Politics

No stability without opposition

The Maghrebʹs untenable status quo

As it seeks to support "stability" in North Africa, the international community needs to think less about strong states and more about strong opposition, says Max Gallien
By Max Gallien
Slaves of Islamic State

The fight to find the missing Yazidis

Islamic State is fighting its endgame with Yazidis waiting anxiously. Angered by Iraqi government silence following reports that IS killed 50 of their women, they are pushing for real action to find 3,000 of their own. By Judit Neurink
By Judit Neurink
Mass anti-president protests in Algeria

No more Bouteflika!

Demonstrations against the controversial presidential candidacy of ailing Algerian leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika are snowballing into a mass nationwide protest movement. The end of his clan's regency is only a matter of time. Sofian Philip Naceur reports from Algeria
By Sofian Philip Naceur
DW in-depth

German arms feeding the Yemen conflict

A team of investigative journalists involving the Deutsche Welle have discovered that German weaponry and tech play a far greater role in the Yemen conflict than previously thought. Meanwhile the German government continues to feign ignorance. By Nina Werkhauser and Naomi Conrad
By Nina Werkhäuser & Naomi Conrad
The West versus the Islamic Republic?

Iran's 40 years of strife

The 40th anniversary of the Iranian Revolution might have offered the West an opportunity to reflect on the failure of four decades of disengagement to bring the Islamic Republic any closer to collapse – or the region any closer to peace. Instead, the Trump administration has doubled down on hostility, with nothing to show for it. By Javier Solana
By Javier Solana
The end of the "Islamic State"

Entering a new chapter in Syria

The appeal and the peculiarity of Islamic State always lay in its claim that it already existed as such, not that it was a work in progress. But the capture of the last IS bastion on the Euphrates must now represent the final nail in the coffin for the jihadistsʹ state-building project. By Ulrich von Schwerin
By Ulrich von Schwerin
India and Pakistan

Nuclear war – a remote, but real threat

India and Pakistan are currently embroiled in their most serious crisis in several decades. While a nuclear exchange between the two sides is highly unlikely, the possibility nevertheless remains, says Michael Kugelman
By Michael Kugelman
Returning IS fighters

Expatriation hardly an option

How should Germany deal with IS returnees from Syria? Can Berlin deny them the right to return? And would expatriation even be possible? By Nermin Ismail
By Nermin Ismail
Not-so-splendid isolation

Erdogan's geopolitical nightmare

Turkey’s emergence as a regional power has provoked suspicion, shaking the balance of power in the Middle East and beyond. As a result, relations with many regional players have deteriorated over the last decade. With diplomatic ties to the West currently at an historic low, is Turkey likely to end up out on a limb? By Stasa Salacanin
By Stasa Salacanin
Negotiating peace with the Taliban

Any deal will do

The tension among Kabul's political elite is palpable. Washington has been conducting negotiations for a peace deal with the insurgent Taliban in the Gulf emirate of Qatar for quite some time now, and the government in Kabul feels side-lined. Yet regardless of who is sitting around the negotiating table, almost all players in Afghanistan agree: the need for peace is urgent. By Emran Feroz
By Emran Feroz
Abusing blasphemy legislation

Indonesia's slide towards identity politics

Indonesiaʹs much vaunted Pancasila system appears to be faltering. Recent years have seen a spate of blasphemy convictions, most notably that of Ahok, ex-governor of Jakarta. Amending existing legislation is not, however, on the agenda of electioneering politicians keen to mobilise conservative Muslim voters. By Rafiqa Qurrata Aʹyun
By Rafiqa Qurrata Aʹyun
Social unrest in Tunisia

Taking on the IMF

As the Tunis government’s international creditors tie loans to increasingly drastic austerity measures, social tensions continue to grow in the nation’s marginalised hinterland. By Sofian Philip Naceur
By Sofian Philip Naceur