Islamic finance coming to Russia?

Monday, June 6, 2011 According to this Agence France-Presse piece, Russia is to "enter the world of Islamic finance." Actually what appears to be happening is that the Republic of Tatarstan, which is a republic within the Russian Federation, will guarantee sukuk bonds for the construction of a new finance center. Sukuk don't pay interest, but rather give the owner a share of the enterprise. Here's what the article says: "Russia will show that it can be interesting for Muslim countries," one of the project's backers, Linar Yakupov told AFP. "Right now Islamic banks cannot work in Russia, because our legislation does not take into account the Koran's restrictions." Islam forbids borrowing or paying with interest, and sukuk (the plural of the Arabic word for a financial deed) are not based on debt like traditional bonds. Instead, buying the bonds secures partial ownership in a concrete asset like land or a building, and investors are guaranteed a part of the profits generated by this asset. The first sukuk to be issued in Tatarstan's capital Kazan on June 20 will be going toward financing a major business centre in the city whose construction will cost $200 million. "Sukuk are guaranteed by the Tatarstan government, the operator will be based in Luxembourg, and we know that the international market is ready to buy," Yakupov said. Rustam Minikhanov According to the article, Tatar president Rustam Minikhanov has called bringing Islamic banks to Russia "possible and even necessary."

On the upcoming Turkish elections

Sunday, June 5, 2011 "Don't vote for the best government in 66 years." This is how Taraf newspaper sarcastically sums up the logic of recent editorial in the Economist on the upcoming Turkish elections. Actually, Taraf's headline is (predictably) misleading, since the Economist piece (which can be compared to a similar editorial in the New York Times) doesn't call the AKP government the best in 66 years. But the piece does praise Erdogan and his government:

Shameless self-promotion: DC events

Sunday, May 8, 2011 It's been a busy time in the imperial metropole lately. On Friday I gave a talk at Georgetown University in front of a small group of DC-based scholars, including much of the Russian history ulema of the region. I presented an article I've been working on lately entitled "Politicizing Islam: Muslim Protesters, Tsarist Officials, and the Crisis of State Sharia in Late Imperial Russia.” Hopefully this piece will emerge somewhere in print before too long and I'll be able to share it with a broader audience. Looking rough but feeling ready

More thoughts on OBL killing...

Tuesday, May 3, 2011  The WAPO sez: OBL unarmed when shot.  In a White House news briefing, press secretary Jay Carney said bin Laden “resisted” when at least one member of the raiding party entered his third-floor room, but he declined to say how the long-hunted al-Qaeda leader had done so.  A woman described as one of bin Laden’s wives “rushed the assaulter” and was shot and wounded in the leg, Carney said. Bin Laden was killed with shots to the head and chest, leaving him with gory wounds that have made U.S. officials reluctant to release a photograph of the body, Carney said. “It’s fair to say it’s a gruesome photograph,” he said, adding that “it could be inflammatory.” In his speech the other night, President Obama said that bin Laden had been "brought to justice." I disagree. Bin Laden wasn't brought to justice, he was shot dead. One can argue that this is what he deserved, but shooting an unarmed person in this way only constitutes bringing someone to justice if you mean cowboy justice, not the sort of justice that is dispensed through a court of law.

Nothing to celebrate

Monday, May 2, 2011 So the CIA finally managed to kill Osama bin Laden and, predictably, yahoos from across the country are celebrating as if we've won something. Indeed, the fact that thousands of Americans would celebrate the killing of an individual like bin Laden is indicative of the degree to which our country has been weakened over the past ten years.  This makes us all look stupid

Stanford workshop...

Saturday, April 9, 2011 Bay area Borderlanders were treated to a workshop this week at Stanford University entitled "Muslim Identities and Imperial Spaces: Networks, Mobility, and the Geopolitics of Empire and Nation." It was a really enjoyable workshop, and not only because it had the longest title ever.  The workshop brought together scholars working on Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and SW Asia to talk about issues cross-secting mobility, human mobility, and transnationalism. On Thursday and Friday we met all day and were treated to presentations from ten scholars coming from as far afield as Pakistan, Holland, Paris, Japan, DC, and other parts of the worldwide borderland community.  Since it wasn't a public conference I'm unfortunately not at liberty to print the program of speakers and talks, but for those of us who attended it was a marvelous experience.  Stanford was lots of fun as well, and the workshop organizers took care of our every need. Many thanks to all for the good times and stimulating conversations!  Here are a couple of shots from my time in Palo Alto. If you're interested in seeing more, check them out on JMB's brand new facebook page. Stanford has a beautiful campus

