Essays
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Egypt's National Human Rights StrategyPropaganda tailored to the U.S.?
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's National Human Rights Strategy smacks of the containment and sabotage tactics adopted by counter-revolutionaries during Egypt's 2011 revolution and its aftermath. Taqadum al-Khatib assesses the situation for Qantara.de
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Islamic scholar Mathias Rohe on the muezzin call"Traditional religious practice is not political Islam"
Since the German city of Cologne launched a two-year model project to allow Muslim communities to perform the call to prayer, there has been much heated public debate on the issue. Islamic scholar and law professor Mathias Rohe examines the arguments
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Germany: Controversy surrounding journalist with Palestinian rootsThe lost honour of Nemi El-Hassan
On 10 September, WDR, the public broadcaster in Germany's most populous western state, introduced the 28-year-old journalist Nemi El-Hassan as the new presenter of its popular and respected science programme "Quarks". Then German tabloid giant "Bild" got involved and everything changed. A commentary by Stefan Buchen
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Arab world"The people aren't ready" – can Arabs do democracy?
"The people aren’t ready for democracy" has been the constitutional basis for Arab tyranny, its favourite slogan and its sacred narrative for more than a century. Yet, asks Khaled Hroub, what chance does democracy have, unless it is repeatedly put to the test by the people at all levels of society?
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9/11 twenty years onHow the 'War on Terror' destabilised the Middle East
Two decades after the attacks of 11 September 2001, the West faces the shattered debris of its failure – not only in Afghanistan, but also in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen. What went wrong in the war on terror? And what lessons can Europe learn from it? Essay by Kristin Helberg
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Mohammed VI and the Arab SpringWhat happened to Morocco's 2011 constitution?
Morocco's 2011 Arab Spring constitution has been hijacked by the deep state, which is asserting its own authoritarian interpretation and turning the clock back decades. Analysis by Mohamed Taifouri
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Islamic law in AfghanistanSharia – nightmare or ticket to salvation?
The Taliban, Islamic State, al-Qaida – for most Muslims their understanding of sharia is a nightmare. But what is sharia law really? Answers by Mathias Rohe
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Afghanistan and its neighboursIs the Taliban takeover still in Pakistan's interest?
It is no secret that sections of the Pakistani security services have maintained close relationships with the Taliban for years. So what do Pakistan’s leaders expect from this victory, and what effect will it have on the country? Answers from Mohammad Luqman
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The West's failure in AfghanistanAuthors of 'War on Terror' in denial to the bitter end
How could the Afghan government and its institutions collapse so quickly? That things were going wrong in Afghanistan had been obvious for a long time, yet the West preferred to look the other way, writes Emran Feroz
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Faith and religious tolerance in IndiaWhere tolerance and segregation go hand in hand
A recent nationwide, multi-faith public-opinion survey has found that Indians value both religious tolerance and co-existence, on the one hand, and religious exclusivity and segregation, on the other. But this apparent contradiction, although astonishing to many, is in fact not entirely surprising. By Shashi Tharoor