Indonesian economist Iwan J. Azis
"Inequality will grow if all you do is unleash market forces"
Civil society in Africa
Sudan′s young people roll up their sleeves
Interview with Riem Spielhaus
#MeTwo: "Itʹs a topic for German textbooks"
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
U.S. aid cuts bite in Gaza

Interview with Indonesian economist Iwan J. Azis

"Inequality will grow if all you do is unleash market forces"

For decades the conditions governing International Financial Institution (IFI) loans to Asian countries were often far too stringent, resulting in heightened social disparity. In interview with Hans Dembowski, Iwan J. Azis explains the risks of purely growth-oriented economiesRead more

Islam and democracy: What the Arab world can learn from IndonesiaNon-fiction: Pankaj Mishra's "Age of Anger": The embittered majorityQantara dossier: "Globalisation"

Civil society in Africa

Sudan′s young people roll up their sleeves

Sudan′s younger generation has already faced all manner of crises, from the conflicts and struggles of a country in the process of breaking apart, economic crises, to problems in health and education. It′s a generation that anticipates the worst and has no concept of peace. But idle? Hardly. By Abdul Salam al-HajRead more

The West′s relations with Sudan: From pariah to partnerOne year after the division of Sudan: Old conflicts within new bordersRap music from the Sudan: Emmnuel Jal's vision of peace

Interview with Islam scholar Riem Spielhaus

#MeTwo: "Itʹs a topic for German textbooks"

Mesut Ozil's withdrawal from the German national football team sparked a wide-ranging debate on racism. In an interview with Yalda Zarbakhch, Islam scholar Riem Spielhaus explains where discrimination comes from and how to combat itRead more

Mesut Ozil and #MeTwo: When are you German enough?Islamophobia in Germany: "We need a new debate about racism"The association "Deutsch Plus": Working for diversity in Germany

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

U.S. aid cuts bite in Gaza

UNRWA, the relief agency for Palestinian refugees, is feeling the crunch since the United States, its main donor, slashed its contributions. The crisis comes amid a military escalation between Hamas and Israel. Tania Kraemer reports from GazaRead more

Politics and the humanitarian situation in Gaza: "War is always possible here"Interview with Palestinian human rights activist Mahmoud Abu Rahma: "We are alive, but we donʹt have a life"Gaza protests: Inescapable vortex of violence

Politics

Protests against the IMF and the World Bank in Jakarta in 2004 (photo: Wikimedia)

Interview with Indonesian economist Iwan J. Azis

"Inequality will grow if all you do is unleash market forces"

For decades the conditions governing International Financial Institution (IFI) loans to Asian countries were often far too stringent, resulting in heightened social disparity. In interview with Hans Dembowski, Iwan J. Azis explains the risks of purely growth-oriented economiesMore

Islam and democracy: What the Arab world can learn from IndonesiaNon-fiction: Pankaj Mishra's "Age of Anger": The embittered majorityQantara dossier: "Globalisation"
An elderly protester seen banging on the gate of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) office in Gaza on 31 July 2018 (photo: picture alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com)

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

U.S. aid cuts bite in Gaza

UNRWA, the relief agency for Palestinian refugees, is feeling the crunch since the United States, its main donor, slashed its contributions. The crisis comes amid a military escalation between Hamas and Israel. Tania Kraemer reports from GazaMore

Politics and the humanitarian situation in Gaza: "War is always possible here"Interview with Palestinian human rights activist Mahmoud Abu Rahma: "We are alive, but we donʹt have a life"Gaza protests: Inescapable vortex of violence
A Syrian government army soldier with a national flag (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/V. Sharifulin)

Iranʹs dilemma

Securing a slice of post-war Syria

Contrary to international hopes for a peaceful solution following the fall of Islamic State, Syria has become a military polygon for global and regional powers, increasing the risk of inter-state war. This is especially true in southern Syria, where Assad troops and forces controlled by Iran operate in close proximity to Israeli lines. By Stasa SalacaninMore

