June 20th, 2008 by Amanda

The American Spectator analyzes the conflict between Turkish secularists and AKP whom it contends is attempting to topple the established secularist state through its imposition of laws that are allegedly Islamist. The piece points to the constitutional courts overturning on June 5th of the AKP’s decision to permit the wearing of headscarves in Turkey’s public universities.

Khalil el-Anani, a resident Egyptian scholar at the Brookings Institution, examines the increasing spread of the Salafism in the Arab World, citing Kuwait’s May elections in which the group won a majority of Parliamentary seats. He asserts that “the Salafist trend has widened its appeal to the Arab public” and is concerned that the “ascendance of conservative Salafis would polarise the Arab world.” At Abu Aardvark, Marc Lynch comments on the possibly extremist affect the group is having on Yemeni politics as well.

The Middle East Strategy at Harvard has an interesting take on the “Islamic Intesification” of the Sunni Baluch of southeastern Iran.

Posted in Elections, Iran, Islamist movements, Kuwait, Turkey |