Essays
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Dispute about the temple to Lord Ram in Ayodhya
The end of India's post-colonial consensus
With the construction of a controversial Hindu temple in the city of Ayodhya, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is marginalising the Muslim community. With his rhetoric, he is intentionally breaking with the post-colonial legacy of the Indian independence movement that saw India as a secular, multi-faith state. By Dominik Müller
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Civil society held hostage by corruption and murder
Libya's peace process doomed to failure without its women
Libya is disintegrating into chaos and lawlessness. Women who stand up to those in charge of the country end up fearing for their lives, even though it is these very women who could bring stability to the country. An analysis by Andrea Backhaus
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Authoritarianism and underdevelopment in the Islamic world
Islamic clerics and statesmen in an unholy alliance
U.S. political scientist Ahmet T. Kuru from San Diego State University traces historical developments in the region and seeks the causes behind today's problems. Kuru received the American Political Science Association Award for his book in 2020. Musa Bagrac read it for Qantara.de
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Criticism of Islam versus Islamophobia in Europa
AfD's religious criticism is simply Muslim-bashing in disguise
Germany's AfD party claims its critical attitude towards Islam is religious criticism and hence falls under the right to freedom of expression. Yet the party fails to back its claim with convincing arguments, writes social scientist Ulrich Paffrath from the Frankfurt-based Academy for Islam in Research and Society in this feature for Qantara.de
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Democracy in the Maghreb
Tebboune's 'New Algeria' looks a lot like the old Algeria
Algeria's recent referendum was a thinly veiled attempt to hijack the agenda of the country's popular Hirak protest movement. Yet the people are no longer willing to accept ageing leaders who rely on a veneer of democracy to maintain their rule. Legitimacy will only be achieved by genuine structural reforms. By Dalia Ghanem
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France, terrorism and identity politics
Emmanuel Macron's determination to pick the wrong battle
Emmanuel Macron appears to want to rekindle the old conflicts between Occident and Orient. He blusters on about a "crisis of Islam", as if oblivious to the more acute crises society is facing these days, says Stefan Buchen in his essay
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COVID-19 and terrorism
9/11, coronavirus – epochal events that force a re-think
This 11 September marked the nineteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. The wide-ranging repercussions of those attacks in the years since 2001 are only just emerging. Throughout the coronavirus crisis, political patterns born of the era of terrorism continue to prevail. An essay by Stefan Weidner
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Overcoming fear and mistrust
Processing Lebanon's long legacy of collective trauma
In Lebanon, collective trauma is obvious. The explosions in Beirut on 4 August will have triggered memories of the civil war in many people. By understanding how individual and social identities are influenced by the past, peace work can help contribute to the healing process. By Miriam Modalal and Dalilah Reuben-Shemia
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Aftermath of the Beirut explosion
Lebanon, a state in freefall thanks to corrupt governance
The Beirut catastrophe has exposed the true extent of government failure in Lebanon. People are blaming the country’s corrupt and incompetent system for the explosion, says Karim El-Gawhary
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Debate about racism
Germany is not the anti-racist model the U.S. is looking for
Germany is often lauded for its atonement for its Nazi past. Yet the country upheld the structures that allowed – and allow – racism to flourish and Germanness to be intertwined with whiteness, writes Ursula Moffitt