Gulf Region
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Panama Paper revelations
The Emirs of Panama
The autocratic Gulf states in particular are famous for their covert business style. It′s something they share with Panama′s offshore operations. Karim El-Gawhary reports on the involvement of prominent Arab politicians and businessmen in dubious financial transactions
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Goethe and Islam
Religion has no nationality
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe may have had his reservations about Islam – as he did about Christianity – and he certainly wasn′t shy of criticising it, but his credo was without doubt built on the foundations of non-negotiable tolerance. By Melanie Christina Mohr
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Culture and education in the Islamic world
The lonely Arab crowd
The cultural and educational turbulence within the Arab world is due – at least in part – to the absence of a contemporary home-grown intellectual tradition capable of providing societies with an inner compass based on local values and modern perspectives. An essay by Sami Mahroum
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Iran and Saudi Arabia:
A plea for Islamic tolerance
The escalating rivalries and animosities between Iran and Saudi Arabia have nothing to do with the Sunni-Shia divide in the Islamic theology, even less with the common fate and destiny of Iranians and Arabs among other nations in the region. An analysis by Hamid Dabashi
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Video
Saudi execution sparks riots in Iran
Tensions escalate over Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shia cleric. The killing of Nimr al-Nimr has provoked fury, especially in Iran.
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Oman's succession problem
Neither heir nor spare
Unmarried and childless, Qaboos bin Said Al-Said, Sultan of Oman, is something of a rarity in the Arab world. His reign has already lasted for 45 years. Confusion still remains, however, over the identity of his successor. What is clear is that whoever it is will not have it easy. By Anne Allmeling
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Arab reactions to the Paris attacks
Uneasy bedfellows in the fight against IS
Across the Arab world, there has been round condemnation of the attacks in Paris, which are generally viewed as retribution for the West′s engagement with IS in Syria. In this conflict, however, the Arab states don′t make for easy bedfellows. By Christoph Ehrhardt
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Post-Arabellion reform deadlock
The logic of power
The Arab world is locked into a huge cycle of violence. At the same time, reformers are isolated - both within the regimes and outside them. Those who advocate violence, on the other hand, sense momentum and are growing in number. And they are convinced that the future will be a violent one. An essay by the Kuwaiti political scientist Shafeeq Ghabra
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Eco-Islam: Noor al-Hussein speaks out
Islam, faith and climate change
The Islamic Declaration on Climate Change, endorsed in August by Islamic scholars from around the world, calls on countries to phase out greenhouse gas emissions and switch to 100% renewable energy. With 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide, the collective statement sends a strong signal ahead of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit later this month, and the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December. By Noor al-Hussein, Queen of Jordan
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The Arab view of the European refugee crisis
Ludicrous squabbling
Syria’s Middle Eastern neighbours have to date absorbed four million Syrian refugees. For this reason the EU should make it plain that despite images of train stations full of refugees, Europe is only shouldering a relatively small part of the current burden. A contribution to the debate by Karim El-Gawhary
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Book review: "The Bamboo Stalk" by Saud Alsanousi
A life uprooted and replanted
The world is familiar with reports about the exploitation of migrant labourers in the Gulf region. In 2013, Saud Alsanousi's book "The Bamboo Stalk", which focuses on the experiences of a young man in Kuwait who is half Kuwaiti, half Filipino, won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. This novel shines a light on the discrimination and rejection experienced by so many migrants in this region. Nahrain Al-Mousawi read the book
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Mona Eltahawy: "Why do you hate us so?"
The Middle East needs a sexual revolution
As long as there is no true revolution, women in Islamic countries will remain second-class citizens, believes the controversial Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy. Claudia Kramatschek introduces her recent book