Arab Spring

Topic: Arab Spring

Yemen′s former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Ali Abdullah Saleh and the conflict in Yemen

The lure of power

During the Arab Spring President Saleh faced widespread armed protests and was forced to leave office. Thanks to some unscrupulous wheeling and dealing, however, Saleh may yet pull off his bid to return to power. By Neville TellerMore

Saudi intervention in Yemen: Stoking the fires The destruction of Yemen's cultural heritage: Treasures of humanity under threat Political rule before and after the ″Arabellion″: Internal colonialism and counter-revolution

Protesters in Rabat demand reform during the Arab Spring, 2011 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Elections in Morocco

Enough austerity

Morocco′s Party for Justice and Development (PJD) faces a stiff confidence test on 7 October when parliamentary elections are held for the second time since constitutional reforms were adopted in 2011. Moreover, rumours that the Makhzen is finished with the PJD means that the main opposition – the Party for Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) – poses a serious challenge at the polls. Analysis by Matthew GreeneMore

Reform in Morocco: Plagued by inertia Religion and politics in Morocco: Blurred lines Democratic change in Morocco: The right king in the wrong monarchy?

Performance by Seda Roder at the Beethovenfest in Bonn (photo: Barbara Fromman)

Bonn′s Beethovenfest

Sounds of the Arab Spring

Six composers from five Arab countries translated their impressions of the Arab Spring into music, providing the pianist Seda Roder with material for her multimedia ″Songs of Spring″ performance, rich in hope and disappointment. By Gaby ReucherMore

Arab Youth Philharmonic Orchestra in Berlin: Playing for peace The Syrian Musicians′ Orchestra play Istanbul: Hosts of honour Project: ″Music Spaces in the Arab World″: Between the pots and pans

Islam scholar Lamya Kaddor (photo: Dominik Asbach/Rowohlt Verlag)

Integration in Germany

What is required of us

Our country needs to respect and value minorities more and to empathise with them more. It also needs an honest debate about what we – not they – must bring to the table, writes Lamya KaddorMore

Right-wing populism in Europe: Take the AfD seriously – or you'll end up like us Non-fiction: ″Angst ums Abendland″ by Daniel Bax: The apocalyptics of the West Racism in Germany: The taint of PEGIDA journalism

Egyptian democracy activists on Tahrir Square in Cairo, December 2011 (photo: DW/Hebatallah Ismail Hafez)

Tahrir Square's democracy activists

The forgotten heroes

Egypt's activists were once the heroes of Tahrir Square. Then the world forgot them – and all other Arab democrats along with them. Authoritarian states and Salafists are not giving them any leeway. By Mey DudinMore

Egypt's economic and fiscal crisis: Rescuing the sinking ship Al-Sisi, Raba′a and al-Nahda: Egypt′s grim harvest Sisi and the European Union: The long arm of the dictator

Sunnis in Fallujah protesting against the Baghdad central government on 28.12.2012 (photo: Karim Kadim/AP)

Solving the conflicts in the Middle East

Tracing the fault lines

Simmering for decades beneath the surface of autocratic repression, conflicts such as the Sunni uprisings in Syria and Iraq, Shia unrest in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, not to mention the rancour of the Kurds and Palestinians, are ongoing. The West is partly to blame. By Ishac DiwanMore

Historical roots of the current Middle East crisis: The end of an artificial construct The crisis of the Arab nation state: Reconstructed reality Five years of Arab Spring: The butterfly effect Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe in dialogue: A one- or two-state solution?

Laila Soliman′s documentary piece ″Zig Zig″ (photo: Christian Altdorfer/Ruud Gielens)

Arab theatre at the Zurich Theaterspektakel

Between coma and protest

Political theatre from the Arab world five years after the Arabellion: from a country in a permanent vegetative state comes the piece "While I Was Waiting" by the Syrian playwright Mohammad Al Attar. And in "Zig Zig," an Egyptian theatre group headed by Laila Soliman tells the tale of a gang rape. By Susanne SchandaMore

Interview with the Egyptian theatre director Laila Soliman: Revolutions past and present Art and revolution in the Arab world in 2015: Struggling against the restoration of "order"Jenin's Freedom Theatre celebrates 10 years: What′s next for ″cultural resistance″?

Syrian refugee Nather Henafe Alali

Part II: ″Why I am here″

″A German artist once asked me why some people leave their country, while others just stay there and die. The question was put in a friendly way, but there was something very bitter about it. As if he was asking why I didn’t dutifully stay in Syria and wait for my death,″ writes Nather Henafe Alali in his second columnMore

Syrian refugee Nather Henafe Alali: ″I am the misery of the 21st century″ Rafik Schami on integration: ″To the haters, they′re all faceless Muslims″ Novelist and critic Elias Khoury: The nightmare of reality

Youssef Rakha, Egyptian author, essayist and journalist (photo: Susanne Schanda)

Interview with the Egyptian author Youssef Rakha

"Taken together, these things would make up home..."

The Egyptian poet, essayist, novelist and journalist Youssef Rakha moves between two worlds. He aims to show his Western readers an eclectic Cairo beyond common cliches. Interview by Susanne SchandaMore

Book review: Basma Abdel Aziz′s ″The Queue″: Disturbingly prescient Book review: Tawfiq al-Hakim's "The Revolt of the Young": A revolutionary manual for older generations Interview with Ahmed Maher: "The next revolution will certainly come"

The Egyptian military pulls the strings of power – graffiti on a wall close to Tahrir Square in Cairo (photo. Reuters)

Political discourse in the Arab world

Defaming democracy

The author and political analyst Majed Kayali criticises Arab intellectuals for defaming democracy, which, despite everything, is still in his opinion the most effective system of government and society humanity has thus far devisedMore

Political transformation in the Arab world: Forget the people Arab Spring five years on: Brave new world?Reforming the Arab security sector: A plea for transparency

Egyptian boy demonstrating on Tahrir Square in 2011 (photo: AP)

Egypt and the Arab Spring

Vive la resistance!

In the Arab world, even the smallest acts of resistance can give a sense of self-worth, encouraging a long-demoralised people to feel that change, after all, is possible. By Nael ShamaMore

Political transformation in the Arab world: Forget the people The revolution of 25 January 2011 and its consequences: Learning from past mistakes Popular unrest in the Middle East: Who says popular demand for change is off the agenda?

The American linguist, philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky (photo: dpa)

Noam Chomsky in interview

Obama's sangfroid

Former MIT professor and philosopher Noam Chomsky is widely regarded as one of the world's leading intellectuals. Undoubtedly, Chomsky's word has weight. Emran Feroz interviewed him on Barack Obama's political legacy in the Middle East, the deal with Iran and the refugee crisisMore

Syrian conflict: Everyone against everyone Saudi-Iranian rivalry: And the winner is...Europe′s response to the refugee crisis: "Ugly, feckless and dysfunctional"

Lebanese novelist and critic Elias Khoury (photo: imago/ZUMA Press)

Topic: Arab Spring

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