War in Syria: Ending America′s disastrous roleU.S. politics in Syria: Trump, Syria – and the threat of regional conflagrationGeopolitics in the Middle East: End the Arab-Iranian tug-of-war
Italyʹs right-wing Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini (left) and German Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (photo: DW/B. Riegert)

The axis of the right

Europeʹs new isolationist front

Europe is shifting to the right. Border security and isolation increasingly dominate the migration policies of the European Union. At a national level, right-wing parties are peddling a symbolic identity policy to distract from cuts that undermine the very fabric of society, says political scientist Farid HafezMore

Refugee crisis in Europe: The price of European indifferenceMigration and human rights: Refugee versus migrant: what's in a name?Migrating across the Mediterranean: Escape at all costs
more Politics »

Society

Riem Spielhaus is professor of Islamic Studies at the Georg-August University in Gottingen and head of the Department of Textbooks and Society at the Georg Eckert Institute, Leibniz Institute for International Textbook Research in Braunschweig (photo: Georg Eckert Institute)

Interview with Islam scholar Riem Spielhaus

#MeTwo: "Itʹs a topic for German textbooks"

Mesut Ozil's withdrawal from the German national football team sparked a wide-ranging debate on racism. In an interview with Yalda Zarbakhch, Islam scholar Riem Spielhaus explains where discrimination comes from and how to combat itMore

Mesut Ozil and #MeTwo: When are you German enough?Islamophobia in Germany: "We need a new debate about racism"The association "Deutsch Plus": Working for diversity in Germany
Education without Borders Sudan's "Cool School" campaign (source: Facebook; Education without Borders Sudan)

Civil society in Africa

Sudan′s young people roll up their sleeves

Sudan′s younger generation has already faced all manner of crises, from the conflicts and struggles of a country in the process of breaking apart, economic crises, to problems in health and education. It′s a generation that anticipates the worst and has no concept of peace. But idle? Hardly. By Abdul Salam al-HajMore

The West′s relations with Sudan: From pariah to partnerOne year after the division of Sudan: Old conflicts within new bordersRap music from the Sudan: Emmnuel Jal's vision of peace
Symbolic image of integration in Germany

Racism debate in Germany

Integration – a process of give and take

Thousands of Germans with a migration background have been sharing their experiences of racial discrimination using the hashtag #MeTwo. Successful integration is not a one-sided process, says Armin Langer, the majority must also be prepared to address the issuesMore

Germany and the semantics of exclusion: "We are not burka"Germany′s integration debate revisited: Piling on the pressureThe refugee debate: What makes us German?
Mesut Ozil and the German flag (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Vennenbernd)

Mesut Ozil and #MeTwo

When are you German enough?

Michel Abdollahi, Idil Baydar and Y'Akoto have all experienced racism and xenophobia – despite calling Germany their home. The artists hope that the #MeTwo debate will change hearts and minds when it comes to identity. By Yalda ZarbakhchMore

Islamophobia in Germany: "We need a new debate about racism"The association "Deutsch Plus": Working for diversity in GermanyGermany's identity crisis: Gundogan and Ozil are not the problem!
more Society »

Culture

Album review: Diali Cissokho and Kaira Baʹs "Routes"

Marrying music and culture

Diali Cissokho left his native Senegal for North Carolina years ago. Raised as a griot, one of the traditional musical story tellers and historians of West Africa, he wanted to continue playing music in his new home. It may have taken a while to find the musicians he was looking for but, writes Richard Marcus, it was worth the waitMore

Album: ″Lost in Mali″: Celebrating a musical landscapeAlbum review: "The Paris Session" by The Touré-Raichel Collective: Expanding each other's musical horizonsQantara dossier: Musical Worlds
Documenting illegal dog fights in Istanbul. An image from the "Control" series, 2015-2016, by Cagdas Erdogan; "A Pillar of Smoke" exhibition (photo: courtesy of the artist)

French festival showcases contemporary Turkish photography

Truths that buck the official discourse

"A Pillar of Smoke", currently on show in the southern French city of Arles as part of the "Les Rencontres d'Arles" festival, reveals the lively diversity of contemporary Turkish photography. The major group exhibition also highlights the political nature of the photographersʹ work. By Felix KoltermannMore

