Official Islam in the Arab States of the Gulf: Local Establishments in a Regional and Global Context

In the Arab states of the Gulf, Islamic institutions have long existed at the intersection of local and regional space. Before the twentieth century, local rulers tended to rely on specific scholars who were part of regional religious networks for rudimentary needs in adjudication and education. The emergence of complex bureaucratic states in the middle of the twentieth century changed this picture in a way that renegotiated the terms between global and local Islam differently for each state.

Ex-Senior US Official Adds Weight to Thaci Defence

epa10556520 Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci appears before the Kosovo Tribunal together with Rexhep Selimi (R) in the Hague, the Netherlands, 03 April 2023. They are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, illegal detention, enforced disappearance and persecution, committed between 1998 and 1999. EPA/Koen van Weel / POOL

Outcome of trial may depend on whether James Rubin’s testimony – that Thaci was just a ‘front man’ for the KLA – is deemed credible.

On Monday, September 17, a rhetorical thunderclap shook the trial of Hashim Thaci and three co-defendants at the Kosovo Special Court in The Hague, KSC, as the defence presented its first witness, James Rubin, a former US Assistant Secretary of State from 1997 to 2000.

Why Palestine recognition is an important step towards making statehood a reality

Israel’s increasing attacks to undermine the possibility mean that no action is too small or without consequence

Palestinian hopes for achieving an independent state comprising the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem have been lifted by France, Britain, Portugal, Canada, Australia and a number of other countries formally recognising the state of Palestine in recent days, after nearly 80 years of its existence.

America’s Peace to End All Peace

Israel’s strategy in recent weeks has been to disparage the decision of several countries to recognize the state of Palestine. Yet when France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Portugal, and Belgium, took such a step at the United Nations early this week, or indicated that they would, the Israeli and American reaction was anger. How strange, and telling, that a decision the Israelis and their advocates had ridiculed as “childish” and “performative,” even “an absurdity,” could provoke so excessive a response.

Egyptian Writers: The Al-Sharaa Regime Has Not Disavowed Its Jihadist Past; It Presents Itself As…

Following the deadly clashes that broke out in July 2025 in Syria’s Al-Suwayda governorate between Druze factions and Bedouin tribes, which resulted in the death of over 1,000 Druze, Egyptian journalists and writers published articles claiming that the Al-Sharaa regime, which supported the Bedouin tribes during the clashes, is a terrorist ISIS-like regime that only pretends to be moderate and egalitarian. The slogans uttered by Syrian President Al-Sharaa about democracy and freedom, they said, are aimed at gaining temporary Western support for his regime – a regime which in practice is no different from extremist Islamist organizations like ISIS and Al-Qaeda that seek to establish an Islamic caliphate and do not hesitate to use terrorism to achieve this. The writers harshly condemned the massacres carried out by Al-Sharaa’s supporters against Syria’s Alawite and Druze minorities, and warned that these actions endanger Syria’s unity and the stability of the region as a whole.

Peak Oil for Gen Z: Seven Questions and Answers for a New Generation

Gen Z is a generation born into a world full of anxieties—from school shootings to climate Armageddon, to a pandemic and political violence. But I’m here to give you one more thing to worry about!

A high-stakes debate about the timing of peak oil has been simmering for decades. Although few of today’s Gen Z members know much about it, their lives will be impacted profoundly by the waning of the petroleum era.

I came to UK from Gaza seeking hope. Instead, I found complicity

Palestinians now suffer beyond our worst nightmares, and it is terrifying to see how much latitude the world offers the Israeli killing machine, writes Saher Safi [photo credit: Getty Images]

I had just turned ten when the First Intifada began in 1987. The Israeli army reacted harshly to Palestinians rising up to demand freedom, arresting thousands, breaking children’s bones, and killing unarmed demonstrators with impunity. The reality today is worse than I ever could have imagined as a child.