Erdogan and Libya

Sunday, March 20, 2011 There's been a fair amount of chatter in the Turkey-related blogosphere lately about Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's allegedly soft line regarding Qaddafi and his reluctance to sign off on force in Libya. Louis Fishman, echoing the sentiments of many people in Turkey, called upon Erdogan to return the "peace prize" (and the money associated with it) that Qaddafi awarded him last year, calling into question Erdogan's integrity in the process. Meanwhile, a couple of days ago in Juan Cole's Informed Comment blog Howard Eissenstat argued that Erdogan is more interested in Turkey's trade and financial dealings with Libya than in the cause of freedom: With only the barest lip service to democratic values, Turkey has made clear its opposition to international action in support of the revolution in Libya. It used its effective veto to stifle discussions within NATO and Erdoğan publicly and loudly criticized the unanimously approved UN Security Council sanctions on Libya imposed on February 26. It has made its continued opposition to international intervention clear, arguing that sanctions will only bring more pain to the Libyan people. To its credit, Turkey has indeed been at the forefront of sending humanitarian aid to Libya. True, true, all true, both Fish and Ice make good points here, particularly with respect to the necessity of at least calling on Qaddafi to step down (something that Erdogan has now done).  But as far as the question of intervention is concerned: is it really necessary for Erdogan to be corrupt, or to only be interested in money or trade, in order to oppose NATO (or non-NATO) air strikes on Libya? Is it not possible that there might be other, less nefarious, reasons behind this opposition? Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi may well be on his way out--but only if he can take some Jack Daniels with him

March 14 N & P

Monday, March 14, 2011 Awesome times here in the imperial metropole. On Saturday I tested out one of DC's Red Bikes, a public rental system of bicycles that is run by the municipality. It isn't bad. There are bike stations, each holding several bikes, set up at metro stations around town. You have to buy a membership--lasting one day ($5), five day ($15), a month, or a year ($75)--before you can rent a bike, which is a bit of a drag. I bought a one-day membership at the bike station (anything more than five days you need to buy online). Together with the rental itself everything came out to about ten bucks.

İbrahim Tatlises shot by unknown assailant: full JMB coverage here

Monday, March 14, 2011 Turkish singer Ibrahim Tatlises has been shot! Here's the story: Ibrahim Tatlises, a Turkish singer of Kurdish descent who has millions of fans in Turkey and around the Middle East, was in critical condition in an Istanbul hospital yesterday after being shot in the head by unknown assailants. Tatlises, 59, was shot as he left a television studio after completing his regular show there around midnight on Sunday. Buket Cakici, an assistant of the singer, was also hurt when at least two people opened fire with automatic weapons and then sped away in a black car.

News & Propaganda: Metro Center Edition

Thursday, March 10, 2011 It's a rainy Thursday morning here in the imperial metropole, and I have to head to the office! I love the fact that the name of the metro station near my workplace is "Metro Center," aka the center of the metropole, the center of the very center! It sounds a little like it could have been the subway station Winston Smith used on his way to work. But for me, it's just exciting. It's fun to walk out of that station and then down to Pennsylvania Avenue, and from there to the Reagan building. It's less fun to get the TSA treatment when I enter my building but still, I guess even that can be somewhat exciting. It's fun taking the metro to work Anyway, here's some news from the metro center, as well as from other parts of the world. In other words, it's your N & P:

On the upcoming Muslim hearings...

Wednesday, March 9, 2011 I think Ruth Marcus' take on Congressman (NY-R) Peter King's upcoming hearings regarding "The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and That Community's Response" is a thoughtful one, but I can't say I agree with it.  Marcus writes that, on the one hand, we can't hold an entire community or faith responsible for acts that are carried on in its name, but that on the other hand we can't let political correctness prevent us from asking difficult questions. But the unavoidable fact is that, however much violent terror reflects a distortion of the tenets of Islam, it is not only practiced by adherents of the religion but practiced in its name. To ignore the religious nature of the terrorist threat is to succumb to politically correct delusion. To ignore the homegrown religious nature of the terrorist threat is to succumb even further. As Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano testified last month before the House Committee on Homeland Security, "One of the most striking elements of today's threat picture is that plots to attack America increasingly involve American residents and citizens."  Napolitano wasn't referring to right-wing militias or lone-wolf crazies. She was talking about "terrorist groups inspired by al-Qaeda ideology." And, she pointed out, "This threat of homegrown violent extremism fundamentally changes who is most often in the best position to spot terrorist activity, investigate and respond." True enough. But there is a difference between investigating political radicalism and investigating an entire community. This difference is spelled out by Congressman Keith Ellison, who is quoted at the end of Marcus' column:

