Today's religion and world affairs news from the United States and around the globe: ISIS, Pope Francis, and women in Iran.
BERKLEY CENTER IN THE NEWS
The Islamic State Challenge
by Drew Christiansen and Ra'fat Aldajani
National Catholic Reporter op-ed
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/islamic-state-challenge
In reality, the Islamic State benefits from an almost perfect storm of "contradictions and self-imposed restraints" among the countries arrayed against it. This web of conflicting interests may well result in the survival of Islamic State and its further validation in the eyes of militant jihadists worldwide.
AROUND THE WORLD
The Pope and the Precipice
by Ross Douthat
New York Times op-ed
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/opinion/sunday/ross-douthat-the-pope-and-the-precipice.html?ref=to...
Francis is charismatic, popular, widely beloved. He has, until this point, faced strong criticism only from the church’s traditionalist fringe, and managed to unite most Catholics in admiration for his ministry. There are ways that he can shape the church without calling doctrine into question, and avenues he can explore (annulment reform, in particular) that would bring more people back to the sacraments without a crisis.
Christians of Mosul Find Haven in Jordan
by Rana F. Sweis
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/27/world/middleeast/for-mosuls-christians-a-shelter-in-jordan.html?re...
Their flight is part of a larger exodus of Christians leaving those Arab lands where religious intolerance is on the rise, a trend that has caused concern among Christians outside the region — including the pope. It has also captured the attention of King Abdullah II of Jordan, a close American ally who has made the need for the continued presence of multiple religions in the Middle East a major talking point in recent years.
Children of the Caliphate
by Kate Brannen
Foreign Policy
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/24/children_of_the_caliphate_iraq_syria_child_soldiers
The Islamic State has put in place a far-reaching and well-organized system for recruiting children, indoctrinating them with the group's extremist beliefs, and then teaching them rudimentary fighting skills. The militants are preparing for a long war against the West, and hope the young warriors being trained today will still be fighting years from now.
What's the Appeal of a Caliphate?
by Edward Stourton
BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29761018
When Islamic State (IS) declared itself a caliphate in June this year, and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi claimed the title of caliph, it seemed confirmation of the group's reputation for megalomania and atavistic fantasy. But is it dangerous to underestimate the appeal of IS? Al-Baghdadi's brutal regime does not, of course, remotely conform to the classical Muslim understanding of what a caliphate should be, but it does evoke an aspiration with a powerful and increasingly urgent resonance in the wider Muslim world.
Sykes-Picot Drew Lines in the Middle East’s Sand That Blood Is Washing Away
by Michael Williams
Reuters op-ed
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/24/sykes-picot-drew-lines-in-the-middle-easts-sand-tha...
Iraq, like Syria, was a consequence of World War One and of the infamous, in Arab eyes, agreement between Sir Mark Sykes and Francois-Georges Picot which led to the division of the former Ottoman Turkish domains by the two leading European powers, Britain and France. That agreement, now almost a century old, appears in tatters, as both countries are broken, exhausted by years of war and sectarian division for which there is no easy repair.
Tunisia Boldly Embraces Democracy
by Jackson Diehl
Washington Post op-ed
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-tunisia-boldly-embraces-democracy/2014/10/26/8d...
That strategy and its visionary architect, Rashid Ghannouchi, unquestionably look exceptional in the scorched-earth Arab landscape. But is Tunisia, where Ghannouchi is promising “the first Arab democracy . . . by the end of this year,” really anomalous?
Staying Out of Syria
by Steven Simon
Foreign Affairs
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/142295/steven-simon/staying-out-of-syria
The aim is to battle ISIS without either aiding or fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But the balancing act is proving difficult. The United States could soon face a choice between appearing to provide tacit support to Syrian government forces and joining the fight against them.
Under the Cosh
Economist
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21628010-their-lot-getting-worse-under-cosh
Restrictions in Iran may not rival Saudi Arabia—Iranian women are permitted to drive and openly socialize with male friends—but a political debate has broken out about how they should conduct themselves in public.
Why President Rouhani Is Supporting Thousands of Iranian Protesters
by Rick Noack
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/10/24/why-president-rouhani-is-supporting-tho...
Although Rouhani did not mention the protests or the acid attacks, the statement was remarkable, and it could be the latest public acknowledgement of an internal fight between Rouhani's government and other, more conservative Iranian institutions. Rouhani has repeatedly clashed with religious hardliners in recent months, and he called them out again on Wednesday. "The sacred call to virtue is not the right of a select group of people, a handful taking the moral high ground and acting as guardians," he said.
In Southeast Turkey, a Long History of Bloodshed and Worship
by Peter Kenyon
NPR
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2014/10/24/358577089/in-southeast-turkey-a-long-history-of-bloods...
The Urfa plain in southeastern Turkey—not far from where Syrian refugees watch fighters from the so-called Islamic State wage a brutal war in the name of a primitive version of their faith—is one of the most fought-over landscapes in human civilization.
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