Introduction to IJWP, September 2012  This issue examines three
states where there is political instability; Xinjiang province,
Pakistan, and Nigeria. Xinjiang province is in Western China
bordering Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan. The largest ethnic group in the region is the Uyghurs,
a Muslim group found in Central Asia, but Han Chinese are the
majority in the cities. As in the case of the Tibetan Buddhists,
tension exists between the Uyghurs, who do not feel they can
freely practice their culture, and the Han Chinese who are
increasingly populating the region.  Since 9/11, the Chinese
have convinced the U.S. to label the Uyghur separatist
organization, ETIM, as terrorists, based on their proximity to
the Muslims in Afghanistan and Pakistan and supposed links to Al
Qaeda. The first article, by Christopher Cunningham, asks
whether the Uyghurs are a terrorist threat or whether Beijing
has preyed on the international fear of terrorism to suppress
the religious freedoms of an indig