Iraq
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Interview with Middle East expert Michael Luders
"Homs is likely to be IS's next target"
With the occupation of Ramadi and the ancient yet symbolic city of Palmyra, Islamic State (IS) now has control over about half of Syria. According to Middle East expert Michael Luders, an end to its advance is not in sight because IS knows that the US is reluctant to send in ground troops. Interview conducted by Peter Hille
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The economic impact of the Syrian war
Escaping the Middle East's violence trap
The Syrian civil war is having a devastating effect on the region. The economic ties that had been strengthened before the war have now been severed, and border closures have impeded trade. This is even more catastrophic as economic stability is essential for long-term political stability. By Adeel Malik and Bassem Awadallah
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Women writers in Iraq
Writing to stay alive
The anthology "Through the Eyes of Inana" is a collection of poetry and short stories by 19 Iraqi women writers. It is a cross-section of what women are writing in the country right now – about their lives and how they survive in a state of war, their wishes, their dreams and their sufferings. By Rosa Gosch
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Interview with Iraqi political scientist Ghassan Al-Attiyah
A nation torn apart
According to Ghassan Al-Attiyah, Iraq's political elite failed to develop an interdenominational understanding of the state after the end of the Baath dictatorship. Mulham Al-Malaika spoke to the renowned Iraqi political scientist about the country's future and the fight against IS
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The image policy of IS
Terror in the spotlight
In this essay, Felix Koltermann takes a closer look at the image policy of IS and how media and politicians around the world have reacted to it. He argues that in spite of the horror of the images being disseminated by IS, it is important not to fall into the rhetoric of a war of images, because the goal of such a rhetoric is to take pictorial acts as a justification for military action
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Recruitment strategies used by Islamic State
A mutation of religion
The crude promises of salvation and ideological constructs propagated by IS, and the apocalyptic fantasies it is spreading via films and magazines on the Internet make the terrorist militia attractive to radical forces not only in the Arab world but in Europe too. By Michael Kiefer
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Germany's Middle East policy
Is Germany changing tack?
Violent conflicts are spreading throughout the Middle East. The German government is extending a hand to the Egyptian president, siding with Saudi Arabia in the Yemen conflict and delivering weapons to the Peshmerga. But there is criticism from the opposition and scepticism within the ruling coalition. By Bettina Marx
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Interview with filmmaker Samir
An Iraqi odyssey
In his impressive 3D documentary "Iraqi Odyssey", the Iraqi-born Swiss filmmaker Samir combines the personal stories of some of his relatives with archive footage of events in Iraq from the Ottoman Empire to the era of Saddam Hussein. Igal Avidan spoke to him in Berlin
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Women's magazine "Zhin" in Iraqi Kurdistan
Challenging traditions
A number of female journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan are shaking up a male-dominated domain with a magazine that aims to highlight the problems and abuse many women still face. They are reporting on women's success stories and addressing controversial issues such as female genital mutilation. Melissa Tabeek visited the editorial team in Sulaymaniyah
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Interview with Rami G. Khouri
Fragmentation of the Arab world
The Palestinian-Jordanian political scientist and writer Rami G. Khouri sees links between increasing religious fanaticism and the reinvigoration of the old elites after the Arabellion. In an interview with Juliane Metzker, he looks back at four years of transformation, stagnation and instability in the Arab states.
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Sunni-Shia conflict
The enemy of my enemy
Anyone who thinks that the Sunnis in Tikrit and Mosul will welcome the opponents of Islamic State with open arms as liberators is mistaken. They fear the Shia militias even more than they do IS. This shows how the inner-Islamic religious war has polarised Iraqi society. By Stefan Buchen
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Military offensive against IS in Iraq
Strike and counter-strike
The Iraqi army hopes that taking back Tikrit will come to mean to it what Kobani means to the Kurds: a turning point and a motivational push in one. By Birgit Svensson in Baghdad