Politics

Middle East

Factbox: Who's competing in Iraq's elections?

Iraq holds a general election on 10 October, its fifth parliamentary vote since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 and ushered in a complex multi-party system contested by groups defined largely by sect or ethnicity.
Taliban takeover

Afghanistan crisis looms as West cuts aid lifelines

The world must take action now to prevent a deep and lasting humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. But what, if anything, can be done? The one billion dollars pledged by international donors is merely a short term fix, argues Rashmee Roshan Lall
By Rashmee Roshan Lall
Egypt‘s illegal deportation practice

Eritrean refugees in Egypt: arrested, beaten, threatened

Two refugees detained in Egypt are facing deportation to Eritrea. The expulsion of the Eritreans, who have been incarcerated in Cairo for more than eight years, has been halted for the time being. But the attempted deportation is not an isolated case, and sheds light on Egypt’s draconian approach towards refugees and migrants. By Sofian Philip Naceur
By Sofian Philip Naceur
Arab world

Germany and the Middle East – a tale of morals and markets

Germany's foreign policy is explicitly values-based. But what happens, Ralf Bosen asks, when democracy, the rule of law and human rights collide with the logic of trade and business?
By Ralf Bosen
9/11 twenty years on

Muslims in the West – the cultural go-betweens

Twenty years after 9/11, the world is faced with the dual challenge of Islamophobia and anti-Westernism. Ahmet Kuru argues that Muslims in the West, well versed in both Western and Muslim cultures, are key to resolving the mutual antipathy felt by many
By Ahmet T. Kuru
20 years after 9/11

U.S. war on terror is still omnipresent

Twenty years after 9/11, the United States is recalibrating its war policy. However, its assertions that the era of endless wars is over are a myth, writes Maha Hilal
By Maha Hilal
Western withdrawal from Afghanistan

The symbolic importance of the U.S. defeat

Caught up in discussions on the future of local Afghan forces and new Islamist threats, people are failing to grasp the historic scale of the debacle, argues Stefan Buchen in his essay
By Stefan Buchen
Mohammed VI's coefficient swindle

Moroccan elections will be about maths, not change

The country's national election on 8 September will likely bring new government. But neither experts nor locals expect it to bring long-promised change, writes Cathrin Schaer
By Cathrin Schaer
Turkish foreign policy

Ankara – new guarantor of stability on the Hindu Kush?

Ankara's foreign policy apparatus is currently running at top speed. While politicians in the West busy themselves with evacuating Kabul and analysing the chaos, which not even optimists would term effective crisis management, Erdogan's Turkey seems to be one step ahead. By Ronald Meinardus
By Ronald Meinardus
Yemen and the Biden administration

"After the war, Yemen will no longer be a sovereign state"

At the beginning of his term, U.S. President Joe Biden said the war in Yemen must end because it had led to a "humanitarian and strategic catastrophe". Yet, according to Said AIDailami, the war continues with unabated ferocity because the warring parties have not yet achieved their political and economic goals. Interview for Qantara.de by Claudia Mende
By Claudia Mende
Wildfires in Turkey

Politics ablaze as forests burn in Turkey

The ruling Justice and Development Party's inadequate preparedness and apparent poor and slow response to the large-scale devastating wildfires ravaging the country has unleashed a fresh political debate in Turkey. By Ayşe Karabat in Istanbul
By Ayşe Karabat
Taliban in the ascendant

Joe Biden and America’s withdrawal of choice

The swift fall of Kabul recalls the ignominious fall of Saigon in 1975. Beyond the local consequences – widespread reprisals, harsh repression of women and girls, and massive refugee flows – America’s strategic and moral failure in Afghanistan will reinforce questions about U.S. reliability among friends and foes alike. By Richard Haass
By Richard Haass