After five years of war, violence and endless suffering, Syrian civil society is sending a clear message to Geneva: "We will not stop until Assad is gone." Assad, however, has no intention of relinquishing power, invoking of all things the wishes of the Syrian people. Kristin Helberg analyses the situationMore

The cultural and educational turbulence within the Arab world is due – at least in part – to the absence of a contemporary home-grown intellectual tradition capable of providing societies with an inner compass based on local values and modern perspectives. An essay by Sami MahroumMore

A policy formula that only recognises two distinctions – those who are "for the regime" and those who are "against the regime", with the latter arguably grouped under the heading "potential terrorists" – is leading to widespread human rights violations and the persecution of those who hold different political views. A commentary by Thomas DemmelhuberMore

The massacres in Paris showed what a catastrophe the Al-Baghdadi "caliphate" represents and how it threatens to drag whole generations into a "clash of cultures". High time for Arabs and Muslims to seek out the roots of the fanaticism and delusion that have spread since 9/11, says the Lebanese journalist Zuheir Quseibati, bureau chief of "Al-Hayat" newspaperMore

The Arab world is locked into a huge cycle of violence. At the same time, reformers are isolated - both within the regimes and outside them. Those who advocate violence, on the other hand, sense momentum and are growing in number. And they are convinced that the future will be a violent one. An essay by the Kuwaiti political scientist Shafeeq GhabraMore

When an elite ruling class controls state institutions and resources and uses them for its own benefit, this can be called ″internal colonialism″. Such systems exist in their worst form in the Arab world. The Syrian author Louay Safi believes, however, that all signs indicate that the Arab peoples will rid themselves of this colonialism and that the repressive military regimes will be smothered by their own crimes and corruptionMore

The Egyptian author Taha Hussein warned as long ago as the 1930s that the future of Egypt depended on reforming its education system. His book "The Future of Culture in Egypt" is a plea for an enlightened, democratic and Mediterranean Egypt. By Andreas PflitschMore

In this essay, Ian Buruma explores what it is that American Tea Party enthusiasts, Russian chauvinists, right-wing populist Dutch and Danes, and Singaporean leftists have in common and why this common ground is driving anti-immigrant sentiment around the worldMore

The case of the cancelled event against homophobia at the Sehitlik Mosque in Berlin is not evidence of the "backwardness of Islam", as many so-called "critics of Islam" are claiming. It is solely an illustration of the fact that conditions in Germany make it incredibly difficult for Muslims to be a self-determined and equal part of our society. By Armin LangerMore