Arif Maftuhin

I just left the room where I presented my final papers. I was so nervous to present these two theoretically contradictory papers: the one argues that religion matters less and the other argues that religion matters most in the Indonesian politics. I really doubted how to relate them. But eventually I am done. I am free. The oral was started with a more personal question, the background where these papers come from. And I see such a question is an essential to my own experience. When applying for the Fulbright scholarship, my proposal was about finding a way to accommodate religion in politics. If you visited AMINEF's website, you will find on their list that I am studying about Islamic law and democracy. That was my concern and is. However, it once came to my mind that my school is not a good place to study this topics. I once decide to work on the US foreign policy. I spent two quarters to work on this issue. I was not satisfied and I didn't see the future of doing of this stu...

The Iraqi foreign minister wrote this article in Washington Post today. He calls for an international help. To some extent, I can understand his point: Iraqis, for all our determination and courage, cannot succeed alone. We need a healthy and supportive regional environment. We will not allow our country to be a battleground for settling scores in regional and international conflicts that adversely affect stability inside our borders. Only with continued international commitment and deeper engagement from our neighbors can we establish a stable democratic, federal and united Iraq. The world should not abandon us. Yes, he is right "the world should not abandon us". However, it seems that he missed two things others can see: first, Iraqi government has abandoned itself; and second, he lets America, instead of "the world", take care of his country. My Iraqi friend, a taxi driver in Columbus, whose family live in Baghdad, is really disappointed that some of the governme...