Essays

Iraqi boy riding past a burning oil-field following an IS attack in Qayyarah near Mosul (photo: Getty Images/C. Court)

Arab identity crisis

What is left of the Arabs?

Despite war and mass murder, the Arabs were never as numerous as they are today. But they were also never as unsure about who they are. Does an Arab identity survive? What about Arab culture? These are the questions being asked today. In view of the political and social downward spiral, all of this is now at stake, says Stefan Buchen in his essayMore

Political discourse in the Arab world: Defaming democracyPolitical transformation in the Arab world: Forget the peopleCritical reflections on the Arab revolutions: Profiteers from authoritarian decay
Protesters on Tahrir Square in Cairo (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Arab Spring and Western Winter

Look before you leap!

Economist Ishac Diwan compares the failure of the Arab Spring with the rise in right-wing populism across the western world, both of them phenomena marked by massive social tensions. Moreover, he argues, the efforts of progressive movements to provide a viable alternative have all but run aground More

Germany′s ′Nazi′ methods: Erdogan – the expert on democracyRight-wing populism in the USA: Trump′s deplorablesPost-revolution transformation in Egypt and Tunisia: Let them eat cake!
Syrian opposition delegation headed by Mohammad Alloush (centre) attending the first round of negotiations in Astana, January 2017 (photo: Reuters/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov)

The Syrian conflict

Mendacious diplomacy

As the war in Syria rolls on and civilians continue to die, caught in the deadly crossfire of a multi-front conflict, the Syrian military and political opposition – bowing to intense international diplomatic pressure – has been dragged into political negotiations that lack the minimum conditions for success. Essay by Burhan Ghalioun, former chairman of the Syrian opposition Transitional National CouncilMore

U.S. missile strike in Syria: Trump turns the tableAssad and the rise of IS: My enemy's enemyAnother year of civil war in Syria: Nothing short of scandalous
Muslim refugees attending preparatory college at Berlin′s Free University (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

What it means to be German

1

Recognise the potential

Germany is a country of immigration. Clinging to an out-dated and mythical understanding of what it means to be German not only adds grist to the right-wing populists′ mill, it also endangers social cohesion. By Andreas BockMore

Germany and Islam: "Muslims are already German"Syrian refugee Nather Henafe Alali: Exile and integration: the double whammyThe refugee debate: What makes us German?Germany's headscarf ruling: What an imposition!
Muslim woman with hijab in France (photo: dpa)

Islam the bogeyman

Tarred with the same brush

The fear of Islam is socially construed and tied to societally entrenched anti-Muslim racism that fails to distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Essay by Andreas BockMore

Islam and violence: There is a differenceGermany and Islam: "Muslims are already German"AfD and its historical antecedents: Whose struggle is it anyway?Qantara dossier: Islamophobia
Protesters at an anti-Trump demo in Paris (photo: Thomas Samson/Getty Images/AFP)

Trump's Islamophobia

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Lighting the touch paper

By antagonising and humiliating the world′s Muslim population, the new US administration is playing into the hands of the terrorists. In his essay Ian Buruma examines the likely impact of ′a global war on Islam′ on the powder keg that is the Middle East and Africa More

The West and the Muslim world: Bin the black and white modelTrump′s Muslim immigration ban: Just the beginningQantara dossier: Islamophobia
Democrats Abroad demonstrator protesting against Donald Trump′s policy on Pariser Platz in Berlin (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

The West and the Muslim world

Bin the black and white model

East-West dualism fuelled by the rise of right-wing populists in Europe and the election of US President Trump is hampering the progress of the Orient and that of Muslim communities in the West, warns analyst Shafeeq Ghabra. High time for some ideological disarmament, says the political scientistMore

Trump′s Muslim immigration ban: Just the beginningJihadism debate: Beyond the MediterraneanIslamophobia in the USA: Standing up for Muslim rights
″No to terrorism!″ – Demonstration in Tunis against the repatriation of convicted jihadists (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Jihadism debate

Beyond the Mediterranean

Our image of Arab countries tends to be dominated by terror and violence. Yet many people across the region are working hard to defend their freedoms and fight for a decent life – under difficult circumstances. An essay by Asiem El DifraouiMore

Islam and violence: Self-proclaimed jihadistsInterview with radical Islam expert Peter Neumann: Islamic State′s looting economyInterview with French extremism researcher Olivier Roy: ″Radicalisation is not the result of failed integration″Slavoj Zizek’s exploration of Islam and modernity: A Eurocentric perspective
Sickle moon atop a mosque minaret (photo: dpa/picture-alliance)

The secularisation of Muslims

Silent withdrawal

While the emerging religious demography only counts members of the Church as Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims etc. are counted as religious from birth – with no option to leave their religion. This skews the statistics and our perceptions. By Michael BlumeMore

Islam and enlightenment: Beware of the myth The Reform Islam debate: Islam doesn′t need a Martin Luther!Secularism in the Islamic world: Part I – It′s a knotty problem
Demonstrating for an "open and tolerant Germany and for freedom of speech and religion" at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (photo: Kay Nietfeld/dpa)

Germany′s Islam debate

For all our freedoms!

