Yemen
All countries-
Saudi Arabia's foreign policy
Catalogue of political failures
The world of the Arab states is in dramatic decline. In this time of crisis, Saudi Arabia has stepped into a leadership role. According to Stefan Buchen, it is not up to the job
-
Death of Yemeni ex-dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh
Caught in no-man's land
For a week, Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former long-time ruler of Yemen fought against his erstwhile Houthi alliance partners for control of the capital Sanaa – then suddenly he was dead. By Karim El-Gawhary
-
Saudi-Iranian conflict
Sleepwalking into war
War between Iran and Saudi Arabia would be of no use to anyone, not even to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Ben Salman in Riyadh or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. On the contrary: both men could conceivably find themselves ousted. Yet powerful political factions exist that are intent on warmongering. By Ali Sadrzadeh
-
Breaking the Middle East′s cycle of terror
The two-pronged strategy
The governments of the Middle East must not allow themselves to be lulled into complacency by the ostensible fall of the Islamic State. Instead, writes Moha Ennaji, they must urgently commit to weakening the allure of radical Islam – the only way to break the cycle of terror and violence is to resolve Islam′s intra-religious conflicts
-
Interview with the Yemeni author Habib Abdulrab Sarori
The pendulum of conviction
″Suslov′s Daughter″ is the inward and outward journey of a Yemeni revolutionary in search of answers; a man struggling to find his equilibrium, while the Yemeni revolution turns from a dream into a nightmare. Habib Abdulrab Sarori talks to Valentina Viene
-
Germany′s arms exports to the Islamic world
Profiteering from terrorism
Germany's massive arms exports are helping shore up autocratic regimes in the Middle East. The policy is short-sighted and driven by economic interests, writes Markus Bickel in his highly informative analysis ″Die Profiteure des Terrors″. By Claudia Mende
-
Libya
The Gulf States′ proxy war: Baiting at a distance
Of the civil wars ravaging the Arab world, the one Westerners hear least about may yet prove the most dangerous: Libya. Commentary by Joseph Hammond and Suhaib Kebhaj
-
America′s dangerous anti-Iran posturing
For a farewell to arms
The Middle East is fraught with bitter national and sectarian conflicts that realistically can only be solved by compromise. Rather than another round of demonisation, what the region needs, argues Jeffrey Sachs, is an era of diplomacy that focuses on normalising relations
-
Women and Arab-Islamic education
The doyennes of learning
The first university in the world was founded by a Muslim woman. One of the Arab world′s most prestigious and oldest universities was also founded by an Arab princess. Women had a remarkable role in building schools and patronising the sciences throughout Islamic history. By Tharwat Al-Batawi
-
Arab identity crisis
What is left of the Arabs?
Despite war and mass murder, the Arabs were never as numerous as they are today. But they were also never as unsure about who they are. Does an Arab identity survive? What about Arab culture? These are the questions being asked today. In view of the political and social downward spiral, all of this is now at stake, says Stefan Buchen in his essay
-
Saudi military involvement in Yemen
Chronically insecure
Saudi Arabia began its military offensive against its neighbour to the south in 2015, ostensibly to reinstate Yemen′s deposed president. Instead the war has driven the poorest country in the region to the brink of famine. By Maysam Behravesh
-
Re-assessing Western involvement in the Middle East
Far from Utopian
A reconfiguration of relations between the West and the Arab world is in the offing. Utopia it will not be, but it may result in a more harmonious and balanced political situation, writes BBC radio journalist and Middle East expert Neville Teller