Politics

Battles in Yemen

Opening Pandora's Box in Yemen

As the situation deteriorates almost by the hour in Yemen, the sheer uncertainty of what happens next could trigger a regional conflict, writes Adam Baron of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
By Adam Baron
$Anti-fracking protests in Ain Salah (photo: Billal Bensalem/ABACAPRESS.COM)$

Anti-fracking protests in Algeria

Revolution rising up from the desert?

Unrest is steadily growing in Africa's largest nation. The latest protests take aim at controversial fracking projects in the desert town of Ain Salah. Details from Susanne Kaiser
By Susanne Kaiser
NGO report on the Jasmine Revolution and security in Tunisia

How to make the transition from dictatorship to democracy

Reform of the security system is one of the biggest challenges facing Tunisia – one that the country has not yet undertaken. But now the non-governmental organisation "Le Labo' Democratique" (The Democratic Lab) has released the first comprehensive analysis of the Jasmine Revolution and the security challenges faced by the country. Sarah Mersch was at the launch
By Sarah Mersch
Rising tension in Bangladesh

Fundamentalists take centre stage amid political discord

The recent murder of prominent Bangladeshi-born blogger Avijit Roy has once again shone a spotlight on the state of freedom of speech in the country. Experts believe that fundamentalists are gaining ground as the country spirals deeper into a political crisis.
By Roma Rajpal Weiss
Four years of war in Syria

Where the uprising began and still lives on

The southern Syrian city of Daraa is the "cradle of the revolution" and the last bastion of the uprising against the Assad regime. Kristin Helberg on the special significance the provincial city has held since the start of the Syrian rebellion four years ago
By Kristin Helberg
General election in Israel

Disillusionment and hope

Despite opinion poll and exit poll indications to the contrary, Benjamin Netanyahu and Likud won a clear victory in Tuesday's election. As the dust settles, Ylenia Gostoli reports on what the outcome might mean for Palestinians. Although disillusionment is widespread in the Palestinian Territories, the historic result for the Joint Arab List is seen as a positive development
By Ylenia Gostoli
Relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt

Conditional support

Relations between the Gulf States and Egypt are undergoing readjustment. Saudi Arabia will continue to support Egypt, but the conditions for this support have changed. By Matthias Sailer
By Matthias Sailer
Sunni-Shia conflict

The enemy of my enemy

Anyone who thinks that the Sunnis in Tikrit and Mosul will welcome the opponents of Islamic State with open arms as liberators is mistaken. They fear the Shia militias even more than they do IS. This shows how the inner-Islamic religious war has polarised Iraqi society. By Stefan Buchen
By Stefan Buchen
India and "Islamic State"

Indian Muslims not heeding the siren call of IS

IS's recruitment of fighters for the "holy war" in Syria and Iraq has long been an international problem. In India, home to the world's second largest Muslim population, the security forces are also alert to the issue. By Ronald Meinardus in New Delhi
By Ronald Meinardus
Military offensive against IS in Iraq

Strike and counter-strike

The Iraqi army hopes that taking back Tikrit will come to mean to it what Kobani means to the Kurds: a turning point and a motivational push in one. By Birgit Svensson in Baghdad
By Birgit Svensson
Interview with Sari Nusseibeh

"Israelis and Palestinians will have to start thinking seriously about a one-state solution"

Sari Nusseibeh is a Palestinian philosophy professor and was president of al-Quds University in Jerusalem from 1995 to 2014, where he still teaches. For many years, he was the most senior Palestinian official in East Jerusalem. In this interview with Sabine Peschel at the recent Goethe-Institut conference "Dialogue and the experience of the other" in Berlin, he speaks about Israeli–Palestinian negotiations, the upcoming elections in Israel, the legacy of the Arab Spring and the rise of Islamic State
By Sabine Peschel
Iran's foreign policy

All options are open

Is Iran part of the problem or part of the solution to the conflicts in the Near and Middle East? There are actually good arguments for both points of view. By Bahman Nirumand
By Bahman Nirumand