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The Khashoggi aftermath
The inconvenient truth about Saudi Arabia
Following the massacre of protesting students in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989, U.S. President George H.W. Bush’s administration limited its sanctions and kept lines of communication open, owing to China's strategic importance. Richard N. Haass asks whether a similar policy toward Saudi Arabia would prove viable?
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Birgit Svensson's biographical account "Murderous Freedom"
Between heaven and hell – fifteen years in Iraq
Journalist Birgit Svensson arrived in Iraq in 2003 and never left, enjoying the dubious status of being the only German-language reporter in the country for much of the time since. Recently published in German, "Moerderische Freiheit" recounts her experiences, offering insights into Iraq that go beyond terrorism and war. By Christopher Resch
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U.S. sanctions against Iran
The lonely "axis of evil"
In the new Cold War between the USA and the Islamic Republic the theocracy is taking on the status of the defunct Soviet Union, writes Ali Sadrzadeh. Tehranʹs powerbrokers have, however, come up with several strategies to counter Trump's tightened sanctions policy
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Trump, MbS and the aftermath
Did the global order die with Khashoggi?
Principled leaders on the world stage need to reinforce the rules on which we all depend, sending a clear signal that what happened in Istanbul is not acceptable. Otherwise, we will effectively be giving up the discourse of values and rules – a decision that could well leave us with no coherent and stabilising discourse at all, argues Ana Palacio
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Middle East economies
Treading the trade war tightrope
Trumpʹs latest campaign to put pressure on China, with the option of raising existing trade tariffs of 10% to 25% by year-end, is just part of an escalating trade war between two super economic powers that could have disastrous effects – with the fragile Middle East destined to feel the pinch. By Stasa Salacanin
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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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Poetry anthology: Fady Joudah's "Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance"
A web of living tissue
At a time when we have almost become accustomed to the poetry of witness, recounting events or a poet's reaction to them, the latest anthology by acclaimed Palestinian-American poet and physician Fady Joudah cuts deeper, with appropriately surgical precision, to reveal connections beneath the surface of things. By Marcia Lynx Qualey
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Fighting Western reductionist perceptions
Arab, Muslim – whatʹs the difference?
Writer and activist Myra Al-Rahim examines the nature of her own Arab identity, the prejudices of her American peers and why religion is not the last word
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The legacy of 9/11
Why the world needs to re-think its war on terror
Seventeen years have passed since 9/11, which marked a turning point in relations between the West and the Islamic world. Jordanian Islamism expert, Hassan Abu Haniyya, offers Ouifaq Benkiran the following observations about the most important repercussions of the war on terror
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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