On April 25th, 2012, Gyaltsen Norbu, the 11th Panchen Lama, delivered a speech for the first time outside of the…
Panchen Lama in Hong Kong
international affairs
Nahda’s return to history
The Tunisian uprisings of December 2010 are often depicted in negative terms, as lacking leadership, ideology, and political organization. Nahda…
Alawites, Alevis, and Assad
n a recent article in The New Republic, Soner Cagaptay discusses how Syria's sectarian divisions could exacerbate current divisions in Turkey.
The problem of translation: A view from India
What is the politics of religious freedom? For the past decade and more, those who would like to see the…
Book launch: Rethinking Religion and World Affairs
On Tuesday, May 1, the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs will host the launch of Rethinking Religion…
Contradictions of religious freedom and religious repression
The collapse of the Soviet Union marked the end of seventy years of anti-religious policies---of a period in which religious…
Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Cuba
Last week at The New Republic, Carlos Eire reviewed the Pope’s recent visit to Cuba.
On the secularist-Islamist divide
At Al Jazeera English, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd gives an abridged history of the past half-century of Tunisian politics, and relays the Enahddan notion that the…
The year of the Islamist
David Rohde, in Reuters’ Analysis and Opinion blog, designates 2012 as the year of the Islamist and discusses the likelihood…
New Peace Brief on the desecration of the Qur’an
Following reports of NATO personnel burning copies of the Qu'ran in Afghanistan, the United States Institute of Peace convened a…