Argument
How the Idea of ‘India’ Came About
For the Mughal rulers, whose control covered much of the subcontinent, India could be imagined as something close to a unified state. However, for the millions of people beneath their rule, no sense of a “nation” or being part of “India” is evident.
After Khamenei
Whoever becomes the next president of the Islamic Republic will face many challenges. There are renewed nuclear talks and a restless nation licking its wounds from two bloody protests. And there will probably be a death and a succession to the position of supreme leader. The current supreme leader Khamenei knows this, and must be preparing for it.
The Lasting Pain of Ireland’s Partition
This year marks the centenary of one of those malicious acts of history: the partition of Ireland, the establishment of a sectarian statelet in the northeast of the island, and the beginning of a whole new set of injustices that have fueled successive outbursts of civil strife.
Zarif’s Beefs
Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif is, in a sense, more of a true believer than many in the Revolutionary Guard. He genuinely appears to be under the illusion that the ideals of the Islamic Republic still have popular support and that Iran should rely on them instead of brute force. Few in the IRGC seem to harbor such illusions.
Ottoman Feminists and their Struggle in Modern Day Turkey
Still today, a majority of the public believes that women were handed their rights on a silver platter. However, according to the rectified version of history, it was in the late 19th century that Muslim women of the Ottoman Empire first started to demand their rights.
What the CIA Did (and Didn’t Do) in Soviet-Occupied Afghanistan
Western leftists think the CIA created al Qaeda by helping the mujahideen shoot down Russian helicopters. They’re wrong. The CIA program to arm anti-Soviet Afghan mujahideen with Stinger missiles saved lives.
Why There’s Hope for Libya
Libya now has a unified national government that resulted from a peaceful transition of power and handover by the two rival governments. Two top U.N. envoys to Libya say they could have hardly imagined this development a year ago when they were serving in the United Nations.