Author: Faraj Alasha

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General Khalifa Haftar (photo: AFP/A. Doma)

After the Berlin conference

Libya's war for war’s sake

Libyan political analyst Faraj Alasha argues that the Berlin conference on the Libyan war did nothing to change the fact that there is no political solution to end the war raging in the suburbs of southern TripoliMore

Libyan Civil War: EU divisions over Libya leave a gap for others Gaddafi's legacy: Libya – failed state par excellenceEgyptian foreign policy and the Libyan crisis: Time to restore Egypt's pivotal role in LibyaRussian involvement in Libya: Backing Haftar to the hilt?
Map of Libya (source: DW)

Gaddafi's legacy

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Libya – failed state par excellence

Faraj Alasha asks whether, in the event of General Haftarʹs forces taking control of the Libyan capital Tripoli, its population will embrace and support him? Or will his forces be worn down by attacks inside the city, thus ushering in a new chapter of bloodletting?More

Civil war in Libya: U.S. undermining "any hope for a successful political process"Resolving the crisis in Libya: Another fine messLibya′s domestic crisis: On the road to nowhereMilitary dictatorships in the Middle East: The real enemies of the Arab Spring
Anti-Assad protests in Syria, 2012 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/K. Elfiqi)

Assad & Baʹath party rule

About Syria, which is no more

Negotiations on the future of Syria are a far cry from the bitter reality: the Syria we all knew no longer exists after eight years of war, the slaughter of hundreds of thousands, the displacement of millions and the destruction of most of its cities. Writer and political analyst Faraj Alasha offers his analysis for QantaraMore

Assad and the rise of IS: My enemy's enemyCivil wars in the Middle East: The Arab issue of kith and kinEnding the civil war: For a different Syria
Supporters of General Khalifa Haftar in Benghazi (photo: Reuters)

Khalifa Haftar's role in the Libyan civil war

The fight against political Islam

The news that General Khalifa Haftar had been rushed to the military hospital in Paris on 5 April 2018 for the treatment of a serious health problem caused a variety of reactions in Libya: shock and anxiety on one side; jubilance and rejoicing on the other. To his supporters, he is the "Saviour of Libya"; to his adversaries, the "new Gaddafi". Farag Al Esha provides a portrait of this controversial figureMore

The Gulf States′ proxy war: Baiting at a distanceResolving the crisis in Libya: Another fine messLibya′s domestic crisis: On the road to nowhereLibya: Facing hell in Sirte
Great guys, one and all? Front row, from left to right, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali next to Ali Abdullah Saleh, Muammar Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak (photo: dpa)

Tyranny in the Islamic world

Keeping the tribe alive

In this essay, Libyan author Faraj Alasha explains how Arab autocrats use tribal logic to run institutions of state, turning political parties into family clubs and loyalty to the country into loyalty to the head of the ruling clanMore

Social unrest in the Arab world: Guilty of gross negligenceViolence in the Arab world: Born of a barbaric statePolitical rule before and after the ″Arabellion″: Internal colonialism and counter-revolutionArab identity crisis: What is left of the Arabs?

In brief

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Banished from paradise: in Biblical times, paradise was where Adam and Eve lived, supposedly the area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers – until God banished them from the Garden of Eden because they nibbled on the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. There are still lush oases on the banks of the river, but people's lives there today are anything but paradisiacal.

Pope Francis' visit to Iraq's biblical sites

Abraham was born in Iraq and this is where the whale swallowed Jonah, according to the Bible. Pope Francis' is travelling to an area steeped in biblical history.