MER Article The Paradox of Islamist Politics With the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, a group which is argued to represent Islamism is thought to have carried out an action of unprecedented scale against one of its enemies. In light of the September 11 events, those outside the field of Middle East studies Salwa Ismail • 14 min read
MER Article Islam and the Theology of Power Since the early 1980s, commentators have argued that Islam is suffering a crisis of identity, as the crumbling of Islamic civilization in the modern age has left Muslims with a profound sense of alienation and injury. Challenges confronting Muslim nations -- failures of development projects, entrenched authoritarian regimes and the inability Khaled Abou El Fadl • 16 min read
MER Article Islam and the Politics of Community and Citizenship Islam is in the news again, associated with international terrorism. Popular sentiment in many parts of the Muslim world manifests support for Osama bin Laden, alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks in the United States. Ironically, this episode comes at a point when political Islam, in itself, is no Sami Zubaida • 20 min read
MER Article Lucknow Dispatch “The saviors of religion [in Kashmir] ordered all Muslim women to adopt the hijab by September 10, 2001. Women did because they did not want acid to be thrown in their faces.... When Roop Kanwar became a Sati with her husband, the event was glorified by the guardians of Hinduism. When it comes to wo Shalini Mathur, Richa Nagar • 5 min read
MER Article Descent into Disaster? On October 19, 2001, Iran agreed to build camps to accommodate new refugees fleeing US bombing and internal chaos in Afghanistan. This was the first piece of good news for relief workers concerned that Operation Enduring Freedom is accelerating the descent of Afghanistan's decades-old refugee crisis Margaret Emery, Hiram Ruiz • 5 min read
MER Article Afghanistan in the Balance In the first few days after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, it became clear that the United States was going to seek out allies in the region to assist efforts to destroy al-Qaeda bases and networks of support in Afghanistan. Very quickly that objective was expan Patricia Gossman • 16 min read
MER Article Hamas Stands Down? When Osama bin Laden evoked the Palestinian cause in his widely viewed statement October 7, he split Palestinians between those who appreciated the support and those who were horrified by the association. At the same time, the new world “coalition against terror” has deployed the Palestinian Authori Charmaine Seitz • 9 min read
MER Article first writing since I there have been no words. i have not written one word. no poetry in the ashes south of canal street. no prose in the refrigerated trucks driving debris and dna. not one word. today is a week, and seven is of heavens, gods, science. evident out my kitchen window is an abstract reality. Suheir Hammad • 6 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Winter 2001) The hijackings and mass murders of September 11 were horrible and momentous, but the world did not suddenly change on that crystal-clear morning. Existing cracks in the US-led world order widened and deepened, and lurking insecurities strode forth from the shadows. Chris Toensing, Elliott Colla • 9 min read
