In focus

Dialogue of Cultures | Intercultural Dialogue

Algeria after the postponed elections

The closing window for change

For more than four months now, protesters in Algeria have been urging a clean-up of the country's politics and a new constitution. But how realistic is change given the military's iron grip on power? By Dalia GhanemRead more

Civil society and democratic transition in Algeria: Algerian activists demand a place at the table Mass anti-president protests in Algeria: No more Bouteflika!Algeria′s disillusioned majority: Desperately seeking voters

After the peace conference in Doha

A test match with the Taliban

Under the tutelage of Pakistan's military, the Taliban brought peace to Afghanistan the last time it ruled the country. But it was the peace of the graveyard, which it could establish once again – this time with the support of the United States. India is watching developments closely. By Shashi TharoorRead more

Peace talks with the Taliban: Where are Afghanistan's women?Negotiating peace with the Taliban: Any deal will do The legacy of 9/11: Why the world needs to re-think its war on terror Qantara dossier: Afghanistan

Europe's policies in the Middle East

Late-colonial convulsions

The UK has stopped an Iranian tanker in Gibraltar. Italy and France are supporting opposing parties at war in Libya. Germany has other priorities. Europe is doing almost exactly what it did 100 years ago. An essay by Stefan BuchenRead more

Western involvement in the Middle East: A rotten legacy The crisis of the Arab nation state: Reconstructed reality 100 years of Sykes-Picot: "A tapestry of plans and promises"The end of Sykes-Picot?: "The end of the Middle East, as we know it"Sykes-Picot and the role of Gertrude Bell: Midwife of the Middle East

Women's rights in Lebanon

Campaign exposes "victim-blaming" attitudes to rape

Most abusive and discriminatory acts against women and girls in Lebanon are the direct result of unequal treatment of men and women within the Lebanese law and the influence of a patriarchal society that thrives on the control and oppression of women. By Narod HaroutunianRead more

Women′s rights in the Arab world : No house room for criminals Domestic violence against women in Lebanon: Protection, yes, but not enough Human rights in Lebanon: Kafala and its ʹcommoditiesʹ

Politics

Members of Afghan delegations gather during the second day of the intra-Afghan dialogue, Doha (photo: AFP/K. Jaafar)

After the peace conference in Doha

A test match with the Taliban

Protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's bid to run for a fifth term (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Algeria after the postponed elections

The closing window for change

Grace 1, the tanker seized in early July by British Royal Marines off the coast of Gibraltar (photo: Reuters/J. Nazca)

Europe's policies in the Middle East

Late-colonial convulsions

Erdogan supporters celebrate the end of the failed coup attempt, Taksim Square, Istanbul, July 2015 (photo: picture-alliance)

Third anniversary of the attempted coup in Turkey

"A gift from Allah" for Erdogan

Three years after the failed coup, it's not victory fanfares sounding for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but alarm bells. Can Dündar, former editor-in-chief of the Turkish newspaper "Cumhuriyet", on the day that changed everythingMore

Turkey post-coup: In times of paranoia Coup aftermath in Turkey: The coup after the coup Turkey and the Gulen movement: Erdogan seizes the school initiative Coup aftermath in Turkey: Autocracy or military dictatorship?

Society

ABAAD demonstration at the Beirut International Marathon (photo: ABAAD)

Women's rights in Lebanon

Campaign exposes "victim-blaming" attitudes to rape

Women′s rights in the Arab world : No house room for criminals Domestic violence against women in Lebanon: Protection, yes, but not enough Human rights in Lebanon: Kafala and its ʹcommoditiesʹ

Postcard showing the Hotel Majestic in Tunis in the 1930s (source: Wikipedia)

Book review: Daniel Speck's "Piccola Sicilia"

Little Sicily in North Africa

With "Piccola Sicilia", Daniel Speck proves himself to be a great storyteller and intercultural bridge builder. This family saga also spotlights a little-known chapter of Tunisian history: the German occupation of the country in 1942/1943 and the fate of Tunisia's Jews. By Martina SabraMore

The Jewish community in Tunisia: "Everything is ok; we don't have any problems"Book review: Cecile Oumhaniʹs "Tunisian Yankee": Life is elsewhere Muslims who saved Jews during World War II: The forgotten Schindlers

Operation in a hospital run by Medecins sans Frontieres in Amman (photo: Philipp Breu)

Helping the Middle Eastʹs war-wounded

The hospital for all wars

In a Jordanian clinic, doctors have been treating patients from across the Middle East for more than a decade. It's a place that has seen the suffering caused by five wars. Philipp Breu paid the hospital a visitMore

Disabled refugee children in Jordan: The lesser-known victims of war Syria's civil war: The emotional scars of the refugee children Bushra al-Maqtariʹs "Voices from a forgotten war-torn country": Yemenʹs chronicles of death and destruction untold

Visiting the Jewish Musazadeh family in Tehran (photo: Jan Schneider)

The Islamic Republicʹs Jewish minority

Celebrating Sabbath in Iran

Iran is home to the largest Jewish community in the Muslim world. Jan Schneider visited the Jewish Musazadeh family in Tehran to share in their Sabbath celebrationsMore

Judaism in Iran: The minority perspective: ″Jews and Muslims respect each other″Uneasiness among Iran's Jews: The dilemma of choosing between integration and emigration Exhibition: "The Story of Iran and the Jews": Light and shadows