Flouting freedoms in Turkey: Self-censorship thrivingArt and protest in Turkey: Poking fun at the sultanExhibition: Political art and resistance in Turkey: The art of remembering
Prominent writer Alaa Al Aswany walks with anti-Morsi protesters as they chant anti-government slogans in Tahrir Square in Cairo on 27 November 2012 (photo: Reuters)

Alaa Al Aswanyʹs novel "The Republic As If"

Elias Khoury salutes Al Aswanyʹs courage

Lebanese novelist and critic Elias Khoury pays tribute to Alaa Al Aswanyʹs new novel as the only comprehensive literary chronicle of the January 2011 Egyptian revolution, charting the tragic fate of those who were killed, imprisoned and tortured against a background of the diabolical alliance between the Egyptian army and the Muslim BrotherhoodMore

Novelist and critic Elias Khoury: The nightmare of realityAfter the coup in Egypt: A dark chapter in Egyptian liberalismInterview with the Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany: ″I write to defend democracy″
Cover of the German translation of the novel "Beer in the Snooker Club" by Waguih Ghali (source: C.H. Beck)

Book review: Waguih Ghali's "Beer in the Snooker Club"

The cruel disillusionment of an entire generation

The novel "Beer in the Snooker Club" by the Egyptian author Waguih Ghali was first published in London in the mid-1960s. It was rediscovered during the Arab Spring. A German translation has recently been published. Sonja Zekri read the bookMore

Alaa Al Aswany′s novel ″The Automobile Club of Egypt″: Microcosm of tyrannyRemembering Naguib Mahfouz: "A wave of light on an infinite ocean of darkness"Interview with the Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany: "I write to defend democracy"Egyptian historian Khaled Fahmy on the Six-Day War: The Arabs' Groundhog Day
more Culture »

In brief

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Affluent upbringing: Imran Khan was born in Lahore in 1952, the son of a civil engineer. Khan grew up with his four sisters in a relatively affluent part of the city. He received a privileged education, first in his hometown and then in Worcester, England. It was there that Khan's love and talent for the game of cricket became evident. In 1972, he enrolled at Oxford University to study politics and economics

Imran Khan, Pakistan's new prime minister

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Charting the political barometer in Iran

The Group for Analysing & Measuring Attitudes in Iran (source: gamaan

This survey, conducted by The Group for Analysing & Measuring Attitudes in Iran in the early months of 2018, reveals the political attitudes of 72% of Iranians, i.e. those who did not vote for Ebrahim Raisi in Iran’s 2017 presidential election. The survey, which recorded the opinions of more than 19,000 individuals, aims to measure and capture some of the political attitudes that Iranians cannot freely express in Iran.More

Remembering Egyptian economist and thinker Samir Amin

Egyptian economist and thinker Samir Amin (photo: Ibn Rushd Fund)

World acclaimed Egyptian economist and thinker, Samir Amin, died in Paris on 12 August 2018 aged 86. Author of many books including The Liberal Virus (2003) and Capitalism in the Age of Globalisation (1997), Amin began his career in Cairo at the Institute for Economic Management from 1957 to 1960.More

Forgotten stories: Muslims who saved Jewish people during the Holocaust

Muslims like Si Kaddour Benghabrit (shown here) saved many Jews from deportation (photo: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons)

Even in the darkest times, there are heroes – though sometimes they may be the people we least expect.More

Preventing a spillover of the Iran-Israel conflict in Syria

A man reads a newspaper article about Trump in Tehran (photo: Getty Images/A. Kenare)

Israel’s containment policy vis-à-vis Iran in Syria has entered a new phase of direct confrontation aimed at achieving a decisive outcome on the ground. Gil Murciano of The German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) offers an analysisMore

Afro.Germany - being black and German

"Where do you come from?" As an Afro-German, DW host Jana Pareigis was asked this question very often. In our film "Afro.Germany," she discusses with other people of color how they experience living in Germany.

Black and German: news anchor Jana Pareigis has spent her entire life being asked about her skin color. What is it like to be black in Germany? What needs to change?More