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| Microscope |
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| Hamas's election and the Implications on the Israeli State's legitimacy |
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Dr Salman Ahmad
The shock of Hamas's victory in the recent Palestinian elections has led many western commentators and politicians to re-consider their assumption that western style democracy should be brought to the Muslim world.
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| Elections Signal the Desire for Islam |
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Riaz Hassan
An unusual conundrum now faces the West; stay loyal to the founding constructs of democracy or embrace realpolitik and discard any delusions of an enlightened and democratic Middle East. The stunning election victories of Hamas, the surprisingly good showing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the sweeping into power of Ahmadinejad in Iran and last but not least the stranglehold of the religious parties in all of Iraq's recent elections; all show a worrying trend for exporters of the democratic ideal.
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| The Challenges Facing Hamas | 
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Mohammed Hussain
Amongst other things, government implies: the existence of state machinery, functioning and utilising viable methods of finance and a competent administration and security apparatus. It also requires having control over all these areas.
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| Addicted to Oil |  |
Arif Samad
In his state-of-the-Union speech President George Bush admitted that the USA had an addiction to oil. As with any addiction, the first challenge in overcoming the dependency is for the addict to admit he has a problem. The admission came as Americans faced historically high petrol prices at the pumps (in excess of $3 per gallon) and US oil imports rose to two thirds of total demand.
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| Progress |  |
Akmal Asghar
In 1068, the judge of the Spanish city of Toledo published a book describing the 'Categories of Nations'. In it, Qadi Said ibn Ahmad listed the nations he believed had most contributed to knowledge and to the cultivation of the sciences.
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| Why Muslims Don't Laugh at Insults to their Religion |  |
Dr Abdullah Robin
Twelve cartoons, first published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30th 2005, satirised the prophet Muhammad and were received negatively by Muslims in Denmark and throughout the world. Muslims generally perceived them to be derogatory and took the insult as an attack upon Islam.
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| Iran Blindspot |  |
Sajjad Khan
It is one of the ironies of our globalised era, that despite the abundance of available information and the plethora of alternative resources much of the western world remains stuck in its narrow ideological state. The memorable phrase from Orwell's Animal Farm of four legs good two legs bad has now been incorporated in todays international relations lexicon.
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| A triumph for India |
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David Morrison
US President George Bush visited India from 1-3 March 2006. During his visit, progress was madeon the implementation of the US-India nuclear agreement, signed in Washington on 18 July 2005 during a visit by Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Specifically, the two governments agreed a "separation plan" for India's nuclear facilities, as required by the agreement.
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| Dubai Ports and the future of International Finance |  |
Jamal Okae
In the aftermath of the Dubai ports controversy, more has been affected than the collapse of the deal. The deal has had a great impact on perceptions of America in the Arab world, and it will potentially have a great impact on international financial markets and political and economic interaction between the west and the Islamic world, especially the Gulf.
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| Why Forgiving Ourselves and Each Other is the Path to Global Justice |  |
John Bunzl
When we protest against transnational corporations, politicians and unaccountable global institutions such as the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank; when we protest against those we regard as causing or exacerbating global warming, ecological destruction, pollution or the widening gap between rich and poor, we inevitably blame them.
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| Middle Eastern Proliferation: Reality or Myth? |  |
Mohammed Zahid
The spectre of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons has been causing apprehension in the West lately. There has been much concern about the potential consequences of Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons. There has been concern about the security of Israel, especially after the rise to power of conservative politicians in Iran, who have made clear their disdain for Israel.
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| Britishness and Identity Politics |  |
Dr Abdullah Wahid
Gordon Brown, Michael Howard, Boris Johnson, David Blunkett and Trevor Phillips are just a few of the names that have dared to tackle the complex and controversial subject of British citizenship.
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