Topic: Authoritarianism

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Saddam Haftar, Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar's youngest son, is widely seen as his father's successor (image: Facebook)

More corruption, death and destruction

Haftar's sons rise in Derna flood aftermath

Khalifa Haftar, the strongman of eastern Libya, has placed his six sons in positions of political and military power. The deadly floods in Derna have seen his youngest, Saddam, rise to head of disaster relief management and the top of his succession charts. For Libyans, it spells more bad news, writes Leela JacintoMore

Libya's Derna: A city known for rebellion – and neglectAmnesty accuses Haftar-linked Libya force of war crimesKhalifa Haftar's role in the Libyan civil war: The fight against political Islam
Ipek Ipekcioglum aka DJ Ipek (image: Melis Oezdil)

Eklektik BerlinIstan meets Anatolian folk

DJ Ipek's space-time continuum in sound

Eklektik BerlinIstan's DJ Ipek – Ipek Ipekcioglu – is famous far beyond her home city of Berlin. Now the music producer has released her first album as part of the musical project "Karmaturji". Daniel Bax had a listenMore

Elektro Hafiz: A musical maverickBerlin Museum of Islamic Art: "Islamic Art” goes digital Qantara dossier: Musical worlds
Indian cricket fans wait for the start of the Cricket World Cup match between India and New Zealand at Trent Bridge in Nottingham, UK, 2019 (image: AP Photo/Rui Viera/File)

Is it India? Is it Bharat?

Modi government pushes for Sanskrit name

It began with a dinner invitation. How it ends could affect more than a billion people. State-issued invites sent to guests of this week's G20 meeting referred to India's president, Droupadi Murmu, as "President of Bharat". Is the country of more than 1.4 billion now to be called by its ancient Sanskrit name?More

Historical revisionism in India: Modi rewrites the history booksNarendra Modi and Hindutva: Why violence towards India's minorities is increasingModi's India: Authoritation pseudo-democracy in the making?
Egyptian president Abdul Fattah al-Sisi gestures with his hand as he speaks (image: Mandel Ngan/AP/picture alliance)

Repression in Sisi's Egypt

Activists targeted in presidential election run-up

Egypt's clampdown on political dissent increasingly includes family members of activists living abroad. The Sisi regime has also admitted to leveraging the release of individual political prisoners for financial aid. Jennifer Holleis reportsMore

10 years after Egypt's Rabaa massacre: Still waiting for justiceHeatwave in Egypt: "Not only the prices are going up, the temperatures are too"Counterrevolution in the Arab world: Authoritarianism, a forever scenario?
Street scene in Amman, Jordan (image: picture-alliance)

Jordan's new cybercrime law

Heading towards Internet censorship

Jordan's controversial new cybercrime law, now ratified by the king, could have serious consequences for freedom of expression, political participation and the digital economy. By Abdullah JbourMore

Business in the Middle East: Jordanʹs digital start-ups – innovation in Silicon WadiRentier system and security policy: Jordan’s profound economic crisisMiddle East: How cybercrime laws are used to silence dissent
Demonstrators in Barcelona support those imprisoned in Morocco's Rif region for speaking out against the government (image: Paco Freire/ZUMA/picture alliance)

Transnational repression

Why a friendlier Middle East is more dangerous for activists

Authoritarian governments often harass and hinder their critics, even if those people are outside the country. As former enemies become friends in the Middle East, will they cooperate to shut down opposition voices? By Cathrin SchaerMore

Growing repression in Morocco: Creating an atmosphere of fearPolitical activism in the Gulf: The UAEʹs policy of zero toleranceRepression in Sisi's Egypt: Egyptian media workers – systematically intimidatedErdogan′s Turkey: The repression goes on
Demonstration in Aleppo, Syria (image: Rawan Issa)

War in Syria

Young Syrians' deep sense of alienation

How has the war in Syria affected the attitudes and perspectives of Syrian teenagers growing up during this tough time? Now 25, Jenan Aljundi was 13 when things turned violent. In this personal essay she provides insight into the alienation felt by a young woman remaining in Syria, while friends and family emigratedMore

Apoliticism in the Arab world: How to re-engage Arab youth?Assad's rehabilitation: At the expense of the Syrian peopleHigher education under Assad: Students leave Syria to prove their mettleChronicle of a war foretold: Redefining the "Syrian" conflict
Famous Turkish pop singer Melek Mosso has also been affected by hostility and concert cancellations (image: Yasin Akgul/AFP/Getty Images)

Music festivals in Turkey

Only "halal" festivals acceptable?

