2024
The Self-Orientalizing Republic of Iran
Charles Kurzman, “The Self-Orientalizing Republic of Iran,” Review Essay, Perspectives on Politics, Vol. 22, No. 4, December 2024, pp. 1291-1296. One of the main themes of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement in Iran was a desire for “normalcy” — a life not governed by Islamic authorities, a life where people can dance in alleys, as the anthem of the uprising put it. The government of Iran, for its part, agrees that Iran is not “normal” — and it rejects international norms of normalcy. “They say, ‘Come on, be a normal country,'” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has said. “A normal country means a country that conforms to the structures of global domination.” More…
The Cold War against the Cold War
Charles Kurzman, “The Cold War against the Cold War,” Social Science History, online pre-publication, October 4, 2024. The Cold War was not the only large-scale geopolitical struggle to play out on the global stage in the decades after World War II. This was also the era of decolonization, when some of the world’s largest empires were forced to recognize the sovereignty of their captive nations. One of the first foreign policy priorities of many newly independent nations was to reject the Cold War. More…
An Illegal Majority
Charles Kurzman, “An Illegal Majority,” April 10, 2024. The Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives currently stands at 218-213. But this majority is tainted: at least four of the Republican districts have been thrown out by the courts as racist gerrymanders. If the 2022 elections had used legal maps, Democrats would have a slight majority, not Republicans. … And if the House majority is illegitimate, how can the House’s actions be considered legitimate? More…
Muslim-American Involvement with Violent Extremism, 2001-2023
A full collection of past reports is available here.