OP ED – HUFFINGTON POST. It is an accepted cliché that power corrupts and is usually in reference to a country’s leaders and their ability to amass private fortunes at the expense of their electorate. But the real tragedy is how corruption corrodes civil society. It creates cynicism, anger or voter apathy, with people losing [...]

OP ED – TODAY’s ZAMAN. There should be no conflict within Turkey as a secular state with a Muslim population reconciling its Kemalist origins with a modern economy. Much has been written about Turkey as the model of a successful Islamic state, but the reality is that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s legacy was that of a [...]

OP ED – HUFFINGTON POST. Just after the U.S. election and just before the Israeli election, Israel has decided to escalate attacks on Gaza. Relentless air strikes have killed 46 Palestinians, 15 of them civilians and injured more than 400 civilians, in retaliation for three civilian deaths so far in Israel. “Surgical” Israeli�

OP ED – HUFFINGTON POST. There have been a lot of loose definitions of “moderate” Islam in the media recently and in the wake of violent protests throughout the Muslim world, the word is starting to mean simply — non-violent. The deaths in Libya and many other Muslim countries have been a disturbing counterpoint to [...]<

OP ED – Huffington Post. President Obama’s recent address to the UN (September 25, 2012) referred to change in the Middle East and North Africa saying that “the path to democracy does not end with the casting of a ballot”. The President went on to deplore the convulsion of violence in the last two weeks [...]