Special Women's Day N & P

Tuesday, March 8, 2011 I've been getting mail from readers about the N & P. Where's our N & P?, they ask. Why can't you get us our N & P? Well folks, it's not like N & P grows on trees. And even if it did, that would mean I'd have to pick it. And who has got time to pick N & P when you're trying to write some B & A? (Books & articles) But today is a special day, people. It's International Women's Day. And while this day isn't really observed in the US, it's a big deal in the ex-USSR. It's also observed, to some extent, in Turkey. So International Women, this N & P is for you!

Turkic Connection Weekend

Monday, February 21, 2011 Well folks, it's been a long time, hasn't it? I didn't mean to leave you all hanging, but what can I say? I've been cutting back on my internet usage big-time lately--an act that, well, has repercussions for blog-keeping. DC is great, the Wilson Center is awesome, and I'm working hard. Less internet means more pages, at least right now. The only real news from the B.L.E. (Borderlands Lodge, East) is that this upcoming weekend I'll be taking part in a symposium on the Turkic World at the University of Virginia. It's part of a series of events that together are called Bridging World Regions: the Turkic Connection. It should be a fun weekend--I'm especially looking forward to hearing the band. For those interested and in the neighborhood, here is a copy of the program and upcoming event schedule. As you can see from the future events schedule, there is a lot going on--even Kamil Pasha is scheduled to make an appearance! I have lots of DC snaps to post but that will have to wait for another day.

February 1 N & P

Tuesday, February 1, 2011 The big news this week is Egypt, of course, and now Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has gotten into the game as well, calling on Egyptian President Mubarek to resign (or rather,  to "meet people's demands for change without hesitation"). Meanwhile, in Russia, fallout continues to fall out from last week's bombing. And here in Washington, DC? Snow, loads of work, and a Girl Talk concert to go to this evening, so I'm tossing you your N & P on the fly this morning. Enjoy!

N & P: Jan. 31 edition

Monday, January 31, 2011 It was a quiet weekend at the Borderlands Lodge East, spent mostly acquiring new stuff for the apartment but also some new clothes. Time is tight in the imperial metropole, so dig into your N & P while it's still warm. Russia  Attention would-be profilers: The Telegraph is reporting that the man suspected of carrying out last week's bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo airport is an ethnic Russian convert to Islam. The evidence suggests they were right - but a photograph of the man suspected of masterminding the deadliest attack on an airport anywhere in the world has nonetheless shocked the nation. Staring out from the front pages of their newspapers this weekend is not the usual dark-skinned, heavily-bearded Islamist terrorist they have come to expect and fear but an ethnic Russian who looks like millions of Russians' brothers, sons or husbands.

News & Propaganda: Jan. 27 edition

Wednesday, January 27, 2011 Snowy days, people, and busy times here in the imperial metropole. I'm getting increasingly settled, and the Borderlands Lodge in Exile is finally starting to run on its own power. And that's an especially good thing in this wet, cold weather.

Erdogan's Newsweek editorial & Turkish diplomacy

Thursday, January 20, 2011 It's a busy week for Turkish diplomats, whose activities in various directions throughout Turkey's Eurasian-Middle Eastern-Mediterranean neighborhood underscore the Erdogan government's ambitious plans for improving relations with (most of) its neighbors. Here are a few of the things going on:

Washington DC N & P

Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Yesterday was my first day as a "guest scholar" at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. I think it's going to be a nice seven months. The Woodrow Wilson Center has awesome facilities. I've got good office space, and there are loads of interesting people here--there appear to be about 90 scholars researching at the WWC's various institutes (of which Kennan is the biggest, but not the only one). Every day there are talks, seminars, meetings, and other forms of scholarly extravaganza taking place. I get a research assistant, and even a Woodrow Wilson Center coffee mug with my name written on it. All in all, it's a pretty sweet deal. I'm very grateful to have the chance to do this--I hope my output lives up to my research facilities.

