Arab Spring
All topics-
Lebanese writer Alawiya Sobh
I'm not afraid for myself
In her latest novel, Lebanese writer Alawiya Sobhwrites about the failure of the Arab Spring and how religious bigotry and patriarchal structures are impacting people's health. Interview by Lena Bopp
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Women in Sudan
Don't use our bodies as a political battlefield!
Rape has been instrumentalised in the most heinous ways in many of Sudan's armed conflicts. Now the country's women are rallying together against the weaponisation of sexual violence to settle political conflicts. By Amal Habani
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20 years Iraq War
Farewell to the old world order
It is 20 years since the USA began its invasion of Iraq. Alongside the countless dead Iraqis and U.S. soldiers, it was the West’s credibility in the Arab world that would fall victim to this war. As Karim El-Gawhary argues, this loss is still having consequences two decades later
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20 years after the U.S. invasion
Iraq's wounds are slow to heal
20 years after the U.S. invasion, the country between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers is only just beginning to recover from the aftermath. But the road is paved with obstacles. Birgit Svensson reports from Iraq
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Press freedom in Egypt?
Mada Masr journalists to stand trial
Reporters from one of Egypt's last remaining independent media outlets are preparing for what activists criticise is a politically motivated trial. The international community should be doing more to help, they say. By Cathrin Schaer
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Rentier system and security policy
Jordan’s profound economic crisis
Excessive reliance on rentier economics and foreign aid is bringing Jordan to its knees, argues Marwan Muasher
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Earthquake politics
Syria – do EU, U.S. sanctions stop aid deliveries?
On social media, calls to lift sanctions on Syria and expedite earthquake aid recently went viral. But are such calls genuine, or are they part of a cynical campaign to further Bashar al-Assad's rehabilitation on the international stage? By Cathrin Schaer
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Syrian refugees in Lebanon
No education for this generation?
More than a decade since hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled into neighbouring Lebanon, the educational level of the younger generation is disastrously low and their future prospects correspondingly dim. By Mona Naggar
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Detention in Egypt
Cairo's model Badr prison rife with abuse
A new prison, touted by Egypt as a model for reform, that holds some of its most prominent prisoners denies inmates healthcare and subjects them to punitive treatment including isolation, relatives of those inside and rights groups say.
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Human rights in Algeria
Banned, intimidated, driven into exile
Algeria's civil society is once again being targeted by the authorities. With the judicial dissolution of the human rights league LADDH, yet another human rights group critical of the government has been shut down – the outlook could hardly be worse. By Sofian Philip Naceur
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Tunisia in turmoil
Will Tunisians rise up against Kais Saied?
Voter turnout for parliamentary elections in Tunisia at the end of January 2023 was so low it broke world records. Tunisians are dispirited and a wannabe authoritarian leads the country. What now for the endangered democracy? By Cathrin Schaer and Tarak Guizani
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Cairo's crisis
Egypt needs democracy to fix its economy
Sisi’s mismanagement has plunged the country into crisis. Both political and economic reform is needed to save it, writes Abdelrahman Mansour