Is Zanzibar jumping on the Islamist bandwagon? The tide of extremism washing through the Mediterranean basin seems to be reaching the shores of the traditionally laid back tourist Mecca off the Tanzanian coast.According to the Financial Times, radicalism is spreading rapidly via extremist madrassas that receive substantial funding from the usual sources. This outside funding […]

A new UN report estimates that 60,000-plus people have been killed in Syria between March 2011 and today. Worse, the rate of casualties is increasing as the war drags on, as both sides begin to use heavier weapons. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay put it bluntly: “Collectively, we have fiddled at the edges […]

The New York Times reports that, in an echo of last month’s tragedy, seven more aid workers in Pakistan have been killed by two armed gunmen while returning from work. It is widely believed that this attack and others like it have been perpetrated by the Pakistani Taliban, which has earned a reputation for attacks against aid workers. […]

A U.S. non-profit with close ties to the Obama administration and center left politicians in Israel has commissioned two separate public opinion polls in Israel. Each found widespread support for a peace agreement, including among right wing Israelis.In both polls, respondents were presented with a two-state solution similar to the ones discussed at Camp David […]

Despite the earnest wishes of Western commentators, who were excited early on for the Tahrir Square Twitterati and other liberal Arab Springers, one of the biggest winners to emerge from the turmoil in the Middle East over the past two years has been the Salafi tendency. These ultraconservatives used to keep a low profile, writes […]

Illinois may be on the cusp of a public pension overhaul. After months of wrangling with Democrats in the legislature and with public unions, Governor Pat Quinn has called for the statehouse to pass a bill to shore up the state’s pensions system before the new legislature is sworn in next week. The New York […]

Thanks to online retail and changing shopping patterns, mall rats may soon become an endangered species. The Great American Mall has shaped our culture, and the generation that grew up hanging out there, in profound ways. But malls have been coming under increasing pressure from Amazon and other online companies for some time now: A report […]

After a lot of sturm und drang, the fiscal cliff has been put off for a couple of months. Some modest tax increases, no real spending cuts, and the US lurches forward for another 60 days.It’s not a horrible result, and it seems broadly in line with what the voters said in November: they are […]

Two years ago at this time New York city was paralyzed by a blizzard; thankfully, I was visiting family outside the city when the snow fell and was able to hole up in my house upstate where I teach at Bard College. There was plenty of snow up there, but around Bard people know how […]

Turkey is talking with the Kurds, the FT is reporting. A senior political adviser to Prime Minister Erdogan has admitted that his government has opened disarmament discussions with the jailed leader of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. Pointing out that after close to three decades of armed struggle with the PKK neither side […]