Reconstruction in Syria
Frustrating Assadʹs plans for a new state
15 years since the neo-Nazi NSU attack in Cologne
Sorry, what happened on Keupstrasse?
Atheism in the Arab world
Moroccoʹs atheists find a home on the Internet
Rania Mamoun and Elisabeth Jaquette
For the sheer pleasure of reading

Reconstruction in Syria

Frustrating Assadʹs plans for a new state

Although regime apologists are fond of asserting that the war in Syria is over, wary investors, an ongoing U.S. trade embargo, the pariah status of its ally Iran, not to mention galloping inflation, mean it could be years before the devasted country sees any real reconstruction. Analysis by Ghiath BilalRead more

Rebuilding Syria: Who should foot the bill for Assad?Reconstruction in Syria: The next battlegroundInternational policy on Syria: The rehabilitation of Assad

15 years since the neo-Nazi NSU attack in Cologne

Germanyʹs constitution turns 70 – sorry, what happened on Keupstrasse?

Anyone mentioning Cologneʹs Keupstrasse and radicalisation in the same breath cannot simply brush the matter of NSU terrorism under the carpet. Commentary by Sonja HegasyRead more

Verdict in neo-Nazi NSU trial: The shredding of Germanyʹs democracyThe victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spreeQantara dossier: "NSU trial"

Atheism in the Arab world

Moroccoʹs atheists find a home on the Internet

The Internet has made it possible for some to declare and even to promote their atheism by criticising Islam and other religions. Ismail Azzam spoke to some young Moroccans who have left their Muslim faith behindRead more

Atheism in the Arab World: The dictators' scourge: Of 'heresy' and humanistsAtheism in Saudi Arabia: God's own countryIslam in the Middle East: The curse of religiosity

Interview with Sudanese writer Rania Mamoun and translator Elisabeth Jaquette

For the sheer pleasure of reading

Rania Mamounʹs 10-story collection – "Thirteen Months of Sunrise" – explores the connections and walls between people and communities. Marcia Lynx Qualey had a three-way discussion with Mamoun, the bookʹs Sudanese author, and its translator, Elisabeth Jaquette, who has rendered the book into vibrant, compelling EnglishRead more

Literary playlist: Rania Mamoun's "Thirteen Months of Sunrise"Book review: Stella Gitanoʹs "Withered Flowers": Mapping an unknown worldBook review: "The Kindness of Enemies" by Leila Aboulela: Crises of identity and loyalty from Scotland to the CaucasusLubna Isamʹs "Sudanese Tales”: Tradition in the present

Politics

Children playing football in Damascus (photo: Reuters/M. Djurica)

Reconstruction in Syria

Frustrating Assadʹs plans for a new state

Although regime apologists are fond of asserting that the war in Syria is over, wary investors, an ongoing U.S. trade embargo, the pariah status of its ally Iran, not to mention galloping inflation, mean it could be years before the devasted country sees any real reconstruction. Analysis by Ghiath BilalMore

Rebuilding Syria: Who should foot the bill for Assad?Reconstruction in Syria: The next battlegroundInternational policy on Syria: The rehabilitation of Assad
Symbolic image of ʹthe civil versus the militaryʹ: a man protests against the referendum on the constitution in front of a statue of former general Abdel Moneim Riad, in Cairo, Egypt (photo: Reuters)

Military dictatorships in the Middle East

The real enemies of the Arab Spring

For people in the Arab world to be able to throw off the yoke of military rule, a new balance must be struck between political and social forces and the military. Though it is now years since the Arab Spring, this goal still seems a long way off. By Ali AnouzlaMore

The role of Egypt′s armed forces: A military empirePolitical crisis: Sudanʹs deadly counter-revolutionary militiaTyranny in the Islamic world: Keeping the tribe alive
Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor, currently imprisoned (screenshot: YouTube)

Political activism in the Gulf

The UAEʹs policy of zero tolerance

The repression of political dissidents such as Ahmed Mansoor belies the UAEʹs well-publicised attempts to brand itself as a promoter of tolerance, argues Joe Stork. Yet the West's staunch ally in the Gulf has little to fear in the way of criticismMore

Political crisis: Sudanʹs deadly counter-revolutionary militiaThe Gulf monarchies and the Arab Spring: Counter-revolution in the GulfDW in-depth: German arms feeding the Yemen conflictUAE foreign policy and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi: Hardly a ruler in waiting
Aung San Suu Kyi in Budapest (photo: Getty Images/A. Kisbenedek)

Myanmarʹs Aung San Suu Kyi in Hungary

With friends like Orban...

