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Just published Gérard Prunier, Gérard Prunier Iran's women and the Islamic Republic, Nikki R Keddie China's anniversary wind, Jeffrey N Wasserstrom Israel moves right: lens of history , Colin Shindler Musawah: solidarity in diversity, Cassandra Balchin Islamist-Islamabad truce in jeopardy, Hannah Cooper Energy group read, Week 6, Tony Curzon Price The independent state , Nadeem Ul Haque The redemption game , Jim Gabour

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Gérard Prunier, Gérard Prunier The election of the moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed as the new president of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) creates a window of opportunity for the shattered east African country. But what happened in Djibouti on 31 January 2009 must be followed by constructive and creative political action if it is to yield its potential benefits. The chances of this now hang in the balance, as Sheikh Sharif's return to Mogadishu on 23 February was followed... more » Iran's women and the Islamic Republic, Nikki R Keddie The subject of women in Iran since 1979 is a large one, to write about it briefly a challenge. A theme that is relevant to the thirtieth anniversary of the revolution but also long predates it is the importance of the "two cultures" of 20th-century urban Iran regarding women: the popular-bazaar culture and the educated-elite culture; related to this is the unfortunate, but not unique, association of governmental reforms affecting women with autocratic rulers seen as tools of the... more » China's anniversary wind, Jeffrey N Wasserstrom What happens in the People's Republic of China (PRC) often seems on the surface to confirm just what students of the country have been expecting to occur - yet with a twist thrown in that catches them off-guard. It looks as if 2009 will require getting used to this sense of predictability tinged with surprise. Jeffrey N Wasserstrom is a professor of history at the University of California - Irvine, the editor of the Journal of Asian Studies, and a regular contributor to The China... more » Israel moves right: lens of history , Colin Shindler The general election in Israel on 10 February 2009 produced a move to the political right, likely to be capped by the formation of a new governing coalition under Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud. In the perspective of Israel's history, however, there are losers as well as winners among the established forces on this side of the spectrum - as is true (more obviously) of the left. The emerging constellation of Israeli politics has serious implications for any prospects of movement towards a... more » Musawah: solidarity in diversity, Cassandra Balchin "This was inspirational. I got the same goose bumps at the rally the day Mandela was released," grinned Waheeda Amien, a founder of Shura Yabfazi which works to empower Muslim women in South Africa, at the close of the five-day launch of Musawah: a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family last week. "It speaks to the true you that combines your identities as a feminist and as a Muslim woman," commented Hadil el-Khouly, a young Egyptian... more » Islamist-Islamabad truce in jeopardy, Hannah Cooper The peace deal in the Swat valley between Taliban and other Islamist fighters and the Pakistani government announced over a week ago, which was to last ten days, is on shaky ground as new developments show mistrust and suspicion between both sides. The deal was to permit the use of Sharia law in certain parts of the restive Federally Administered Tribal Areas as a concession to religious extremists. The toD verdict: Just hours after the announcement on Saturday that a permanent peace... more » Energy group read, Week 6, Tony Curzon Price Feb 23 2009. Join the Group Read. Chapters 10 and 11. Offshore and gadgets (Instructions on how to join are at the bottom of the original post Offshore wind seems intuitively a nice option for an island liuke Britain - out of the sight, a sort of power belt that you can see from high places on a clear day. The energy is indeed there - about as much as we use for our heating and cooling. But you'd need an aweful lot of turbines and a massive investment. (Would we then... more » The independent state , Nadeem Ul Haque "Come in, gentlemen, come in!" said Mr Dawit, distracted for a moment from his engrossing conversation with the official-looking figure beside him. "Please have a seat. Make yourself comfortable. Just give me a minute and I will be with you. I'm just dealing with a very important message from the president that needs immediate attention."   Nadeem Ul Haque is division chief for the Asian region at the IMF Institute. Also by Nadeem Ul Haque in... more » The redemption game , Jim Gabour Ahn "Joseph" Cao, a Republican who represents the state of Louisiana, is the first elected politician of Vietnamese origin in the United States's House of Representatives. He had declared on 12 February 2009 that he would cast the only Republican vote for Barack Obama's economic-stimulus package in the House; while Bobby Jindal, the Republican governor of Louisiana, and the first US governor of Indian origin, was chosen by the party to make the only nationally-televised... more »