Abdou Filali-Ansary is now retired from his positions as director and research professor at the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations (AKU-ISMC) in London.
Strategies based on transition pacts that reduce rulers' risks and cushion their retreat from total power may be the most promising route to democracy in the Arab world.
An “Islamic Reformation” is not a necessary condition for the emergence of democracy in the Muslim world; what is most needed is a political reformation.