Bozeman-DC Trek III

Wednesday, January 5, 2011 I made it to Ann Arbor today, and in record time! It took me just three days total, two days less than it took me to drive out to Bozeman from Ann Arbor two years ago (of course, MSU was covering the expenses back then). Iowa The scenery today, from Davenport, Iowa to Ann Arbor, was not nearly as spectacular as that from the first two days of travel.

Bozeman-DC Trek II

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 It's been a busy day today. I started in Rapid City, SD, hitting the road around 8:30. I felt bad about starting later than I'd wanted, but I'd slept so soundly Monday night and really felt like going at a comfortable pace in the morning. Either way, I knew it would be a really long day. I made it across South Dakota fairly easily. There was very little traffic and, just like yesterday, the weather was gorgeous--bluebird skies and very sunny. This part of the trip passed quickly. At Sioux Falls, SD (on the border with Iowa) I went south, switching from US 90--which I'd taken all the way from Bozeman--to 26 South. This took me down to US 80, which will get me to Chicago. From there, I'm taking 94 back to Ann Arbor.

Bozeman-DC Trek

Monday, January 3, 2011 I began my drive out to DC today. For now, I'm heading to Ann Arbor, where I'll spend a late Christmas with some parts of my family. After a few days, I'll head to DC. I move a lot (until this year, I hadn't spent two consecutive years in the same abode since 98-99, and even now I'm traveling mid-year), but I always fret and sweat the details when I move. As crazy as this might sound, I've really become attached to my apartment in Bozeman. I love it--it's filled with light all day, I have a great view of the Bridgers, a concrete porch with a grill on it, and my own bar. What's not to like? Nevertheless, I'm excited about the change of pace DC should offer. But that doesn't mean moving still isn't stressful. I decided to drive to DC rather than fly for a number of reasons. For one thing, the work that I do requires a shelf-ful of dictionaries--one suitcase of mine is devoted only to books. But also I'll be in DC from winter through summer, so I'll need a change of clothes. And records (only 50 or so, but I suspect there are some record stores in DC), and a record player.

Turkish FM Davutoglu and the global thinkers club

Tuesday, December 28, 2010  Foreign Policy magazine has named Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu one of the "top 100 global thinkers" of 2010, whatever that's supposed to mean. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Davutoglu finished #7 on Foreign Policy's list, which would have made him eligible to play in the Bowl Championship Series of global thinkers if only Turkey played in a BCS-eligible conference.

A very borderlandy Christmas

Monday, December 27, 2010 I hope all Borderheads are having an enjoyable end-of-year! All is well here in the Bozone! Last week I took some pictures around town, and over the weekend there was plenty of festive Christmas skiing at Bridger Bowl! Here are some of the shots:

Livaneli's Veda and the Kemalist Dilemma

Wednesday, December 1, 2010  Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks in the Bordlerands. The week before last, of course, MSU held its Turkey Extravaganza, hosting several days of talks, discussion, fun, food, and frolicry. One of the highlights of Turkey Week was Stephen Kinzer's talk to open the festivities. Kinzer was challenged by a number of the Turkish students at MSU, which led to several interesting exchanges. The main critique of the Turkish students (who are here as part of joint-degree programs that MSU has with Istanbul Technical University and Selcuk University in Konya) was that Kinzer was too hard on Ataturk and too easy on Tayyip Erdogan and the AKP. I thought the critique was a fair one, but Kinzer did a good job of responding to this critique with more nuance than I think he was given credit for.

Confronting our fears

Monday, October 25, 2010  Up here at the Borderlands Lodge, winter slowly seems to be heading our way. While it's been in the 60s pretty much every day for the past couple of weeks, this week the weather is supposed to turn colder. On the mountains, the snowline has been growing steadily each day. Meanwhile, the Juan Williams controversy has been heating up the rest of the country, generating lots of chatter and denunciations (Juan Cole weighs in here and here).  Williams, of course, had said the following while appearing on Fox's O'Reilly show: "I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous." What to make of this?