In Turkey, concerts and festivals by artists at odds with the government line are being cancelled with increasing frequency. Islamist and nationalist groups are often responsible. Elmas Topcu and Aynur Tekin reportMore

LGBTQ+ rights in Turkey: Anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric intensifiesMusic in the Middle East: Attuned to a different classicalElections in Turkey: Turkish nationalists on the rise
Victims of the Rabaa massacre in shrouds with relatives (image: AHMED HAYMAN/dpa/picture alliance)

10 years after Egypt's Rabaa massacre

Still waiting for justice

The massacre of protesters in Cairo under Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's watch was one of the worst in modern history – and one of the best documented. But 10 years on, no-one has been held accountable. By Cathrin SchaerMore

Al-Sisi, Raba′a and al-Nahda: Egypt′s grim harvest10 years of Egypt's Sisi regime: Why are Egyptian human rights abuses ignored?Egypt: The revolution did not fail
In this photo taken on 3 March 2022, Ethiopian refugees are seen at a migrant camp in the Khor Maksar district in Aden, Yemen (image: Saleh Obaidi, AFP)

Saudi Arabia

Saudi border guards killed hundreds of migrants, says HRW report

“They Fired on Us Like Rain”: between March 2022 and June 2023, Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants attempting to cross the border from YemenMore

HRW report: "They Fired on Us Like Rain"Migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon: Exploited, locked up, abandonedOmitted from the United Nations' list of shame: Yemen's dead and injured children haunt Saudi-led war
King Mohammed VI of Morocco (image: FADEL SENNA / AFP/File)

Morocco

Mohammed VI turns 60: Diplomacy a priority as inequalities persist

Morocco's King Mohammed VI is set to celebrate his 60th birthday on 21 August away from the public eye, as challenges abound almost a quarter century after he ascended the throneMore

Morocco and Spain: What price Madrid and Rabat's "historic" reconciliation?Women's rights in Morocco: Gender equality on paper onlyMoroccan thinker Hassan Aourid: Democracy cannot be stopped
Protests in Baghdad against the Koran burnings (image: Ali Jabar/AP/picture alliance)

Sweden Koran burnings

Playing to the radicals

As Sweden grapples with the diplomatic fallout of a series of Koran burnings, radicals on all sides are rubbing their hands and exploiting the moment. Birgit Svensson travelled from Baghdad to Stockholm to get the full pictureMore

Koran-burning in Sweden: The Iraqi Christian turned radicalIslamophobia: Criticism of religion? Blatant racism!Belgium arrests Danish activists plotting Koran burning
Der indische Oppositionspolitiker Rahul Gandhi; Drew Angers/Getty Images

India

The Gandhi clan returns

It looked as though Prime Minister Modi would be able to contest the 2024 elections without much opposition. But now the Supreme Court has cleared the way for Rahul Gandhi to return to politics. Will India's opposition take advantage of this boost? By Arne PerrasMore

Modi's India: Authoritation pseudo-democracy in the making?Modiʹs identity politics: Islamophobia threatens to engulf Indiaarendra Modi and Hindutva: Why violence towards India's minorities is increasing
Book cafes, an Arab initiative to nourish body and soul. Here in Erbil, Iraq (image: DW)

Youth Activism in the Middle East and North Africa

How to re-engage Arab youth?

Recent public opinion surveys offer an opportunity to re-evaluate youth political engagement across the region, a decade after the 2011 Arab Uprisings and waves of subsequent protest movements. By Valerie BoutrosMore

Lebanon's chronic medicine shortage: Zero state support, much Lebanese solidarityCivil war in Syria: Fighting the jihadists with unusual weaponsYoung entrepreneurs in Yemen: Coffee production offers a fresh perspective
A woman walks along a street in Tehran, with her headscarf tied around her neck, 19.04.2023 (image: AFP)

Iran protests

Women defying hijab laws forced into psychiatric treatment

Authorities in Iran are trying to enforce laws obligating women to cover their hair by sending them for psychological treatment.More

Islamic feminism: Evolving gender rightsIran protests: What the Islamic Republic's propaganda tells usIran protests 2022: Tehran fatally oblivious to social change
People protest in Iraq over unpaid salaries (image: Feriq Ferec/AA/picture alliance)

Arab states in crisis

In search of a miracle cure

Given the political, economic and social challenges in Arab countries, fragmented individual measures are no longer enough. What is needed is comprehensive, far-reaching reform. Essay by Marwan MuasherMore

Arab states in crisis: The ruling classes' dereliction of dutyThe Middle East's "Axis of Failure": Arab autocrats – ruining their own statesAuthoritarianism and underdevelopment in the Islamic world: Islamic clerics and statesmen in an unholy alliance

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