German society is constantly changing and each of its members has the right to help shape it. Only once everyone in Germany can be anything they want to be – when a woman wearing a headscarf can become a government minister and someone named Ahmad a constitutional judge – will we have evolved from a screwed-up country of immigration to a successfully integrated society. By Kristin HelbergMore

Rafik Schami on integration: ″To the haters, they′re all faceless Muslims″ Nine Muslims on right-wing populism: Should I stay or should I go?Islam and homophobia: The hatred on our doorstep
Stock secularism image (source: www.ncr.sy)

Secularism in the Islamic world

Part II – Clouding the issue

In the second part of his essay on secularism in the Islamic world, Saudi analyst Khalid al-Dakhil addresses the ready confusion, found particularly in Islamic writings, of secularism as a concept and separating religion and the state as a legal-political reality. What is the difference? More

Secularism in the Islamic world: Part I - It's a knotty problemInterview with Soheib Bencheikh: Islam and SecularismThe Arab Islamists and Erdogan's Turkish Islam: Secularism as a protector of religion
U.S. soldier displays a photo of the infamous ″Camp X-Ray″ in front of Guantanamo Bay detention camp (photo: Getty Images/AFP/M. Antonov)

The West and the Islamic world

Diplomatic hubris

European nations suspend civil rights in an era of terror, but preach to others about the rule of law. What might they do to regain credibility in the Middle East? By Sonja Hegasy More

The West and the Islamic world: The despotic temptationThe Muslim world and the West: Europe is not under threatTony Blair and the Iraq war: A case of smoke and mirrors
Woman in burkini on the beach at Fort Mahon, France (photo: picture-alliance/Photopgr/Le Parisien/Arnaud Dumontier)

France and the burkini ban

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Lawmakers beware!

Demand too much conformity of a population and you may end up with the exact opposite. Forcing people to adhere to a common identity, as in the case of the burkini ban, fosters a rebellious insistence on difference. By Ian BurumaMore

The headscarf in the colonial period: Remove your veils!Muslim women and integration: Oppressed in the name of Islam?Portrait of Hilal Sezgin: "There's no such thing as a typical Turkish woman"
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 WestRacism in Germany: The taint of PEGIDA journalism
Bullet cases (photo: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Curtis)

Our attitude to violence

The bad guys are always the others

Our standards for gauging violence have become apolitical, causing us to be horrified only by the deeds of individuals. Critical thinking is no longer possible. An essay by Charlotte WiedemannMore

Germany′s refugee policy: Four words for humanitySyrian refugee Nather Henafe Alali: Part II: ″Why I am here″Refugees and German crime rates: Zero correlation
Arab revolt in Palestine in 1936 (photo: Public Domain)

Western involvement in the Middle East

A rotten legacy

Whatever else they were guilty of, the two authors of the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, George Bush and Tony Blair, displayed an astonishing ignorance of history. By Roger HardyMore

100 years of Sykes-Picot: "A tapestry of plans and promises"Sykes-Picot and the role of Gertrude Bell: Midwife of the Middle EastVolker Perthes: "The end of the Middle East, as we know it": The end of Sykes-Picot?
Putin and Erdogan shake hands at a recent meeting in St. Petersburg (photo: picture-alliance/TASS/M. Metzel)

Turkish-Russian relations

Farewell America

Despite numerous conflicts between Russia and Turkey in the past, the two countries appear to be moving closer together. This current rapprochement is due to the West′s waning attraction, argues Stefan BuchenMore

Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin: Sunni Islam meets Russian orthodoxyRussian intervention in Syria: Make no mistakeRussia′s air strikes in Syria: Courting the aggressor
Whirling dervishes (photo: Deutsche Welle)

Sufism

Lifting the lid

Many Western devotees of Sufism view it as a more liberal brand of Islam. That is a misunderstanding. An essay by Stefan WeidnerMore