Culture

Book review: Raja Alem's "Sarab"

Gender under siege in Mecca

On 20 November 1979, Islamic militants took over the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam. Hundreds were killed in the ensuing two-week siege. This pivotal event in modern Islamic history changed Saudi Arabia. It provides the backdrop for Raja Alem's new novel "Sarab", an extraordinary story of love, faith, violence and gender. By Marcia Lynx QualeyMore

Interview with Saudi Arabian writer Raja Alem: "When I write I am free, like flying in my dreams"Interview with Saudi Arabian writer Raja Alem: Elegy for a Lost Era Book review: Badriah Albeshr′s ″Hend and the Soldiers″

French author Alice Zeniter (photo: Imago Images)

Book review: Alice Zeniter's "L'Art de perdre"

Rediscovering a lost chapter of (family) history

In her fifth novel, French author Alice Zeniter addresses some very thorny and painful issues in the history of Franco-Algerian relations. Demonstrating a profound knowledge of the subject matter, Zeniter's novel highlights the lot of the Harkis, Algerian Muslims who fought on the side of the French in the Algerian War of Independence. Claudia Kramatschek read the bookMore

Book review: Joseph Andras′ ″De nos freres blesses″: A shameful chapter Sixty years since the beginning of the Algerian war: National fronts?Book review: Cecile Oumhaniʹs "Tunisian Yankee": Life is elsewhere

Iraqi Jews

Iraqi Judaism lives on in literary form

Interest in the Iraqi-Jewish cultural heritage is growing – both in Israel and Iraq. Novels in which emigrants and their children evoke the lost world of their forefathers are proving especially popular. By Joseph CroitoruMore

Iraq post-Islamic State: The surprising survival of Mosulʹs Jewish quarter "Baghdad, yesterday - The making of an Arab Jew": A multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society Traces of Jewish life in Iraq

Martin Kollar's "Field Trip/Israel"; 2009-2011 (photo: Martin Kollar)

Berlin Jewish Museum: Exhibiting "This Place"

A personal take on Israel

Twelve artists from different nations were invited to participate in the long-term project "This Place". The goal was to explore Israel from a personal perspective. Their photographs and video installations can now be viewed at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. By Heike MundMore

Portrait of the Israeli performance artist Adi Liraz: Provocation as a search for identity Traditional Palestinian "tatreez": Sewing with a message Interview with the Israeli artist Guy Briller: The Jerulin process

Did the Iranian revolution fulfill its promises?

Iranians line the streets on the day Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned to Tehran from exile in Paris (photo: Getty Images/Afp/Gabriel Duval)

According to the well-known Tehran political science professor, Sadegh Zibakalam, if Iran were to hold a referendum on the Islamic Republic today, over 70% would clearly oppose it. Forty years on from the foundation of the Islamic Republic, Ali Fathollah-Nejad revisits the promises of the revolution to explore why this is the case.More

How to be a Muslim woman: Muslim women face the same challenges as other women of faith

BBC Radio 4's "How to be a Muslim woman" (source: bbc.co.uk)

In the fourth episode of her podcast for BBC Radio 4, Sayeeda Warsi speaks to Julie Siddiqi about being a British Muslim woman, and why endless discussions about the burka stop more important conversations from taking place.More

Freedom of speech under attack in India

Siddharth Varadarajan, a founding editor of The Wire and former editor of The Hindu, gives the 2019 Reuters Memorial Lecture on 18 February 2019.More

Chatham House reports on conflict economies in the Middle East and North Africa

Burnt-out vehicles are seen at a gas station after it was hit by an air strike in Yemen's northwestern city of Saada 16 April 2015 (photo: Reuters/Str)

Analysis of the violence that has struck the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) over the past two decades has focussed predominantly on ideological and identity-based factors. This report expands the discourse by incorporating approaches adopted from the literature on the political economy of war to examine the conflict economies of Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen.More

Assad regime co-opts aid to serve loyalists

The Syrian government is co-opting humanitarian aid and reconstruction assistance, Human Rights Watch said on Friday, urging donors and investors to ensure that funding is going to the right place.More

Re-educating the Uighurs in Xinjiang

The BBC gains rare access to the vast system of highly secure facilities thought to be holding more than a million Muslims in China’s western region of Xinjiang.More

"Perspectives" online magazine

" 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

Asma Afsaruddin: Contemporary Muslims and the challenge of modernity

Muslim worshippers perform Eid ul-Fitr prayers at the Grand Mosque in the Saudi holy city of Mecca on 4 June 2019 (photo: Getty Images/AFP)

Contrary to popular belief, Muslims are firmly a part of the modern world and are grappling with the challenges of modernity in myriad ways. Many of them are navigating modernity’s sometimes uncharted waters with creativity and imagination, re-engaging with their tradition and revisiting their history.More

In focus

Algeria after the postponed elections

After the peace conference in Doha

Europe's policies in the Middle East

Women's rights in Lebanon

Politics

Society

Culture

In brief

Most Recent Photo Essay

Did the Iranian revolution fulfill its promises?

How to be a Muslim woman: Muslim women face the same challenges as other women of faith

Freedom of speech under attack in India

Chatham House reports on conflict economies in the Middle East and North Africa

Assad regime co-opts aid to serve loyalists

Re-educating the Uighurs in Xinjiang

"Perspectives" online magazine

Asma Afsaruddin: Contemporary Muslims and the challenge of modernity