Middle East and the Gulf

Who should win the next Noble?

Reading Mark Lilla’s essay, the poster says it laments that Islamism has replaced communism as bad theory with bad practice, and that the Middle East needs a Muslim thinker to…

Brown Pundits Archive29 June 20140 comments
Modern day slaves in a pre-modern country

With state control gone in Iraq, the post says armed gangs are probably holding hundreds of Indian workers, mostly from Punjab, for ransom, and quotes a report of 231 young…

Brown Pundits Archive28 June 20140 comments
What is your name?

On ISIS fighters releasing Sunnis and executing Shias in Iraq, the post treats identity questioning as a life-or-death interview, draws a grim comparison with Hindus in Bangladesh, and quotes a…

Brown Pundits Archive27 June 20140 comments
“Tomorrow they can be in India”

Citing a scholar’s warning, the post argues the Iraq conflict could endanger Pakistan and even India, given large Shia populations such as Lucknow’s, and that if Iraq’s existential battle deepens,…

Brown Pundits Archive27 June 20140 comments
Why It May Be Different This Time

The author argues ISIS is more dangerous than past jihadist groups because their urge to violence alienates populations, an ‘ebola strategy’ that limits them, and the threat becomes existential only…

Brown Pundits Archive27 June 20140 comments
They killed the judge (who nixed Saddam)

A report that the Kurdish judge who presided at Saddam Hussein’s trial was kidnapped and executed, with the poster reflecting that minority ghettos protect culture but carry stigma where an…

Brown Pundits Archive24 June 20140 comments
To Mosul, with love

Introducing a memory of Mosul in the 1970s, the post says Sunni friends blame America for Iraq’s ruin and compares Saddam to Indira Gandhi, while a quoted piece argues the…

Brown Pundits Archive22 June 20140 comments
Iraq: Indian Partition and Afghan Jihad combo package?

The post finds two parallels in Iraq’s crisis: a Sunni elite fearing electoral swamping by a Shia majority recalls the run-up to Partition, while divided rebels and an Iran-Saudi proxy…

Brown Pundits Archive20 June 20140 comments
Iraq’s Reverberations in India

Reporting Indian Shia anxiety over ISIS threats to Najaf and Karbala, the post questions whether India should take sides in a regional proxy and civil war, given its limited capacity,…

Brown Pundits Archive20 June 20140 comments
History of Iraq (and Middle East)

Sketching the Middle East as Sunnis against Sunnis and Sunnis against Shias, the post notes that Shi’ism’s heart is Iraq rather than Iran, fears minorities will be crushed, and asks…

Brown Pundits Archive20 June 20140 comments