Interview with Mevlevi sheikh Kabir Helminski: Sufism and the power to transformSufis in Afghanistan: The forgotten mystics of the Hindu KushCombating violent extremism: Could Sufi Islam be the cure-all?
A damaged window at the police headquarters in Ankara on 18 July 2016 (photo: Reuters/O. Orsal)

Talking Turkey

″What happens on the Bosphorus affects us all″

The West′s attitude toward Turkey matters. For an outcome that reflects democratic values and is favourable to Western and Turkish interests alike, Western diplomats need to escalate their engagement with Turkey. Essay by Sweden′s former foreign minister, Carl BildtMore

The Middle East: Preserving the Ottoman mosaicTurkish involvement in Syria: Making enemiesInterview with the turkish journalist Ahmet Sik: Turkey's coup plotters 'sold each other out'
Pro-Erdogan demonstration on Taksim Square on 10 August 2016 (photo: Reuters/O. Orsal)

Putsch aftermath in Turkey

The coup after the coup

Although the coup in Turkey failed, democracy has nevertheless lost, writes Aydin Engin, interim editor-in-chief of the Turkish daily "Cumhuriyet", in his essay for Qantara.deMore

Interview with the turkish journalist Ahmet Şık: Turkey's coup plotters 'sold each other out'Turkey's democratic future: Hanging by a threadFreedom of expression in Turkey: Academics on the run

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Most Recent Photo Essay

Tunisia: The troglodyte dwellings of Matmata

The Berber village Matmata in southern Tunisia is famous for its quaint underground houses and cave dwellings, which are pleasantly cool in summer and comfortably warm in winter.

Fethullah Gulen: from partner to arch-enemy

Fethullah Gulen (left), Recep Tayyip Erdogan (right) (photo: picture-alliance/Zaman/Reuters/M. Sezer)

Moderate or radical? Fethullah Gulen's followers inside Turkey were once widely regarded as a critical force in aiding Erdogan and his moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party in bringing the military firmly under civilian control and in weakening the firm barrier between mosque and state.More

Online magazine Jadaliyya

Featuring contributions by writers from the Islamic world, the independent online magazine "Jadaliyya" is published by the Arab Studies Institute.More

Sadiq Khan speaks out against Islamist terror: "You will not divide us"

On Saturday, Mayor Khan addressed an audience of thousands at London′s 11th annual Eid ul-Fitr celebration in Trafalgar Square for the first time since taking office. He called for peace, unity and an embrace of religious freedom and diversity, describing this as one of London′s great strengths. He pledged zero tolerance of hate crimes, reports of which have risen in the wake of the EU leave vote, and he denounced ″criminals who do bad things and use the name of Islam to justify what they do″.More

Muslims: in defence of religious freedom and the German constitution

Muslims in Germany have launched a petition calling on all citizens of Germany to support the German legal system, especially the German constitution and its protection of religious freedom.More

Muslims of Central Asia by Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii ca. 1910

A cloth merchant sits in his stall in Samarkand (present-day Uzbekistan)

Muslims of Central Asia by Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii ca. 1910

Between 1909 and 1912, photographer Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii was commissioned to conduct a photographic survey of the Russian Empire by Tsar Nicholas II. Using a special camera he captured three black and white images in fairly quick succession, using red, green and blue filters. These were later overlaid and projected with filtered lanterns to show near true colour images. These photographs pre-date both the Russian Revolution and the First World War. Take a step back in time and see what life was like for Muslims more than a century ago with these photos made available by the Library of Congress, which purchased the original glass plates back in 1948.

The first colour photos of the Middle East

A Palestinian herdsman at the end of the nineteenth century

These images of Middle Eastern cities, towns and attractions were taken during the 1890s. Colour was added manually to the black and white negatives using the Photochrom technique pioneered by Photoglob Zurich AG.More

Bosnia Herzegovina: Mosque of hope

It is over twenty years since the end of the war in Bosnia, yet many Muslims in Bosnia still feel alienated. A mosque destroyed by the civil war reopened recently.More

Jihad and homosexuality: a history of entanglement

"The Snake Charmer", by Jean-Leon Gerome (1824–1904), used on the cover of Edward Said's seminal work "Orientalism"

At the heart of jihadist political violence are specific conceptualisations of gender and sexuality. Jihadism imagines a glorified militant masculinity that protects the Muslim world from the European threat and purifies its societies of internal decay.More

D+C Development and Cooperation

Development and Cooperation (source: D+C)

D+C Development and Cooperation is a website and a monthly print magazine that seeks to provide a credible forum of debate, involving governments, civil society, the private sector and academia at an international level. It contains interesting articles and reports on politics and society all over the world.More