Partial truths or half-truths are often more insidious than total falsehoods.

I've been to Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait for brief visits at conferences, and they are very interesting countries.

People have multiple identities.

Certainly here in the U.S., we've had fundamentalist movements that have taken very critical and hostile attitudes toward immigration and the assimilation of immigrants into our society and culture. So these tendencies are fairly universal. The problem is what if they get out of hand and become the dominant factor in a society, which can only lead to the oppression of minorities or even to war with neighboring societies with differing cultures. That's why it seems to me it's important to try to keep these tendencies toward extremism under control.

In the coming decades, questions of identity, meaning cultural heritage, language, and religion will play a central role in politics.

Power remains strong when it remains in the dark; exposed to the sunlight it begins to evaporate.

Certainly there are various trans-Islamic political movements, which try to appeal to Muslims in all societies.