Publish Driving Forces Learn

Religion

WHAT'S NEXT?: Huge growth is expected over the next several decades as the world's Muslim population grows faster than every other major religious demographic, and as urbanization and rising incomes in developing countries with large Muslim populations mean more will be buying, rather than producing their own food.

[New] Because it is unlikely that people who do not have a religious preference will become US church members, the challenge for church leaders is to encourage those who do affiliate with a specific faith to become formal, and active, church members.
[New] International terrorism from groups such as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Al Qaeda present a threat from many others.
[New] The use of chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL / Da' esh) and the proliferation of missiles and components to non-State actors in the Middle East are some of the recent reminders of the risks involved.
[New] Local groups that have battled U.S. forces, like the Taliban, remain powerful, as do adversarial governments like Bashar al-Assad's in Syria, but they do not pose a threat to the U.S. homeland.
[New] Beijing increasingly faces tensions with the West over its treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang, and has warned foreign companies not to step into politics.
[New] Boko Haram and its offshoot the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) continue to be Nigeria's most serious security threats.
[New] Over the next 12-18 months, we could see progress on the unified global legal and regulatory framework for Islamic finance that the DIEDC and its partners are developing.
Among all American Christians, 39% say they plan to celebrate Resurrection Sunday in person, compared to 62% during a typical year.
In 2021, just four-in-ten Christians, along with 5% of adults who do not identify as Christian - equivalent to about a quarter of all U.S. adults - say they plan to attend Easter services in person.
Just 31% of people in the historically Black Protestant tradition say they plan to attend Easter services in person in 2021, compared with two-thirds who say they go to church on Easter in a typical year.
Half of all evangelicals say they plan to attend Easter Sunday services in person in 2021.
Failure to act will only serve to embolden the Chinese government's brutal persecution of not only Tibetans, but also Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities across China.
China itself is committed to the path of peaceful development, and hopes that other countries will also pursue a path of peaceful development, and that all countries will transcend their differences in social system, civilization and religion, and achieve peaceful coexistence and common prosperity.
Iran's immediate goal is to take advantage of the window of opportunity opened by the Biden government and return to the nuclear agreement on Tehran's terms.
Mentioning persecution of religious and ethnic minorities, such as Tibetans and Uighurs, and awarding a European literature prize to a writer detained in China can lead to threats by Chinese diplomats against academic institutions, and even governments.
The Islamic Republic could export some equipment such as standard ventilators to Syria amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Defaults will test the robustness of the insolvency regimes that some core Islamic finance countries have strengthened recently, including countries in the GCC.
More recently, Turkey started challenging Saudi Arabia's quest for pre-eminence in the Arab world with its neo-Ottomanist policy that projects Turkey as the natural leader of the Sunni countries.
The greatest strategic concern for Americans is that Afghanistan will once again harbor al Qaeda or the Islamic State, which will be able to mount attacks against the United States and its allies.
The Iranian regime will be hard-pressed to dismiss suggestions that rocket attacks by its allies cannot be attributed directly to the regime: Iran and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps directly established the groups that have attacked Iraqis, Americans, and Westerners over the past two decades.
In Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State and other jihadist groups will probably try to exploit the economic damage already caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and government failures intensified by the need to prioritize a mass-vaccination program.
Islamic finance is a much more transparent and ethical way of operating and there are many investors in the UK who will relish the chance to take out short-term finance that is consistent with Shariah principles.

Last updated: 05 April 2021

Religion

Login