Asia
October 2013 – Muslim and Christian bigots who don’t speak Arabic believe that “Allah” is only for Muslims. They are wrong: Allah is God and God is Allah.
Angela’s angels and the political patriarchy
October 2013 – Despite the “Merkel miracle”, the political patriarchy remains strong. However, more women are exploiting and even defying it to lead their countries.
September 2013 – The toxic Buddhist-Sinhala supremacism and triumphalism in Sri Lanka means the country’s fragile “peace” is just the prelude to another war.
May 2013 – A shop called Hitler in Egypt raises some uncomfortable questions about Arab perceptions of the Nazi dictator.
The clash within civilisations
March 2013 – This year marks the 20th anniversary of the clash of civilizations theory, but Samuel P Huntington was wrong.
Half-baked rules that take the biscuit
January 2013 – Half-baked rules about homemade biscuits say a lot about the sort of society we live in and undermine community spirit.
December 2010 – Animal rights activists are calling for global vegetarianism, but the Middle East is not ready to sacrifice its meat-eating lifestyle.
July 2010 – A return to an ancestral homeland is a dream that’s long inspired diasporas – often with troubling results.
February 2010 – Island retreats are like rich ice cream… lovely until you become lactose intolerant. One place has all the creamy pleasure and none of the hype.
February 2010 – Christians across the Muslim world use ‘Allah’ to refer to ‘God’, so why has this led to violence and controversy in Malaysia?
February 2010 – Big corporations are using the banking crisis as an excuse for exploiting cheap labour. Is it time for a global minimum wage?
January 2010 – Like shrimps on the barbie and hard yakka*, the great outdoors is one of the binding contracts of being Australian. Except it really isn’t.
November 2009 – There is something of an inner circle to mourning whose circumference varies from culture to culture. Knowing where you fit in takes some research.
September 2009 – The ‘Chinese hymen’ may make pre-marital sex safer in a patriarchal society but a woman’s honour should not lie between her legs.
EU election monitoring… junket, joke or both?
September 2009 – “The Afghan elections were fair, but not free,” declared European election monitors. Meaningless sound-bite or what?
Faith and desire in Albert Square
August 2009 – EastEnders is breaking new ground on gay issues by exploring what happens when Muslim boy meets boy – but marries girl.
May 2009 – Why does India, despite its size and diversity, seem so much more stable than Pakistan?
November 2008 – Why is fairness so coveted in societies with darker skin?
October 2008 – With the separatist movement committed to non-violence, now is a good time to visit Kashmir.
The human cost of cluster bombs
September 2008 – Cluster bombs continue to hurt people and their livelihoods years after they were dropped.
