Barack Obama
All topics-
US presidential election
Ever the aliens
Donald Trump has sparked a backlash after criticising the parents of a slain Muslim American soldier. It′s another reminder of the challenges faced by Muslims in the US military. By Brandon Conradis
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Noam Chomsky in interview
Obama's sangfroid
Former MIT professor and philosopher Noam Chomsky is widely regarded as one of the world's leading intellectuals. Undoubtedly, Chomsky's word has weight. Emran Feroz interviewed him on Barack Obama's political legacy in the Middle East, the deal with Iran and the refugee crisis
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Gaddafi and the West's military intervention
A nation forsworn, forsaken, forgotten
The political situation in Libya five years after the fall of Gaddafi is disastrous. President Obama recently admitted that the mistakes made by NATO could have been avoided. Now, more than ever, it is important to pursue the right strategy, says Gareth Evans, former chairman of the International Crisis Group
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Right-wing populism in Europe and the USA
The politics of Islamophobia
When people panic, they can become hysterical and hysteria often leads to mass violence. When politicians convince people that they are in a life-or-death battle – that survival is a matter of "us or them" – anything becomes possible. An essay by Ian Buruma
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The Paris attacks and Arab responsibility
Are we accomplices?
The massacres in Paris showed what a catastrophe the Al-Baghdadi "caliphate" represents and how it threatens to drag whole generations into a "clash of cultures". High time for Arabs and Muslims to seek out the roots of the fanaticism and delusion that have spread since 9/11, says the Lebanese journalist Zuheir Quseibati, bureau chief of "Al-Hayat" newspaper
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Chronicle of a war foretold
Redefining the "Syrian" conflict
The war waging in Syria, hijacked by opposing ideologies just months after it began, has had an irrevocable impact on the Syrian people. Although not much is heard of Syrians outside the refugee camps, Americans, Europeans, Russians, Turks, Iranians, and Arabs hold meeting after meeting to agree and disagree, coalesce and collide, in an attempt to halt the ″Syrian conflict″. By Hakim Khatib
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Saudi Arabia's nuclear plans and Iran
Is a nuclear arms race looming in the Gulf?
At the recent meeting with US President Barack Obama in Camp David, Saudi Arabia threatened to make use of all the same technology granted to Iran in the emerging nuclear deal with the West. Is this the start of the long-feared nuclear arms race in the Gulf region? Or is it an attempt to force the US to take a tougher stance on Iran? By Ulrich von Schwerin
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Nuclear talks with Iran
The long hoped-for breakthrough
The framework agreement reached at the end of the long negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme in Lausanne goes much further and is much more specific than latterly expected. Iran has pledged to drastically reduce uranium enrichment and made clear concessions concerning the duration of the planned deal and in the phased lifting of sanctions. By Ulrich von Schwerin
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After the election in Israel
Palestine's hope in Netanyahu
While many in Israel were hoping for Netanyahu's electoral defeat, Palestinians were more reserved. They now expect the international community to exert more pressure on Israel. René Wildangel reports.
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The Middle East in 2014
New regional power games
The rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq has dramatically altered the regional order. While Iran and Turkey are becoming key political players in the crisis-torn area, the West continues to lose influence. An analysis by Karim El-Gawhary
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Drone war in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Living in the shadow of the "angels of death"
While the world is spellbound by the atrocities perpetrated by the organisation "Islamic State" in Iraq and Syria, the killing in another region of the world goes on unremarked. The daily lives of people in Afghanistan and Pakistan are affected less by the murders committed by bearded extremists than by unmanned killing machines. By Emran Feroz
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The fight against IS
No alternative to civil and human rights in the Arab world
In the battle against Islamic State, the religious leaders of Islam have failed; the onus is now on secular forces to fight the jihadi terrorists. To this end, the West must support the beleaguered rebels and civil society's campaign for civil and human rights in the Arab world. A commentary by Markus Bickel