France
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IS: the winners and the losers
The time is ripe for Bashar and his cronies
In future, under the pre-text of waging a ″war against terror″, autocratic regimes in the Arab world will adopt an even harder line against opposition groups in their own countries. There is likely to be little objection from the West, which is still reeling from the most recent IS attacks, writes the Moroccan journalist Ali Anouzla
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Western involvement in Syria
Fewer bombs, not more!
Only when the West has helped to end the war in Syria, or at least Assad's airstrikes, can it count on Syrian support in the fight against IS. To protect Syrians in their homeland, Germany in particular should be advocating no-bombing zones, says Kristin Helberg
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France after the attacks
Of Islam, champagne and bombs
The situation in France continues to be tense following the latest attacks in Paris. But instead of solving the problems at home, the focus is solely on Syria. Details from Emran Feroz
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Terrorism debate
"Imagine there's a war and nobody notices"
Against the backdrop of the latest terrorist attacks in Paris, some think we should carry on enjoying our Western lifestyle and ignore the possibility of war. What an illusion! A contribution to the debate by Stefan Weidner
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The French crime writer Karim Miske in interview
″There are no simple solutions″
In the wake of the Paris attacks, the question is how such an outbreak of hate and violence could have happened in France. French crime novelist Karim Miske described life in the desolate banlieues of Paris in his novel ″Arab Jazz″. In interview with Claudia Mende he advises against simplistic answers and talks about the difficulties French society has in accepting its immigrants, who feel more French than Arab
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After the Paris attacks
The emotional helplessness of Muslims
In the wake of the Paris attacks, there is a growing sense of resentment and exhaustion within Muslims communities in Europe at having to repeatedly distance themselves from terror under the guise of Islam. An essay by the blogger Busra Delikaya
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Victims of terror
Do we care about Arab lives?
The world was plunged into mourning following the attacks on Paris – but what about those who were blown up in Lebanon just one day before? The blog penned by Elie Fares hit a nerve
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The Paris attacks and Arab responsibility
Are we accomplices?
The massacres in Paris showed what a catastrophe the Al-Baghdadi "caliphate" represents and how it threatens to drag whole generations into a "clash of cultures". High time for Arabs and Muslims to seek out the roots of the fanaticism and delusion that have spread since 9/11, says the Lebanese journalist Zuheir Quseibati, bureau chief of "Al-Hayat" newspaper
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Islamism in the Paris aftermath
The "Allah Generation": figment of the collective imagination
Many people fear that young refugees from Iraq or Syria are being recruited by Salafists in Western Europe. But the facts show that these fears are unfounded. By Michael Kiefer
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Paris aftermath
Jihadists drive the wedge deeper
The latest attacks by IS are an attempt to exploit societal rifts at the heart of Europe. Without a concerted effort to address deep-seated and justified concerns relating to domestic social and economic policy, France′s retaliatory strikes are likely to achieve little. By James Dorsey
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Cameron's counter-extremism strategy
Cause for concern or necessary evil?
Counter-terrorism and security legislation already in place, the British government recently published details of its controversial counter-extremism strategy. Vague enough to allow a wide range of interpretations, it was met with alarm by a number of interest groups. With the Paris attacks fresh in everyone’s minds, however, Cameron’s drive against Islamist ideology could well find increasing support among public and politicians alike. By Susannah Tarbush
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Book review: ″The Broken Mirrors: Sinalcol″ by Elias Khoury
A dizzying sense of displacement
Originally published in Arabic in 2012, ″The Broken Mirrors: Sinalcol″ was only translated into English this year. It contains many of the tropes that Elias Khoury readers will find familiar: shifting perspectives, an unreliable narrator, obscured memories, uncertain truths, and reflections upon narration. Nahrain al-Mousawi has read the book