Sunni-Shia tension

Topic: Sunni-Shia tension

Poster of Muqtada al-Sadr in Sadr City, Baghdad, June 2021 (photo: Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

Reuters special report: U.S. enemy and friend of Iran?

Muqtada al-Sadr, the most powerful man in Iraq

Popular support for Muqtada al-Sadr, progeny of the famous Sadr political dynasty, is on the ascendant in Iraq. Leader of the main opposition Shia faction, Sadr is also no stranger to the corridors of power within the country. A man of many facets, dogmatic and pragmatic by turns. By John Davison & Ahmed RasheedMore

The icon of Tahrir Square in Baghdad and Cairo: Arab Spring and October Revolution Unrest in Iraq: Sadr City – a hotbed of resistance Protesting for reform and an end to corruption: Iraq's youth reject the dire status quo Iraqʹs political future: Entering a new era

Dr Guido Steinberg (left) and Ulrich Tilgner (photos: Eventpress Stauffenberg/picture-alliance and Future Image/imagoimages)

New books on the Middle East

The clouds of war or the dawn of a new beginning?

German Middle East analyst Guido Steinberg and television journalist Ulrich Tilgner have both published new books on the conflicts in the Middle East. Their analyses and their forecasts for the region could not be more different. By René WildangelMore

Geopolitics in the Middle East: A new century dawns Western foreign policy reorientation: Strategy of restraint U.S. withdrawal from Syria: The U.S. is still needed in Syria U.S.-Saudi relations: Joe Biden's recalibration

Photo montage of Pope Francis and Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani (photo: Gregorio Borgia/dpa/picture-alliance; dpa/picture-alliance)

The politics of the Pope in Iraq

Pope Francis and Ayatollah al-Sistani, meeting in faith

When Pope Francis sets foot in Iraq, he will be breaking historic ground while manoeuvring religious and political minefields. So will his foremost religious counterpart, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of the Shia Muslim world’s foremost scholars and leaders. By James M. DorseyMore

The Pope in Iraq – "We are all brothers": Can Pope Francis save Iraq's Christians from extinction?A new quality of civil unrest: Is Iraq steering towards post-sectarianism?Parliamentary elections in Iraq: Shifting towards Iran?

Protests in Kabul against attacks on the Hazara minority in Pakistan (photo: Reuters)

Sectarian strife in Pakistan

Syria's proxy war widens gulf between Sunnis and Shias

After a period of relative calm, the conflict in Syria is reigniting the tensions between Sunni and Shia Muslims in Pakistan: groups from both sects are involved in the clashes in Syria. The authorities fear a new wave of sectarian violence. Background by Mohammad LuqmanMore

Islam in Pakistan: The myth of the Muslim monolith The Baloch community in Pakistan and Iran: A forgotten conflict that is very much alive Iranian scholars in exile: The Shia shakedown Radicalisation among Barelvis in Pakistan: The spread of violent fanaticism

Archive photo: Yemeni people wave a national flag during a celebration commemorating the third anniversary of the 2011 uprising in Sanaa, Yemen, 11 February 2014 (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Arabellion and the advent of Joe Biden

Yemen 10 years after the Arab Spring – never lose hope

Yemen's Arab Spring uprisings led to a raging civil war that has inflicted immense suffering on the population for the past seven years. Will the United States' halt on arms sales to Saudi Arabia and a new envoy help bring peace? By Jennifer HolleisMore

10 years of Arabellion: The buds of the Arab Spring Interview with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Tawakkul Karman: "We need to bring back the Arab Spring!"Unrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle Saudi Arabia and the U.S.: MbS courts Joe Biden over Iran fears and the economy

Shiraz was Iran's Book Capital of 2020 (photo: Afsoon Mohammadpour)

Caught between tradition and modernity

Will ancient poet Hafez win the "soft war" in Iran?

Iran is far more modern than many people realise: our view is clouded by media distortion and the overriding political narrative. The nation’s historic and cultural riches are often overlooked. A declaration of love for Iran by Marian BrehmerMore

Professor Nasser Kanani on the Persian poet Hafez: "The joyful audacity of his spirit, the melody of his poetry"Iran′s image in the West: Sheer incredulity ″City of lies. Love, sex, death and the search for truth in Tehran″: Where nothing is allowed, yet anything is possible The longest duel: Iran and the USA square off

Dutch Lebanese journalist and author Kim Ghattas (photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP)

Book review: Kim Ghattas' "Black Wave"