Myanmarʹs Aung San Suu Kyi and Hungaryʹs Viktor Orban have discussed their mutual fear of Muslims. In doing so, the Burmese leader has again showed she has lost the moral standing she once enjoyed, says Verena HolzlMore

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh: Fatima, the Rohingya, tells her storyInterview with Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch: Myanmar's denier-in-chief: ″An utter failure of moral leadership″ The flight of Rohingya: Muslims from Myanmar to Bangladesh
more Politics »

Society

Participants in a minute of silence to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the NSU Keupstrasse nail bomb attack in Cologne, during which 22 people were injured, four of them seriously (photo: Roberto Pfeil/dpa)

15 years since the neo-Nazi NSU attack in Cologne

Germanyʹs constitution turns 70 – sorry, what happened on Keupstrasse?

Anyone mentioning Cologneʹs Keupstrasse and radicalisation in the same breath cannot simply brush the matter of NSU terrorism under the carpet. Commentary by Sonja HegasyMore

Verdict in neo-Nazi NSU trial: The shredding of Germanyʹs democracyThe victims of the neo-Nazi NSU murder spreeQantara dossier: "NSU trial"
Slogans relating to the Atheist Moroccan Republic (source: YouTube screenshot)

Atheism in the Arab world

Moroccoʹs atheists find a home on the Internet

The Internet has made it possible for some to declare and even to promote their atheism by criticising Islam and other religions. Ismail Azzam spoke to some young Moroccans who have left their Muslim faith behindMore

Atheism in the Arab World: The dictators' scourge: Of 'heresy' and humanistsAtheism in Saudi Arabia: God's own countryIslam in the Middle East: The curse of religiosity
Journalist and author Ferda Ataman (photo: private)

Non-fiction: Ferda Atamanʹs "Iʹm from here. Stop asking!"

Less strident, more empathetic, please!

"I'm from here. Stop asking!" is the title of a recently published book in German by journalist Ferda Ataman. It contains quite a lot of appeals, summarises the latest debates on migration – and ignores the problems faced by an open society. By Canan TopcuMore

Non-fiction: Aladin El-Mafaalani's "Das Integrationsparadox": Demanding a seat at the tableThe integration litmus test: Success for some means failure for othersIntegration in Germany: Finally growing up
Turkish author Asli Erdogan (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

Interview with Turkish author Asli Erdogan

"There is nothing left of democracy in Turkey"

For Turkish author Asli Erdogan the annullation of the mayoral electoral result in Istanbul marked the end of democracy in Turkey. Gezal Acer spoke to her about her life in German exile and the situation of writers and freedom of speech in TurkeyMore

Interview with Turkish writer Asli Erdogan: "It's my country too"Interview with Elif Shafak: "There is a lack of democratic culture in Turkey"Artists in Turkey: Erdogan′s new targets
more Society »

Culture

Translator Elisabeth Jaquette (left) and Sudanese writer Rania Mamoun (photos: private)

Interview with Sudanese writer Rania Mamoun and translator Elisabeth Jaquette

For the sheer pleasure of reading

Rania Mamounʹs 10-story collection – "Thirteen Months of Sunrise" – explores the connections and walls between people and communities. Marcia Lynx Qualey had a three-way discussion with Mamoun, the bookʹs Sudanese author, and its translator, Elisabeth Jaquette, who has rendered the book into vibrant, compelling EnglishMore

Literary playlist: Rania Mamoun's "Thirteen Months of Sunrise"Book review: Stella Gitanoʹs "Withered Flowers": Mapping an unknown worldBook review: "The Kindness of Enemies" by Leila Aboulela: Crises of identity and loyalty from Scotland to the CaucasusLubna Isamʹs "Sudanese Tales”: Tradition in the present
The new Aladdin film starring Will Smith, Mena Massoud, Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Nasim Pedrad (source: YouTube; film trailer)

