The Austrian "Mothers Schools" programme aims to prevent the recruitment of potential jihadists. Edit Schlaffer, founder of the organisation "Women without Borders", has spent the last ten years researching the root causes of Islamist radicalisation. Her core finding: mothers play a key role. Interview by Iris MostegelMore

Gertrude Bell was many things: an archaeologist, an intelligence officer and a great British eccentric. Above all, however, writes Iris Mostegel, she was a key figure in the Middle East during the First World War and the woman who shaped modern-day IraqMore

The Bahraini economist Ala'a Shehabi has taken up the fight for democracy in her native country. In light of the fact that the repression of activists has increased here over the past three years and that the regime is spending millions on PR, hers is set to be a long, uphill struggle. By Iris MostegelMore