Hezbollah
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Syrian refugees in Lebanon
"We will perish here!"
Fearing a terrorist attack, the Lebanese army has hermetically sealed off the town of Arsal. More than 100,000 Syrian refugees have been trapped there for months. They fear for their own security and the impact of winter. Juliane Metzker reports from Arsal
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The Middle East in 2014
New regional power games
The rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq has dramatically altered the regional order. While Iran and Turkey are becoming key political players in the crisis-torn area, the West continues to lose influence. An analysis by Karim El-Gawhary
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Interview with the political scientist Abdel Mottaleb El-Husseini
Lebanon: "A mixture of vacuum and volcano"
A million Syrian refugees, a catastrophic economy and increasing domestic hostility towards Hezbollah: the war in Syria is pushing neighbouring Lebanon to the limit. Mona Sarkis spoke to the Lebanese journalist Abdel Mottaleb el-Husseini about the current political situation in his country
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Domestic violence against women in Lebanon
Protection, yes, but not enough
On 1 April, the Lebanese parliament approved a law designed to curb domestic violence. However, the women's rights organisation KAFA, which ran a high-profile campaign demanding a law to protect women against domestic violence, is disappointed with the outcome and says the law does not go far enough. Background information from Juliane Metzker in Beirut
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Book review: "The Wisdom of Syria's Waiting Game"
How to stay in power against the odds
In her book "The Wisdom of Syria's Waiting Game", Bente Scheller analyses Syrian foreign policy since the Assad dynasty came to power in 1970. She believes that the special relationship between domestic and foreign policy is key to understanding Syria's power apparatus. By Martina Sabra
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Hezbollah in Lebanon
How Hezbollah is paralysing Lebanese politics
There are few countries in the world where domestic affairs are as affected by regional calamities as Lebanon. With Hezbollah still fighting across the border in Syria and the country's two biggest political alliances at loggerheads about the situation, the government in Beirut is in deadlock. By Ben Knight
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Civil society initiatives in Lebanon
"I am not a martyr"
Bomb attacks and other acts of violence have almost become part of everyday life in Lebanon. After recent bomb blasts, two media campaigns were launched to raise awareness among Lebanese people of the everyday violence in their crisis-torn country. A background report by Juliane Metzker
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Turkey's Foreign Policy
Return to Pragmatism
In the past month Ankara opened a membership chapter with the European Union after a 30-month hiatus, while intense diplomatic traffic is underway to end tensions with its Iranian and Iraqi neighbours. All of which is fuelling rising speculation that a major reset in Turkish foreign policy is underway. Dorian Jones looks at what lies behind the latest events
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Hezbollah after the Beirut Attacks
A Battle on Many Fronts
In Syria, Hezbollah is backing the Assad regime in the fight against the rebels, as a way of defending the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance. This has been met with great hostility at home in Lebanon, and is provoking reactions on the Salafist front. Background from Juliane Metzker
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George Sabra, President of the Syrian National Council
"We Always Have to Hope for a Political Solution"
The president of the Syrian National Council George Sabra tells Najima El Moussaoui why peace talks with Bashar al-Assad in his opinion will only waste time, but that he still believes in a diplomatic solution
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Civil War in Syria
The Time to Act is Now
In this commentary, Kristin Helberg says that there will be no negotiated solution to the Syrian crisis unless the conflict is escalated to international level. Until then, Syrians will continue to pay the price for the world's half-heartedness
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Tension between Sunnis and Shiites in Lebanon
New Lines of Demarcation
The effects of the war in Syria are being felt in Lebanon. Violent confrontations are flaring up between the Sunnis and the Shiites in a country in which several religious groups have to coexist. And there is no reason to assume that the situation will improve. Mona Naggar reports from Beirut