The rivalry that completely transformed the Middle East

In "Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the rivalry that unraveled the Middle East", Dutch Lebanese journalist Kim Ghattas describes the past 40 years in the Middle East and North Africa as a struggle for hegemony between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Throughout the book, she focuses above all on the societal dimension of this rivalry. Daniel Walter read the bookMore

Geopolitics in the Middle East: End the Arab-Iranian tug-of-war Iran and Saudi Arabia: Chalk and cheese Iran-Saudi conflict: The Middle East′s Cold War

Palestinian children in Burj Barajneh, Lebanon (photo: Stephen McCloskey)

Coronavirus in the Middle East

"Pandemic of poverty" for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Social and economic upheaval in Lebanon in 2020 has deepened and magnified the poverty of Palestinian refugees. The country's "forgotten" Palestinians are bereft of international support and almost totally dependent on UNRWA. Lifting the restrictions on their economic status would help. By Stephen McCloskeyMore

Lebanon after the explosion: Beirut's aftermath – shattering as 15 years of civil war Beirut on the brink: Regardless of corona, Lebanon is at economic breaking point Social inequality in the Arab world: There is no state in Lebanon

Following the explosion in August: Ayoub Jouni on the roof of his house in Beirut (photo: Andrea Backhaus)

Lebanon after the explosion

Beirut's aftermath – shattering as 15 years of civil war

It has been three months since the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut. Since then, inhabitants of the Lebanese capital have been struggling to return to some kind of normality. For many, however, things will never be the same again. Andrea Backhaus reports from BeirutMore

Lebanese author Elias Khoury in interview: Beirut's ruling class – "The stupidest mafia there is"Interview with Lebanese political scientist Bassel Salloukh: Will a new Lebanon arise from the ashes of Beirut?Lebanon: from amnesty to amnesia: Lacking a culture of remembrance ARTE documentary: Lebanon in free fall

A fence at the closed border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/Valeriy Melnikov)

Arab states

Pandemic shines a light on the Gulf's three-way split

With Ramadan over and coronavirus hopefully on the wane, Bader Al-Saif takes a look at how divisions dating back to the June 2017 blockade of Qatar shaped the region's contrasting approaches to political messaging and public health in a time of both crisis and observanceMore

Qatar′s political isolation: The latest scapegoat Impact of COVID-19 on Saudi Arabia: Shaking the House of Saud to the core COVID-19 pandemic: Ramadan during coronavirus – with a virtual community

Nihad Salim Qoja, former mayor of Erbil (photo: Shamal Sharef/DW)

Interview with Nihad Salim Qoja

“Iranian hegemony in Iraq is very strong”

For 12 years, Nihad Salim Qoja was the mayor of Erbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdish regions of Iraq. Christopher Resch spoke to the local politician in Erbil about the future of his city and the current political problems in IraqMore

Overcoming cultural divisions: "Iraq is full of inspiring stories" Iraq post-IS: Mosulʹs cultural comeback The uncertain future of Kurdish autonomy: What next for Iraqʹs Kurds?

A student protester holds up a placard outside the Lebanese Ministry of Education in Beirut on 7 November 2019 (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/H. Malla)

Mass protests in Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon and Iraq

Is this the Arab Spring 2.0?

Nearly a decade after the Arab Spring fizzled out, a new wave of protests has swept across the Middle East and North Africa. What is different this time – and will the protesters get what they want? By Marwan MuasherMore

Unrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle The Arab Spring and the "Spring of Nations": Failed revolutionaries?Authoritarian reinstatement in the Arab world: Whatʹs left of the Arab Spring

Anti-government protests

Is this Iraq's Arab Spring?

Iraq is currently facing such an alarming array of economic, political and social problems that many observers fear no-one will be up to the task of delivering the much-needed reforms. By Stasa SalacaninMore

Unrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle Protesting for reform and an end to corruption: Iraq's youth reject the dire status quo The Iraq War fifteen years on: "America destroyed my country"

Protesters at an anti-government demonstration on 1 October 2019 in Baghdad (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Protesting for reform and an end to corruption

Iraq's youth reject the dire status quo

More than a hundred dead and thousands injured: this is the brutal tally thus far of the current unrest in Iraq. Neither the country's political landscape, nor the ubiquitous confessional take on Iraqi politics offer much in the way of explanation. By Karim El-GawharyMore

From Basra to Baghdad: Young Iraqis rise up for a life worth living Economic crisis in Iraq: Trump's Iran embargo impacts Iraqis What triggered the Middle Eastern revolts in 2011? The economics of Arabellion

Participants at the Arab League summit in Mecca on 30.05.2019 (photo: Imago Images/Zuma Press)

Topic: Sunni-Shia tension

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