Essays
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Israel-Palestine conflictMuslim sceptics, the West and democracy
Events unfolding in the Middle East will have long-term consequences for world politics. Analysing perceptions is crucial to predicting the fallout. So how does the global Muslim community perceive Western governments' support of Israel's siege and aerial bombardment of Gaza?
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Turkey at 100A country struggling to find its place
Tensions with the West and ambitions to become a regional peacekeeping power have brought Turkey's grand strategy into focus. Will distancing itself from Western values and ideas of democracy end in the country disengaging from Europe?
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Hamas terror attack aftermathUnderstanding is crucial for change
Karim El-Gawhary has been reporting from the Middle East for more than 30 years. The wars he’s witnessed and reported on during this time have led him to the conclusion: security needs political solutions, not military ones
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Counterrevolution in the Arab worldAuthoritarianism, a forever scenario?
Calls to normalise relations with the criminal Assad regime, which has killed and displaced millions of Syrians, marks a new phase, namely the victory of the counter-revolutionaries. The old-style Arab regime is back – more brutal and oppressive than ever, as Ali Anouzla explains
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Racism in Arab societiesIt all depends on your origins
Criticism of prevailing religious and social conventions is still taboo in Arab discourse. But that urgently needs to change, so that we no longer judge people by their origins in future, but rather based on what they have achieved, says Egyptian writer Khaled al-Khamissi in his essay
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Power struggle in SudanSudan's generals "should have been dealt with as war criminals"
The representatives of Sudan's civil society made a terrible mistake in agreeing to share power with the military, writes political analyst Ali Anouzla, who feels that by believing the military's promises, the leaders of the country's civil society bear part of the responsibility for what is happening today in Sudan
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Turkey-Syria earthquakePolarising religious narratives
Religious discussions on the causes and aftermath of the earthquake disaster in Turkey and Syria have dominated Arab discourse recently, revealing the urgent need to support marginalised, humanist religious voices and those placing the human above polarisation and the instrumentalisation of events. By Mustafa Karahamad
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Earthquake aid for SyriaBashar al-Assad – pariah no more
While hundreds of thousands of people in northern Syria are still waiting for tents, water and medical aid, the Syrian regime is celebrating its comeback in the Arab world. Earthquake relief is serving as a fig leaf for Assad's rehabilitation, writes Kristin Helberg
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Turkey-Syria earthquakeBiden's farewell to empathy
Mourning the deaths of earthquake victims in the Middle East or sympathising with the suffering of survivors doesn’t win you political points. Joe Biden's State of the Nation address completely ignored the earthquake in Syria and Turkey. Is the Arab-Islamic world gradually disappearing from U.S. politics? Essay by Stefan Buchen
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The future of Islamic mysticismIs Sufism under threat?
Sufis today are under attack from fundamentalists and modernists alike. At the same time, a new form of Sufism is emerging in the West. By Marian Brehmer