Saudi Arabia’s ruling al-Saud family’s ties with revivalist theologian Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab conferred legitimacy on its rule but they are increasingly being underplayed with an acceleration of modernization
The Pakistan Peoples Party has faced criticism for dynastic politics and corruption but its history of promoting women to top positions, including Benazir Bhutto as the first woman Prime Minister, and inclusive values remain its redeeming factors
The Iranian revolution, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the seizure of Islam’s holiest shrine in 1979 halted Saudi modernization and triggered a chain reaction fueling Islamophobia globally
Myriad delights, religious landmarks, and cultural richness—including the world’s tallest Hindu statue—testify to the commitment of Indonesia, a Muslim-majority country, to multiculturalism and religious freedom
Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have invoked nostalgia for Russia and China’s imperial past to justify their expansionism
The beauty of Budapest lies in its casual and at once intense embrace of the scores of bookshops and makeshift bookstalls scattered across the city
