As nations around the world struggle with the threat of militant Islam, Vali Nasr, one of the leading scholars on the Middle East, provides us with the rare opportunity to understand the political and theological antagonisms within Islam itself.

The issue of anti-Americanism in the Muslim world offers an ideal case study of the issue of “soft power.”  This involves the aspects of international relations and foreign policy that focus on leadership through prestige, persuasion, and cultural and economic power, rather than hard power, the “bombs and rockets” that make up much of the traditional introductory international relations course or specialized course on US foreign policy. 

The weekend's military crackdown on Coptic Christian demonstrations in Cairo underscores Egypt's sectarian problems, the entrenched power of the military, and the weakness of the country's economy.

The killing of Osama bin Laden has led to both elation and anger in Muslim countries around the world, raising questions about what his death means for Arab democracy and stability in Pakistan.

Violent protests in Afghanistan against a Florida pastor's Quran burning add another challenge to international security efforts and expose the difficulties in ending this ten-year war.

Pope Benedict’s first U.S. visit has focused on revitalizing the U.S. Catholic Church. He is also addressing religious freedom.

U.S. military progress in Iraqis affecting U.S. public opinion, but progress reconciling Iraq’s feuding ethnic factions has proven elusive

The Vatican’s sale of centuries-old documents detailing the demise of the Knights Templar comes alongside broader public policy initiatives of the Holy See.

Turkey’s parliamentary poll focused attention on rifts between secularists and moderate Islamists, not to mention the buildup of Turkish troops along Iraq’s border.

As oil revenues bring a spike in Middle Eastern capital reserves, international financial firms expand into investment products compliant with Islamic law.

Pope Benedict XVI makes his first visit to a majority Muslim state, Turkey, on November 28. The trip’s original aim was to build ties with Christian Orthodox leaders but the pope’s recent comments on faith, reason, and Islam—as well as Turkey’s EU accession—are likely to resonate throughout.

The pope infuriated Muslims worldwide with remarks suggesting Islam lacked a basis in "reason." On Sunday he offered a rare apology, but some Islamic groups are skeptical and protests continue in several Muslim countries.

Evangelical Christians, a domestic political force in the United States, are increasingly making their influence felt in foreign policy. They have focused primarily on human rights, humanitarianism, and support for Israel, but more evangelicals are taking up issues like climate change.

Shiite-Sunni relations have become frayed since the war in Iraq and the rise of Sunni insurgents like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The outcome of the war will have widespread consequences for the future of Islam's followers.

Weekend marketplace bombings kill dozens in Iraq and wound hundreds more, seem to have unleashed another wave of sectarian fighting. Three years after the United States launched a war to oust Saddam Hussein, the insurgency remains unbowed, with no real political solution in sight for the country’s new government.

A string of attacks in Baghdad renew fears of sectarian civil war a week after the bombing of a Shiite mosque in Samarra. The continuing violence has forced a debate in Washington over U.S. troop levels in Iraq and threatens to delay the formation of a new Iraqi national-unity government.

A series of twelve cartoons—originally published in Denmark and reprinted across Europe—depicting the Prophet Mohammed have touched off riots across the Muslim world, some of them deadly. In addition to the broad cultural conflict, the fracas over the drawings raises questions about the freedoms and the responsibilities of the press.

It has been ten months since the death of John Paul II, and a new leader of the Roman Catholic Church is beginning to put his own stamp on the Vatican. What does it mean for U.S. foreign policy?

Elliott Abrams examines recent news of Jews in Denmark being warned against openly wearing religious symbols amid rising anti-Israeli sentiment in Copenhagen.