Volker Perthes

Author: Volker Perthes

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini (left) and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Vienna, July 2015 (photo: Reuters/L. Foeger)

After the nuclear agreement with Iran

Where to from here?

The nuclear deal with Iran is being celebrated both in the Middle East and in the West. It has, however, many critics too. Whether the hotly anticipated agreement will have a positive or a negative effect on the region, depends on political dynamics within Iran, says Volker Perthes, who outlines two possible scenariosMore

After the nuclear agreement with Iran: Time to deliver Nuclear agreement with Iran: A major historic breakthrough Interview with Iran expert Trita Parsi: A nuclear deal would benefit all parties

IS suicide bombers try to halt the advance of Iraqi forces in southern Tikrit (photo: Reuters)

The geopolitical situation in the Middle East

Between terror and the dissolution of order

Indifferent superpowers and old rivalries: the megatrend in today's Middle East is the dissolution of a regional order. An analysis by Volker PerthesMore

Global strategies for combating Islamic State: The intellectual battle against IS Islamic State (IS): A totalitarian, expansive and hegemonic project Strategies for combating IS: Plea for a wide-angled view of the Arab world The Middle East in 2014: New regional power games

IS supporters after the city of Raqqa in Syria fell to Islamic State (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo)

Islamic State (IS)

A totalitarian, expansive and hegemonic project

Are we underestimating the scope of Islamic State (IS) by referring to it as a "terrorist militia"? IS raises taxes, recruits soldiers, pays officials and is keeping oil wells in operation. According to Volker Perthes, it would be more accurate to call it a jihadist nation-building projectMore

British fatwa against IS: Breaking the spell of a poisonous ideology ISIS propaganda and use of social networks: The online jihad ISIS leader in Iraq: The new face of jihad?ISIS and the Iraqi government: In the grip of the jihadists

Ravaged by war: The Northern Syrian city of Homs (photo: Reuters)

Syria and the Middle East

The End of the Sykes Picot System?

Aside from the human suffering caused by Syria's ongoing war, we should be aware of the potentially dire regional consequences of Syria's disintegration: It would call the entire post-World War I Middle Eastern state system into question. By Volker PerthesMore

Commentary by Daoud Kuttab: An Arab "Third Way""Globalisation Is Western Hegemony"What Is the "Versailles of the Muslims Nations"?

Protests on Tahrir Square, Cairo (photo: Reuters)

The Aftermath of the Arab Spring

The Changing Map of Middle East Power

The eruption of the Arab revolts put power relations among Middle Eastern countries in a state of flux, and both winners and losers have emerged. But, given that the strengths and weaknesses of most of the actors are highly contingent, the regional balance of power remains highly fluid. By Volker PerthesMore

Interview with Tariq Ramadan: A Revolution in Suspense Lin Noueihed and Alex Warren on the Arab Spring: Post-revolution Patchwork Dossier: The Arab Spring

Protests against Mohammed Morsi in Cairo (photo: Reuters)

Power Struggle in Egypt

Courting Disaster

The growing gulf between Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi and the secular opposition threatens to tear the country apart with unforeseeable consequences for Egypt's economy and political future. A commentary by Volker PerthesMore

Political Power Struggle in Egypt: On the Brink of Ungovernability Egypt Two Years after the Revolution: No Agenda, No Goal Controversial NGO Law in Egypt: Attack on the Heart of Civil Society

Abdelbasset Sida, leader of the opposition Syrian National Council (R), chats with council member George Sabra during a news conference in Istanbul July 13, 2012 (photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer)

The Opposition in Syria

The Least Common Denominator

Syrian oppositionists must recognize that the lack of decisive international action is not only the result of Russia and China vetoing any meaningful action in the Security Council, or NATO countries' unwillingness to enter into another war in the region. A commentary by Volker PerthesMore

Volker Perthes on the Arab Spring: The Rebellion of the Young Hezbollah and the Uprising in Syria: Can the ''Party of God'' Weather the Arab Spring?Interview with Malek Jandali: ''We are witnessing the fall of humanity''

Twelve Months after the Start of the Arab Spring

Year Two of the Rebellions

According to Middle East expert Volker Perthes, the phrase "Arab Spring" is misleading because the Arab World is only at the start of what will be a prolonged period of change. Perthes identifies four factors that will have a major influence on how things develop in the regionMore

Political Change in the Middle East: The Reordering of the World The Arab Spring and Its Implications: Departure from Ideology

Anti-Assad protests in Syria (photo: dapd)

Uprising against the Assad Regime in Syria

What Support for the Protest Movement?

If the creeping massacre of the Syrian population is to be stopped, now is the time to send out an unambiguous message, warns Volker Perthes, expert on the Near East and director of the German Institute for International and Security AffairsMore

The Opposition in Syria: A Multitude of Uprisings Dossier: Uprisings in the Arab World

The Arab Spring and Its Implications

Departure from Ideology

The Arab revolts of 2011 have been above all an uprising by the region's youth. From Rabat to Riyadh, from one end of the Arab world to the other, this is a generation which is sceptical towards any ideology, including that of Islamism. An analysis by Volker PerthesMore

Political Change in the Middle East: The Reordering of the World Qantara-Dossier: Uprisings in the Arab World Slide Show: The Many Faces of the Arab Revolutions

Secretary General of Nato Rasmussen and Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan (photo: picture alliance/dpa)

Political Change in the Middle East

The Reordering of the World

No-one yet knows what the course and the outcome of the processes of change in the Arab world will be. That being said, it is becoming clear whose star is rising and whose is not. Above all, it seems likely that Turkey's political influence is set to increase. Volker Perthes analyses current developmentsMore

Political Models after the Arab Revolutions: Islam, Sharia, and Democracy Turkey and the ''Arab Spring'': The Turkish Chimera Dossier: Uprisings in the Arab World