Essays
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The West′s Islam debate
For all our freedoms!
Society is constantly changing and each of its members has the right to help shape it. Only once everyone can be anything they want to be – when a woman wearing a headscarf can become a government minister and someone named Ahmad a constitutional judge – will we have evolved from being screwed-up countries of immigration to successfully integrated societies. By Kristin Helberg
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Secularism in the Islamic world
Part II – Clouding the issue
In the second part of his essay on secularism in the Islamic world, Saudi analyst Khalid al-Dakhil addresses the ready confusion, found particularly in Islamic writings, of secularism as a concept and separating religion and the state as a legal-political reality. What is the difference?
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The West and the Islamic world
Diplomatic hubris
European nations suspend civil rights in an era of terror, but preach to others about the rule of law. What might they do to regain credibility in the Middle East? By Sonja Hegasy
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Integration in Germany
What is required of us
Our country needs to respect and value minorities more and to empathise with them more. It also needs an honest debate about what we – not they – must bring to the table, writes Lamya Kaddor
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Our attitude to violence
The bad guys are always the others
Our standards for gauging violence have become apolitical, causing us to be horrified only by the deeds of individuals. Critical thinking is no longer possible. An essay by Charlotte Wiedemann
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Western involvement in the Middle East
A rotten legacy
Whatever else they were guilty of, the two authors of the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, George Bush and Tony Blair, displayed an astonishing ignorance of history. By Roger Hardy
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Turkish-Russian relations
Farewell America
Despite numerous conflicts between Russia and Turkey in the past, the two countries appear to be moving closer together. This current rapprochement is due to the West′s waning attraction, argues Stefan Buchen
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Sufism
Lifting the lid
Many Western devotees of Sufism view it as a more liberal brand of Islam. That is a misunderstanding. An essay by Stefan Weidner
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Putsch aftermath in Turkey
The coup after the coup
Although the coup in Turkey failed, democracy has nevertheless lost, writes Aydin Engin, interim editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily "Cumhuriyet", in his essay for Qantara.de
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Political discourse in the Arab world
Defaming democracy
The author and political analyst Majed Kayali criticises Arab intellectuals for defaming democracy, which, despite everything, is still in his opinion the most effective system of government and society humanity has thus far devised