Make sense? From Compass Direct News:

Islamists under the auspices of a paramilitary force last week destroyed six churches to protest a police rescue of two teenage Christian girls kidnapped by Muslims in this Bauchi state town.

Police recovered the two Christian girls, Mary Chikwodi Okoye, 15, and Uche Edward, 14, on May 12 after Muslims in Ningi kidnapped them three weeks ago in an attempt to expand Islam by marrying them to Muslim men. Police took the two girls, who had been under foster care, to safety in southeastern Nigeria where their biological parents live. …

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by Michael Rubin*

While the United States has focused its attention on Iranian activities in the greater Middle East, Iran has worked assiduously to expand its influence in Latin America and Africa. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s outreach in both areas has been deliberate and generously funded. He has made significant strides in Latin America, helping to embolden the anti-American bloc of Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua. In Africa, he is forging strong ties as well. The United States ignores these developments at its peril, and efforts need to be undertaken to reverse Iran’s recent gains.

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Interview by MEF*

Mohamed Sifaoui was born on July 4, 1967, and spent most of his childhood in Algeria. He holds a master’s degree in political science and studied theology for two years at the University of Algiers and for two additional years at Zeitouna University’s Institute of Theology in Tunis. In 1994, he began work for the Algerian daily Le Soir and survived a February 11, 1996 bomb attack at Le Soir’s headquarters at the Maison de la Presse. In 1999, the French government granted him political asylum after he received death threats both from Algerian Islamists and the military. In Paris, Sifaoui works at the French weekly Marianne. Between October 2002 and January 2003, he infiltrated an Al-Qaeda cell in France in order to research his book, Mes frères assassins: Comment j’ai infiltré une cellule d’Al-Qaïda. (My assassin brothers: How I infiltrated an Al-Qaeda cell).[1]

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By Canadian Coalition for Democracies

Ottawa, Canada - The Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD) and members of the Kenyan-Canadian community applaud Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier and International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda for their initiative during the post-election crisis in Kenya, and commend the Government for its initial offer of financial assistance to the people.

“We are thankful for Canada’s contribution of $1 million to the Kenyan Red Cross,” said Tegi Obanda, International Coordinator of the Coalition for Constitutional Reforms Kenya (CCR-K). “It is a good start, but more must be done.”

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By Samir Ben-Layashi

This article discusses the social and political context of Morocco’s 2007 parliamentary elections, which brought surprising results. It attempts to explain why the moderate Islamic party, the PJD, did not achieve an overwhelming victory as was expected. It also explores why the formerly undefeatable socialist party, the USFP, lost popularity. Finally, it examines the remarkable comeback of the historically conservative Independent Party, the IP. The article points out that while the PJD may have lost on the national scale, it won in most of the big cites–the political, economic, and intellectual capitals of Morocco. The IP, on the other hand, succeeded mainly in the rural areas, where voting is largely influenced by state propaganda, notables, and family alliances.

The end of summer 2007 marked three important events in Morocco: the beginning of the academic school year, Ramadan, and elections for the lower chamber of parliament.^[1]

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By Walid Phares*

Here are few remarks about the bombings in Algeria today:

An Al Qaeda link?

Most experts in Algeria and the Arab world believe this terror campaign is either inspired or ordered by al Qaeda in the Maghreb. Even if the execution is perpetrated by local Jihadist groups it is part of the Salafist general offensive against Algeria’s Government and an extension to the North African operations by al Qaeda Maghreb in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania and possibly later Libya. This attack in Algeria today is linked to the regional strategy of weakening the Algerian Government in general and resuming the 1990s warfare against Kufr (infdidel) institutions, society and Government. But unlike in the past decade, today’s operations are strategically coordinated with al Qaeda central, not in terms of operations but policies and international decision making. However I believe that this particular attack is a response to the recent visit by French President Nicholas Sarkozy to Algeria. It is directed against the number of agreements signed by the Government of Abdelaziz Bouteflika with the Paris presidential delegation. The Jihadist incitement against the Algerian authorities, including mostly via the al jazeera shows, usually indicates the trends to come. Algiers was accused by the Salafi forces as “betraying the Muslim world and associating with French kuffar.” The strikes came in line with this incitement.

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By Andrew L. Jaffee

Fearless Leader Robert Mugabe sure has devastated his country. But what’s Mugabe got to worry about? He’s rich, safe, and comfortable, and to heck with his own people, whom he calls “filth.” While Zimbabwean “inflation has risen to more than 4500 per cent,” and “250 grams of butter [is] $Z497,000,” Mugabe’s cupboards are full. From The Sydney Morning Herald, entitled “Mugabe’s elite shops in style as a nation starves:”

ROBERT MUGABE’s local supermarket is unlike any other shop in Zimbabwe. Elsewhere there are empty shelves where bread, butter, sugar, meat and the staple maize meal should be.

But at the Spar in Borrowdale Brooke - a suburb of the capital, Harare, near the President’s palatial home - almost anything is available, including focaccia, sun-dried tomatoes and cigars.

The difference typifies a nation where a ruling elite enjoys wealth and privilege, while the vast majority exists in grinding poverty and struggle to survive. …

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A personal, historical vignette

By Cainnech Ó Sullibhain

In December 1963, the ship that I served on was carrying some general cargo destined for Tanganyika, East Africa. The freight was part of an aid package for Tanganyika from the Commonwealth Colombo Plan in Britain.

When we headed downriver and anchored beside an old German fort, I knew we were in the wilds. My first thought was to get ashore somehow and reach a place where I might get some decent food, or so I thought. I got ashore by a small dinghy and made my way through the jungle. This area was well known for lions, so I was a bit wary of where I was going. Coming out of a clearing I reached what seemed like a road and was walking to who knows where, when a big lorry came by carrying some goods for the main town. As it happened the African driver of the lorry stopped and wished me: “Jambo Bwana!” (Greetings Sir!), to which I replied “Jambo” in return. I got a lift with him.

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