Gone : The face of poverty in India

And one of the hundreds of millions of reasons why it never seems as hideous as it probably should.

Imagine what this girl will look like if she ever gets enough money to really express her sense of style.

[Reporting now from Mumbai, India.]

About me

In fall 2007, I started working for the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies, a think tank founded by Afghans based in Kabul, Afghanistan, to build Afghan policy research expertise.

In 2006 Palgrave published a book I cowrote, "Jihad and International Security," with Jalil Roshandel.

Now I'm watching what I see to be the last gasp of a nonviable movement: militant, insurgent jihadism. This movement has killed many more Muslims than polytheists, infidels, or non-Muslims. It has also done more to damage the image of Islam than any other force in 1400 years of Islamic history.

Bruce Lawrence, Professor of Islamic Studies, Director, Duke Islamic Studies Center, Duke University