What the West is Getting Wrong about the Middle East

The West’s actions in the Middle East are based on a fundamental misunderstanding: political Islam is repeatedly assumed to be the main cause of conflict and unrest in the region. The idea that we ...

The West’s actions in the Middle East are based on a fundamental misunderstanding: political Islam is repeatedly assumed to be the main cause of conflict and unrest in the region. The idea that we can decipher Jihadist radicalization or problems in the Middle East simply by reading the Qur’an has now become symptomatic of our age. This dangerous over-simplification and the West’s obsession with Islam dominates media and policy analysis, ultimately skewing intervention and preventing long-term solutions and stability in the region.
Ömer Taspinar, who has 20 years’ research and policymaking e