19 October 2011

Democracy begins to tame Islamists

One Western fear about the Arab Spring was that the toppling of secular dictators would open the floodgates to an Islamist takeover of Muslim-majority nations.

But the dawn of democracy has unleashed a more complex dynamic: public debates are raging not only between secularists and Islamists, but also among secularists themselves, as well as among Islamists.

.... And how would an Islamic entity treat its Christian and other minorities — as separate groups accorded protection, as under old Islamic empires, or as equal citizens entitled to the same rights as majority Muslims? [thestar.com] Read more