The Emerging New World Order\u27s Alarm Bells: Men Like Brandon Tarrant and Andreas Breivik

This week\u27s attack on two mosques in New Zealand reflects a paradigm shift: the erosion of liberal values and the rise of civilisationalism at the expense of the nation-state. So do broader phenomena like widespread Islamophobia with the crackdown on Turkic Muslims in Xinjiang as its extreme, and growing ant-Semitism These phenomena are fuelled by increasing intolerance and racism enabled by far right and world leaders as well as ultra-conservatives and jihadists.   These world leaders and far-right ideologues couch their policies and views in terms of defending a civilization rather than exclusively a nation-state defined by its citizenry and borders

Middle Eastern Protests Challenge Debilitating Gulf Counterrevolution

Much of the Middle East's recent turmoil stems from internecine Middle Eastern rivalries spilling onto third country battlefields and Saudi and United Arab Emirates-led efforts to roll back the achievements of the 2011 popular Arab revolts and pre-empt further uprisings.   This week's successful toppling of ailing Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and months of anti-government demonstrations that have put Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir on the defensive suggest that the Saudi-UAE effort may be faltering

Turkic Chinese Soup: a Barometer of Anti-Chinese Sentiment

A heavy soup made of pulled noodles, meat, and vegetables symbolizes Central Asia's close cultural and/or ethnic ties with China's repressed Turkic and Hui Muslims. It also explains growing Central Asian unease with China's re-education campaign in its north-western province of Xinjiang and its signature infrastructure and energy driven-Belt and Road initiative

Turkish-Chinese Spat Puts Central Asian Leaders on the Spot

A Turkish-Chinese spat as a result of Turkish criticism of China's crackdown on Turkic Muslims in its strategic but troubled north-western province of Xinjiang complicates efforts by Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states to at best deal quietly behind closed doors with the plight of their citizens and ethnic kin in the People's Republic.   China's threat that the Turkish criticism of its massive surveillance and detention campaign, involving the alleged incarceration in re-education camps of up to one million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims would have economic consequences and the temporary closure of the Chinese consulate in the Mediterranean port city of Izmir serves as warnings to others in the Muslim world what could happen if they break their silence

Indian Muslims: a Rich Hunting Ground for Middle Eastern Rivals

When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently declared that Turkey was “the only country that can lead the Muslim world,” he probably wasn't only thinking of Middle Eastern and other Islamic states such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. Increasingly, there is evidence that Indian Muslims, the Islamic world's fourth largest community after Indonesia and the South Asian states, is on Mr. Erdogan's radar

Chinese Pressure Tactics Put Countries Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Recent Chinese pressure on Myanmar to approve a controversial dam project and the arrest in recent days in Kazakhstan of a human rights activist suggest that China in a seemingly tone-deaf pursuit of its interests is forcing governments to choose between heeding increasingly anti-Chinese public sentiment and pleasing Beijing to ensure continued political and economic support.   Apparent Chinese disregard of public opinion, whether as a matter of policy or because of haphazard insensitivity, is compounded by the powering of anti-Chinese sentiment in several countries as a result of commercial terms of China-funded Belt and Road projects that favor the use of Chinese rather than local labor and materials

Papal Visit Boosts UAE Effort to Redefine Concepts of Tolerance

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is projecting itself as a leader of the inter-communal and inter-faith harmony with the first-ever visit by a Catholic pope to the Gulf and an inter-faith conference that is as much about dialogue as it is about absolute political control. There is no doubt that the UAE is a leader in the Muslim world in promoting concepts of religious tolerance and prevention of religiously packages militancy. The UAE has bolstered perceptions of its leadership by declaring February, the month of Pope Francis's visit and the conference, a month of tolerance. The UAE is one of a few if not the only country that has a government ministry of tolerance

Harsh Turkish Condemnation of Xinjiang Cracks Muslim Wall of Silence

In perhaps the most significant condemnation to date of China\u27s brutal crackdown on Turkic Muslims in its north-western province of Xinjiang. Turkey\u27s foreign ministry demanded this weekend that Chinese authorities respect human rights of the Uighurs and close what it termed “concentration camps” in which up to one million people are believed to be imprisoned. Calling the crackdown an “embarrassment to humanity,” Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman HamiAksoy said the death of detained Uighur poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit had prompted the ministry to issue its statement

South Asian Geopolitics: Saudi Arabia: 1 Iran: 0?

It may be reading tea leaves but analysis of the walk-up to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman's visit and his sojourn in Islamabad suggests that Pakistan may be about to fight battles on two fronts rather than just the Indian one in the wake of this month's attacks in Kashmir.   Prince Mohammed's expressions of unconditional support for Pakistan coupled with his promise of US$20 billion in investments in addition to US$ 6 billion in desperately needed financial aid raise the specter of a shift in Pakistani efforts in recent years to walk a fine line in the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran