France
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Islam in Europe
An appeal to Muslims: Call out the terrorists!
Muslims in the West need to shoulder some of the burden when it comes to combatting extremism, otherwise they themselves may well fall under the wheels of the proverbial bus. Commentary by Mousa Barhouma
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Donald Trump′s America
U.S. immigration policy: Damn those cosmopolitans
Cosmopolitanism is clearly a dirty word to the Trump administration, which is increasingly aligning itself with nativist movements hostile to ethnic or religious minorities. In the process Trump and his advisors are walking on thin political ice, argues Ian Buruma in his essay
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America′s dangerous anti-Iran posturing
For a farewell to arms
The Middle East is fraught with bitter national and sectarian conflicts that realistically can only be solved by compromise. Rather than another round of demonisation, what the region needs, argues Jeffrey Sachs, is an era of diplomacy that focuses on normalising relations
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Book review: Fethi Benslama's book on the radicalisation of young Muslims
Islamic civilisation and its discontents
In his new book, recently published in German as "Der Übermuslim" (The Super-Muslim), the French-Tunisian psychoanalyst Fethi Benslama explores what drives young people to become radicalised. He concludes that they seek meaning, stability, orientation and identity in radical Islamism. By Herbert Csef
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Profile: German-Turkish film director Fatih Akin
The cutting edge of reality
Fatih Akin′s latest film – ″Aus dem Nichts″ (In The Fade) – recently celebrated its world premiere at the International Film Festival in Cannes. The German-Turkish film director′s work revolves around the clash of different cultures, transcending borders to achieve a great truthfulness. By Anke Sterneborg
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Book review: Iman Humaydan′s ″The Weight of Paradise″
Suppressed guilt, suppressed memories
In ″The Weight of Paradise″, the Lebanese writer Iman Humaydan, born in 1956, gives us a layered depiction of the individual and collective traces left on her country by the civil war. By Claudia Kramatschek
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French Islam scholar Fethi Benslama: ″There is no such thing as political Islam″
According to the French psychoanalyst and Islam scholar Fethi Benslama, there is no such thing as political Islam.
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Interview with the French-Turkish sociologist Nilufer Gole
"Islam is taking root in Europe"
Sociologist Nilufer Gole talked to Muslims throughout Europe who would otherwise never get to have their say. The results of her remarkable study have now been published in German translation. Interview by Karen Kruger
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French philosopher Henry Corbin
Wherever the spirit guides
Henry Corbin, theologian and professor in Islamic Studies at the Sorbonne, is widely regarded as the West′s authority on Persian philosophy. Despite having died in 1978, he is not only revered in modern-day Iran, he has also been appropriated. By Marian Brehmer
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Arab Spring and Western Winter
Look before you leap!
Economist Ishac Diwan compares the failure of the Arab Spring with the rise in right-wing populism across the western world, both of them phenomena marked by massive social tensions. Moreover, he argues, the efforts of progressive movements to provide a viable alternative have all but run aground
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On the death of philosopher and essayist Tzvetan Todorov
We are all barbarians
Tzvetan Todorov was not a typical French TV philosopher, bending the president's ear with ideas on the politics of the day. He definitely would not have called for "Libya to be bombed", as did Bernard-Henri Levy in 2011. Todorov kept a low profile. He passed away early this year. Stefan Buch explains why he was – and will remain – one of the voices of our time
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French Muslims against radicalisation
Fight the good fight
In Bordeaux, Muslims have gone on the offensive against radical Islam within their communities. Yet their efforts are not to everyone′s taste – religion in France remains a highly personal matter. Elizabeth Bryant reports from Bordeaux