God's Century:
Resurgent Religion and Global Politics
"...an exemplary study of global developments by political scientists interested in the role of 'religious actors'...." —Times Literary Supplement
FEATURED PUBLICATIONS
AP Photo
March 13, 2012
"Afghanistan Atrocity Prompts Rethink of US Policy"
GlobalPost
By Aisha Ahmad, Research Fellow, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
"The great folly of this long-term plan is that propping up such a corrupt regime will necessarily generate insurgency. No Afghan will stay at home while local strongmen engage in rape, murder and extortion. Therefore, the international community's plan is to support a weak central government that is corrupt enough to incite rebellion against it, but strong enough to at least partially suppress that rebellion. In other words, the international community is on course to maintain a low-intensity civil war in Afghanistan, ad infinitum."
AP Photo
September 17, 2011
"The 'Glocalized' Roots of Religious Politics: Extremism from Below, Not Abroad"
The Huffington Post
By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy
"What the Arab uprisings revealed is that today's people, in the Arab world assuredly but not only there, desire less a unified ideology around a single leader or leadership that touts triumphalism over some form of evil and more a system of governance that promotes accountability, transparency and protects every individual's needs and interests."
AP Photo
August 11, 2011
"The Dangers of Secularism in the Middle East"
Christian Science Monitor
By Daniel Philpott, Timothy Samuel Shah and Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy
"...[W]e find that religious groups are most likely to be peaceful and supportive of democracy when they live under regimes that respect their autonomy. Islamic countries as diverse as Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mali, Senegal, and Turkey demonstrate that when Islamic parties participate in politics they not only operate by the rules of the democratic game but also, in time, become more moderate."
AP Photo
April 17, 2011
"God's Partisans Are Back"
The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy, Daniel Philpott and Timothy Samuel Shah
"But if American foreign-policy makers want to promote democracy and stability, they must come to realize that secularism is a poor analytical tool. The great surprise of the past generation has been the resurgence of religion's influence. Despite a powerful array of secularizing regimes, ideologies, and social trends, religion has not only outlasted its most ferocious 20th-century rivals, but in many cases, it also appears poised to supplant them. The Brotherhood is a perfect example: An organization that survived decades of harsh repression is now in a position to wield considerable influence in Egypt."
AP Photo
April 6, 2011
"Does the U.S. Have a Responsibility to Protect the Libyan People?"
The Huffington Post
By Monica Duffy Toft, Associate Professor of Public Policy
"...[T]he question that should have stopped the intervention in the first place: Are there reasonable prospects for success? Or might the use of force produce more harm than good?"
AP Photo
Winter 2010/11
"The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters: Islam and the Globalization of Jihad"
International Security, issue 3, volume 35
By Thomas Hegghammer, Former Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program, 2009–2010; Former Research Fellow, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program, 2008–2009
Why has transnational war volunteering increased so dramatically in the Muslim world since 1980? Standard explanations, which emphasize U.S.-Saudi support for the 1980s Afghan mujahideen, the growth of Islamism, or the spread of Wahhabism are insufficient. The increase in transnational war volunteering is better explained as the product of a pan-Islamic identity movement that grew strong in the 1970s Arab world from elite competition among exiled Islamists in international Islamic organizations and Muslim regimes.
November 2010
The Jihadis' Path to Self-Destruction
By Nelly Lahoud, Former Associate, Initiative on Religion in International Affairs/International Security Program
Jihadi ideologues mobilize Muslims, especially young Muslims, through an individualist, centered Islam. Appealing to a classical defense doctrine, they argue that the mandates of jihad are the individual duty of every Muslim and therefore transcend and undermine both the authority of the state and the power of parental control.
