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Progress in the Face of Patriarchy and Islam

Although women have always played a central role in Kazakh society, they have only recently started to move more into traditionally male-dominated areas. Nevertheless, Kazakhstan is still a man's country. In some regions, the rise of Islam is even placing new restrictions on women. Marina Khegay reports

Raising the Profile of German Literature

From January 2004 onwards, Literix will feature sample translations of German books on the Internet, with a particular focus on readers in Arab countries. Petra Tabeling enjoyed a sneak preview of this new service.

Attempts at Cultural Transfer

In her work, the German artist Anahita Razmi deals with both political and social issues, ones in fact that are often related to Iran, the homeland of her father. A portrait by Daniela Gregori

''Dostoyevsky be Damned!''

In his new novel, Atiq Rahimi raises the question of what constitutes a "just" murder. In a world etched by terrorism, legal uncertainty and the daily struggle for survival, is vigilante justice a legitimate form of resistance? The author needs less than 300 pages to explore this question in the form of a novel. Volker Kaminski reports

From Mujahedeen to Farmer

Without disarming the country's 100,000 guerilla fighters, there's no way Afghanistan can count on a peaceful future. So far, too few have put down their weapons. But those who have face difficult choices. Report: Sandra Petersmann

Morsi under Fire for anti-Israel Remarks

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has cultivated the image of a political pragmatist. But he made inflammatory remarks against Israel in old TV interviews, raising questions about whether he harbors anti-Semitic views. Nils Naumann reports

Guy Tariq Meynen (Belgium), 19 December 2003

Entoni Šeperić (Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina), 12 September 2003

Attila A. Iftikhar (Sweden), 12 September 2003

Two Forms of Secularism

In his reply to Bahmanpour, Heiner Bielefeldt distinguishes between two forms of secularism. Only one of them questions religious values.