Europe
All countries-
Murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi
Donald Trump's ersatz reality
The gruesome killing of former Saudi government advisor and journalist Jamal Khashoggi will not lead to dissociation with Saudi Arabia, says Stefan Buchen in his essay. After all, the most powerful man in the West is Donald Trump, one of the murdererʹs best friends
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Interview with Middle East expert Guido Steinberg
No one wants conflict with Saudi Arabia
Even though the case of the disappeared Saudi journalist Khashoggi weighs heavily, no government is prepared to risk open conflict with the Saudis. Meanwhile, the concerns of dissidents who have fled their authoritarian countries of origin to the West are growing. By Diana Hodali
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NGO with an Identitarian agenda
Preying on Syrian war widows
When members of a German Alt-Right NGO visited a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon recently, it was ostensibly to offer aid to the destitute. But the visit served another purpose: playing out the Identitarian agenda of Fortress Europe to the home crowd. Anchal Vohra reports from the Bekaa Valley
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"Salib Sufi" project
Peace in their hearts, love in their minds
"Salib Sufi" (literally: "Sufi Cross") combines Christian chants and prayers with Sufi chants and recitations. Accompanied by instruments from East and West, the band performs a mixture of classical recitation and modern singing, featuring elements of Old Coptic. Eslam Anwar interviews project initiator Salib Fawzy
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Turkeyʹs economic crisis
The sick man of Europe returns
A destabilised Turkey is the last thing Europe needs. Regardless of what one thinks about Erdogan, more important things are at stake: peace and stability in south-eastern Europe and the future of Turkish democracy. Essay by Germanyʹs former foreign minister Joschka Fischer
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Military parade attack in Ahwaz, Iran
The Islamic Republic reels
Following this weekendʹs attack on a military parade in the southern Iranian city of Ahwaz, fears that the United States, Saudi Arabia and others may seek to destabilise the country by instigating ethnic unrest are rife, writes James M. Dorsey, raising the likelihood of a clampdown against opposition groups at home and abroad
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Interview with extremism researcher Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck
"Being part of a ʹcommunityʹ transcends everything"
Attending this yearʹs Vienna International Christian University, Algerian extremism researcher Dr. Dalia Ghanem-Yazbeck, resident scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, talked to Zahra Nedjabat about the role of women in jihadism, the roots of violent radicalisation and possible antidotes
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Islamophobia and xenophobia
The West’s racism problem
The mob in Chemnitz had a lot in common with the neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan followers and other extremists who caused mayhem a year ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, writes Ian Buruma
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U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic
Playing poker with Iran
Iran and the U.S. seem to have reversed roles with the Trump administrationʹs decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal. Iranʹs isolation before the agreement now contrasts with Americaʹs determination to swim against the global tide. By Hassan Hakimian
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More humanity post-Chemnitz
#WirSindMehr: "Hostility is the failure of identity"
Insults, violence, attacks on refugee centres. Is this the answer of an enlightened, democratic society, shaped by human and humane values? Fereshta Ludin, high school teacher and former refugee, calls us all to account
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Interview with Thomas Ruttig
Afghanistan's democracy in reverse gear
Afghanistan expert Thomas Ruttig says that in the West's battle with the Taliban, too much focus has been placed for too long on political allies with problematic credentials: many warlords are still armed and have never faced prosecution for past offences. Despite being non-democrats, they control democratic institutions to this day. Interview by Hans Spross
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Interview with French extremism researcher Olivier Roy
They love death as we love life: jihad and the roots of terror
French extremism researcher Olivier Roy talks to Eren Guvercin about the Catch 22 situation of European Muslims expected to speak for Islam, the irrelevance of 'liberal' reforms, the false premise of current de-radicalisation programmes and the nature of modern terrorism