The relationship between Islam and democracy in the contemporary world is complex. The Muslim world is not ideologically monolithic. It presents a broad spectrum of perspectives ranging from the extremes of those who deny a connection between Islam and democracy to those who argue that Islam requires a democratic system. In between the extremes, in a number of countries where Muslims are a majority, many Muslims believe that Islam is a support for democracy even though their particular political system is not explicitly defined as Islamic. Throughout the Muslim world in the twentieth century, many groups that identify themselves explicitly…

Many of the United States’ diplomatic difficulties with Iran began with the 1979-81 Iranian Hostage Crisis. The crisis resulted in a number of complex challenges for the Carter administration. On November 4, 1979, militant Iranian students stormed the American Embassy in Tehran, taking hostage the embassy staff in a gesture of protest against American  foreign policy. The political nature of a revolutionary Iran greatly prolonged the crisis and forced President Jimmy Carter to explore many different avenues for the hostages’ release. International and domestic concerns further complicated any possible response from the Carter administration. Carter initially sought to secure the release of the hostages…

  My name is Raaef Elwishee. I was born in Egypt and I have been an American citizen for a quarter of a century. I have three children born in America from an American wife. I have never hurt any body but I am a victim of the U.S government. Feb.10,05: I was tortured ( naked ) inside the presidential palace of the dictator Mubarak for doing nothing. That would not happen without a green light from the U.S. 12 days after  the barbaric torture, the U.S govt. cut my S.S. cheque to please the Egyptian dictator. Believe it or not,…

Wait. Patience. Stay Calm. “This is a country that allows everybody to express their views,” said the first Black president, “allows them to peacefully assemble, to protest actions that they think are unjust.” Don’t disrupt, express. Justice will be served. We respect the rule of law. This is America. We’ve all been waiting for the grand jury’s decision, not because most of us expected an indictment. District Attorney Robert P. McCulloch’s convoluted statement explaining—or rather, defending—how the grand jury came to its decision resembled a victory speech. For a grand jury to find no probable cause even on the lesser…

How can it be just that so few dictate the lives of so many? And I’m not referring to the 1 percent and the 99 percent. I’m speaking of the voting population in the United States and its minions Canada and Britain. Meanwhile, the billions of people around the world whose lives are directly impacted by the decisions made by elected officials in these wealthy nations have virtually no voice. The US Empire is far from democratic. It is authoritarian! It is imperialist! It is unjust! And a revolution is needed. In the 2012 presidential election, 121 million Americans voted,…