Ending the headscarf ban in Turkey

Wednesday, October 13, 2010  As many of you know, a recent directive issued by the director of upper education in Turkey has prohibited professors from throwing students out of their classes on the bases of the student's attire or headgear. With one directive, it seems like the Turkish government has finally cleared the way towards finding an end to the headscarf-in-university controversy that has transfixed some political figures in Turkey for the better part of the last fifteen years or so. When I started living in Turkey in the early 1990s, individual universities made their own choices regarding the permissibility regarding women wearing headscarves to class. At the university where I worked, Marmara University, women could wear headscarves but some men were told to shave their beards if they got too long and scraggly. The anti-beard rules, apparently, had originally been enforced in opposition to what had been perceived, in earlier years, as a symbol of Marxism. Now it was a symbol of Islam. Later on, of course, the headscarf would be banned altogether from Turkish universities, just like it was already banned for students (and teachers) at Turkish public schools and in public offices. From this point forward, overturning the headscarf ban emerged as the the front-line "culture war" issue among a populace increasingly divided in Turkey between self-styled "secularists" and supporters of lifting the ban (often called 'Islamists," but really a misleading term). When the AKP successfully passed a constitutional amendment enabling women to wear headscarves to university, the law was overturned by the Constitutional Court and the AKP almost found itself shut down as a result. Anyone wondering why the AKP placed so much emphasis upon gaining a few more sympathetic judges in Turkey's recent referendum needs to start here (look here for my recent discussion of the referendum and what it means). Fighting for their right to cover up: women protesting headscarf ban in Turkey

My take on the recent referendum in Turkey

Monday, September 13, 2010  Well, the ballots have been counted and the "Yes" side carried the day in Turkey's national referendum yesterday. The final vote was 58% in favor of 'Yes' and 42% against, a major victory for Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his AKP government. The referendum, as I discussed in my post yesterday, permits Turkey's AKP government to expand the country's constitutional court from 11 to 17 members in a move reminiscent of FDR's court-packing scheme from 1937.  The AKP was able to win such a big victory by first securing the support of people who are already inclined to vote for the AKP, and then attracting the support of non-AKP supporters by including several anti-military planks in the referendum (people could only vote on the entire package of amendments, rather than vote on each amendment individually). Thus, in addition to giving the AKP enormous powers in shaping the judiciary in Turkey for generations to come, the package voted on yesterday also allows for the leaders of the 1980 coup to be put on trial (something which was not allowed according to the coup-era constitution that Turkey is still working under). Military officers can now also be tried in civilian, rather than military, courts (see imperfect but serviceable English translation of the amendments here).

On Turkey's referendum

Sunday, September 12, 2010  Turkey's much-anticipated referendum on constitutional amendments is taking place today, with exit polling data indicating strong, if unsurprising, support for the "Yes" side. The proposed amendments (here's an English translation) constitute a number of elements, but the most important thing is that the amendments--which are voted upon as a single package (i.e., no picking and choosing)--would give the current AKP government the ability to pack the constitutional court as well as the state body that appoints state prosecutors and judges. The constitutional court would be expanded from 11 to 17 members, with the (AKP) president and (AKP) parliament being given the opportunity to pick the new six members. The Supreme Court of Prosecutors and Judges (HYSK), meanwhile, would likewise be expanded from 5 members to 22, with the president and parliament again given the job of choosing the new members. Meanwhile, the amendment package would also make it possible for military officers to be tried in civil, as opposed to military courts.

Entertainers only

Saturday, September 4, 2010 Jenny White has put up a link to an interesting story re transgender brothels in Istanbul. Originally I was going to just link to Kamil Pasha in the N & P, but I ended up writing so much I decided to make it a separate post.  I always found the place of transgendered people in Turkey to be interesting. With the exception of Thailand, I've probably seen more transgendered people in Istanbul than anywhere else in the world. When I was living in Istanbul in the 1990s, I'd often walk home to Tesvikiye late at night from Taksim via Cumhuriyet Caddesi and Harbiye, where loads of transgendered prostitutes would hang out late at night, standing by the side of the road and looking for a date. I'm not sure if they're still there, but the market clearly hasn't diminished since then. Many of the transgendered in Turkey have been the victims of attacks, and there have been several murders in recent years in Istanbul.  But what is also interesting is the degree to which transgendered and other effeminate and/or semi cross-dressing entertainers have been popular in Turkey, a country that many people associate with "macho" behavior and/or "Islamic values" (whatever that means). Years before Boy George seemed so risque in the US, Zeki Müren was wearing long, flowing Mrs. Roper-style muumuus and wild costumes that appeared to evoke dresses. In his early days, however, he'd played a straighter public role, often appearing as the male lead in romance movies.   A young Zeki Müren