After almost four decades in politics, and as the longest-serving prime
minister in modern Asian history, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the Malaysian
Prime Minister, will retire at the end of his current term of office.
Since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, Dr. Mahathir has emerged as a
powerful voice for the Muslim world, speaking both against Islamophobes
in the West and Islamist extremists in various Islamic countries.
In a free-ranging conversation at his home in London, Dr. Mahathir shared
some of his thoughts on Iraq, Islamic fundamentalism and the limits of
democracy. What follows is an excerpt.