Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

With great attention to detail and understated humour, Christoph Peters′ new short story collection revolves around Western Europe′s well-known longing for wisdom and spiritual experiences from the East. By Volker KaminskiMore

She fought for renewal and lost her illusions. In a very personal text, Egyptian writer Mansoura Ez-Eldin explains how literature accompanied her through a time of radical changeMore

Given their poor records in so many areas, how is it that authoritarian regimes in the Arab world manage to cling so successfully to power? In this essay, Amr Hamzawy examines how the ruling elites in the countries of the Arab spring use a mixture of oppression and fear of chaos and disorder to nip any demands for democratic change in the budMore

Inaugurated by Libya′s former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, the Great Man-Made River was celebrated as a huge technological achievement. Yet the world′s largest irrigation project is not without its critics. By Moutaz AliMore

The writer Niroz Malek lives in his hometown of Aleppo to this day. What does it mean to preserve a vestige of dignity in the midst of death and destruction? The fifty seven miniatures in his collection provide the answer. Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

The ongoing protests in North Africa reveal the extent of the failure of government there. Never before have corrupt elites been so alienated from the social realities of the ordinary people, says Loay MudhoonMore

According to Moroccan researcher Mohamed Taifouri, the Kingdom of Morocco is gradually returning to its pre-2011 state, openly declaring a break from the accretions of the Arab Spring. The legacy of the 20 February Movement and all that has followed by way of a political renaissance is simply unwelcome ballast, argues Mohamed TaifouriMore