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Uncertain Future for Iraqi Refugees

During the tyranny of Saddam Hussein's regime, many Iraqis who fled their country found refuge in the Berlin Republic. In 2003, Iraqis made up 14 percent of all asylum seekers to Germany. Now, with the brutal dictator gone, their fate is up in the air.

War as a Game Scenario

Every day, we receive new and conflicting news and images from the war in the Gulf; and both in the West and in the Arab world, a media war is also afoot, in which the casualties often include free speech and objective reporting. "Embedded" journalists, in particular, have been accused of contributing more to the "fog of war" than to casting any real light on the conflict. For this reason, professor Kai Hafez, a scholar of the Islamic world, has called for extensive changes in media policy.

Sunday, May 25, 2003

"The bloody dog is dead!" – That’s how simple and clear it used to be, my dear Abbas, back in the days of the unequivocally just war against the Germans. With the mission accomplished, the moustachioed dictator dead, and the allied troops in the capital, the war was over and peace and reconstruction could begin ...

Friday, April 11, 2003

Dear Michael, I have not taken part in any demonstrations. I hear about them from those who consider them as their only means of participating in events. I hate the celebratory aspect of such demonstrations and always feel that those taking part in them are imitating themselves ...

Thursday, March 27, 2003

Dear Michael, The Americans didn’t loose any time – they began the war the moment their ultimatum ran out. Here in Lebanon, people have been holding out in front ...

Thursday, March 20, 2003

My dear Abbas, Well, now it’s finally started; the war began last night. It’s always been said that nobody in Germany was looking forward to it, but I’ve just noticed that this isn’t the case ...

"There Should Be a Clear Commitment to Secularism!"

Interview with the Islam Academic Ursula Spuler-Stegemann, a vehement critic of the Islamic Charter

Germany Gripped

It may be taking place thousands of miles away, but the trial of an Afghan convert to Christianity in Kabul and a possible looming death sentence have whipped up emotions in Germany and other Western nations. Sonia Phalnikar reports

Kitsch as Weapon

With the war in Iraq far from over, Roberto Benigni has already made a comedy about it. He is one of the very few filmmakers who raise the truly important questions these days: How is it possible, or permissible, to depict human suffering? By Philipp Bühler

Persistence for the Sake of Dialogue

The fall of Iran's Shah and September 11 were events which triggered the need for a dialogue between the West and the Islamic world. However, Hans Schiler, a publisher from Berlin, never needed any prompting. This has been an important issue for him for the past 25 years. An article by Christoph Burgmer for the German magazine "LiteraturNachrichten".