Essays
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights turns 70
The red herring of 'Islamic human rights'
Muslims who grant themselves the right to adopt a human rights declaration based on their own religion need to allow followers of other religions to do the same, argues Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi in her essay
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The headscarf debate
Don't ban – educate and emancipate!
Why resort to bans on specific religious practices, when we live in an age and a form of society where one can open oneself to permanent processes of education? If piety and self-determination are to be brought into line with a liberal, democratic society, argues Emel Zeynelabidin, then other measures must be applied
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War reporting
Facts must be respected – even in Syria!
Amid the increasing complexity of the Syrian conflict, a growing number of "critical citizens" are assigning greater credibility to conspiracy theories on the Internet than to UN investigations that are required to meet scientific standards. Essay by Kristin Helberg
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U.S. sanctions against Iran
The lonely "axis of evil"
In the new Cold War between the USA and the Islamic Republic the theocracy is taking on the status of the defunct Soviet Union, writes Ali Sadrzadeh. Tehranʹs powerbrokers have, however, come up with several strategies to counter Trump's tightened sanctions policy
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Trump, MbS and the aftermath
Did the global order die with Khashoggi?
Principled leaders on the world stage need to reinforce the rules on which we all depend, sending a clear signal that what happened in Istanbul is not acceptable. Otherwise, we will effectively be giving up the discourse of values and rules – a decision that could well leave us with no coherent and stabilising discourse at all, argues Ana Palacio
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Sisi and the military
Egyptʹs sham modernity
The constant state of denial that is a feature of the Egyptian urban middle class and the Sisi regime shores up a deeply paradoxical ideological construct, argues Maged Mandour, where repression is deemed necessary, yet must remain covert
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What triggered the Middle Eastern revolts in 2011?
The economics of Arabellion
Syrian historian Nasser Rabbat argues that the Arab Spring resulted mainly from social imbalance and the misery of large sections of the population within the Arab world. Moreover, as long as economic inequality persists, these states will continue to be plagued by instability
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Turkeyʹs economic crisis
The sick man of Europe returns
A destabilised Turkey is the last thing Europe needs. Regardless of what one thinks about Erdogan, more important things are at stake: peace and stability in south-eastern Europe and the future of Turkish democracy. Essay by Germanyʹs former foreign minister Joschka Fischer
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Islamophobia and xenophobia
The West’s racism problem
The mob in Chemnitz had a lot in common with the neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan followers and other extremists who caused mayhem a year ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, writes Ian Buruma
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Civil wars in the Middle East
The Arab issue of kith and kin
However they may appear in their early stages, Arab civil wars are wars between kinsfolk. The social group becomes partisan, whether sectarian, tribal, party political or ethnic. Whatʹs more, argues Morris Ayek, Arab civil wars have no end