Hollywoodʹs flirtation with 1001 Nights

The Aladdin controversy

Currently a worldwide blockbuster, the latest Aladdin movie hoped to do a better job of the story than the 1992 animated Disney film, which features a number of racist stereotypes when viewed through todayʹs lens. Is this likely in view of the Aladdin storyʹs dubious origins? Stefan Weidner provides some backgroundMore

"The Arabian Nights": Obscene pornography or a great work of culture?Goethe′s fascination with the "Thousand and One Nights": Mephistopheles spoke; Scheherazade beguiled1001 Nights: The healing power of storytelling
Berlinʹs Binooki publishers Inci Burhaniye (left) and Selma Wels in 2012 (photo: Barbara Dietl)

Berlinʹs Binooki publishing house

Cultural rapprochement hamstrung by Erdogan

Set up to foster understanding between Germany and Turkey by distributing Turkish literature in translation, Binooki, a niche publishing house founded in Berlin by daughters of Turkish guest workers, is fighting for survival – thanks to Erdogan. By Ulrich von SchwerinMore

Book review: Omur Iklim Demirʹs "Buch der entbehrlichen Gedanken": Artfully enigmatic Interview with the Turkish author Baris Uygur: "Even we're lost for words sometimes"Qantara dossier: Turkish literature
German-Lebanese author Pierre Jarawan performing at the 16th German Poery Slam Championships in Heidelberg on 17.11.2012 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Anspach)

Book review: Pierre Jarawanʹs "The Storyteller"

Reconciling histories

Originally published in German in 2016 at the height of the refugee crisis, Pierre Jarawanʹs debut novel deftly captures the multi-layered existence of those who are forced to leave their homeland. Newly available in English, "The Storyteller" is a moving tale of the quest for personal identity. Richard Marcus read the bookMore

Book review: Hilal Chouman′s ″Limbo Beirut″: Hybrid livesBook review: Mazen Kerbaj′s ″Beirut won′t cry″: ″Bombs pass and we bark″Book review ″Beirut Noir″: Chronicling life in the corrupt city
more Culture »

In brief

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Saudi Arabia seen from above

Far from the glittering skyscrapers of Riyadh and Mecca mania, there is another side to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia just waiting to be discovered. By Eric Lafforgue

BBC Radio 4: Spyware in the wrong hands

Pegasus spyware spread (source: CitizenLab 2018)

BBC Radio 4's "File on Four" reveals how surveillance software designed to track drug-dealers and terrorists is being used by Gulf states to spy on journalists, human rights activists and lawyers carrying out legitimate activities.More

NYT: How the UAE-Saudi axis of autocracy is ruining Sudan's chance at democracy

A Sudanese protester gestures as he walks past a burning tyre near Khartoum's army headquarters on 3 June 2019 after security forces broke up a weeks-long sit-in (photo: Getty Images/AFP/E. Hamid)

Since the Arab uprisings of 2011, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have used their considerable resources to promote authoritarian governments run by military strongmen in the region. By Iyad el-BaghdadiMore

NYT: The most powerful Arab ruler isn’t M.B.S. It’s M.B.Z.

Saudi Defence Minister and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (left) meets Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (right) during the GCC Defence Ministerial summit in Riyadh on 20 April 2016 (photo: picture-alliance/AA/B. Algaloud)

Prince Mohammed bin Zayed expanded the U.A.E.’s power by following America’s lead. He now has an increasingly bellicose agenda of his own. And President Trump seems to be following him.More

"Perspectives" online magazine

"Perspectives" online logo

" Perspectives" is the new multimedia online magazine of the Goethe Institutes in the region of North Africa and the Middle East. In cooperation with Qantara.de, monothematic dossiers are published quarterly in Arabic, German, English and French.More

Human Rights Watch: Egypt's war crimes in North Sinai

A recently published Human Rights Watch report based on two years of investigation documents crimes including mass arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial killings and possibly unlawful air and ground attacks against civilians in the North Sinai.More

Harvard Law School's "Words of Justice" include Koran Sura

Included in Harvard Law School's Words of Justice exhibition, Verse 135 of Sura Al Nisa adorns the entrance hall: “O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allah, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be (against) rich or poor: for Allah can best protect both".More

What does it mean to be a Muslim woman?

Mariam Khan, editor of "It's Not About The Burqa", and three of the book's contributors answer questions from 'Which Muslim woman inspires you the most' to 'What is one thing people need to know about being a Muslim woman?'More