Essays
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Mansoura Ez Eldin on Women's Rights in EgyptBetween Hammer and Anvil
In her essay, the well-known Egyptian writer Mansoura Ez Eldin sketches a gloomy picture of post-revolutionary social conditions in her homeland, where she says women are facing increasing political marginalisation and being robbed of their basic rights
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Joris Luyendijk on the Prospects for Societal Change in EgyptA Riveting Wave of Political and Religious Soul Searching
On the road to democratic and economic development, Egypt faces two major hurdles: endemic corruption, and a deadbeat educational system. But, says Joris Luyendijk, there may be hope from an unexpected corner: Islam
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9/11 and the Arab SpringThe End of the ''Antithesis''
Ten years after 9/11, the idea that Islam is fundamentally opposed to Western democratic values has had its day. In fact, the Arab Spring reveals both Muslims and the image of the West from a different perspective.
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Critical Reflections on the Arab RevolutionsProfiteers from Authoritarian Decay
Khalil al-Anani, an Egyptian political scientist at Durham University in England, laments in his essay that, after the fall of the autocratic rulers of Tunisia and Egypt, sweeping social change has yet to come about, as the political realm is still dominated by the same old men
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Uprising against the Assad Regime in SyriaIs This a Second Libya?
In his essay, Radwan Ziadeh, founder and director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies and an activist during the "Damascus Spring", discusses several possible scenarios for the outcome of the conflict between the Syrian regime and the protest movement
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Who Is Hidden beneath the Burqa?An Appeal to the West
Sahar Khalifeh is considered one of the most prominent Palestinian writers. In this essay, she argues that Western imperialism is indirectly responsible for the return of mandatory veiling for women in the Islamic world
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Minorities in the Islamic RepublicFear of Separatists
In the multi-ethnic nation that is Iran, religious and ethnic minorities suffer discrimination at the hands of the regime. In his essay, Faraj Sarkohi describes the tense relationship between representatives of minorities and the Shia-dominated state
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The Legend of Lawrence of ArabiaThe Recalcitrant Hero
With the benefit of hindsight, there is something superhuman about his character. However, more than almost anyone else, Lawrence embodies the transformation from hero to anti-hero that shaped literature in the twentieth century. By Stefan Weidner
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The German Islam Scholar Lamya Kaddor
Why I as a Muslim Woman Don't Wear a Headscarf
Does the Koran really demand that women wear headscarves? Or is it mainly older men who claim they can decide how women should dress – with no theological foundation whatsoever? For the Islam scholar Lamya Kaddor, there is no question about it: the headscarf is obsolete