Iraq War
All topics-
Kurdish defence
Peshmerga help families flee from IS
Civilians who are fleeing from the "Islamic State" group near Mosul in Iraq are actively helped by Kurdish peshmerga forces during their escape. Judit Neurink reports from Bashiqa
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Tony Blair and the Iraq war
A case of smoke and mirrors
We don't need to wait for Chilcot, Blair lied to us about Iraq, asserts Peter Oborne, former political editor-in-chief with the British "Daily Telegraph"
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Iran′s image in the Arab world
Conservative regime and open-minded society
The Kuwaiti analyst Shafeeq Ghabra believes that the real strength of Iran is its society, which is much more emancipated than the regime and more open-minded than the ruling mullahs. Iranian society is not only young, but also more secular than any Arab society
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Caricaturists in Iraq
Walking a satirical tightrope
Caricaturists in Iraq have been under pressure for years: while the Kurdish regional government has been waging all-out war against them in the north of the country, their colleagues in Baghdad live in fear of jihadist extremism. By Birgit Svensson in Baghdad
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Iran and Saudi Arabia:
The impending storm
The rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia is not confessional in nature. Both lay claim to regional supremacy and also to the leading role in the Islamic world – maximalist positions that naturally provoke confrontation. An essay by Ali Fathollah-Nejad, political scientist with the German Council on Foreign Relations
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Interview with Arun Kundnani
Violence comes home
After the Paris attacks, what are the logical and tragic consequences of a war with no geographical limits? In this interview, Arun Kundnani unveils and critiques the ramifications of the ″war on terror″, from the conservative and liberal rhetoric of the intellectuals and commentators who have emerged, to the theories of ″radicalisation″ which have fuelled counter-terrorism programmes in the West
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US–Iranian relations
The end of Iran's Islamic Revolution
The nuclear deal reached in July by Iran and its international interlocutors marks an obvious turning point in the Islamic Republic's relations with the outside world, particularly with the United States. But why has it taken so much longer for the US to come to terms with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's revolution in Iran than it did with Mao Zedong's revolution in China, asks Said Amir Arjomand
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Interview with Wilfried Buchta on the rise of IS and the fall of Iraq
"Iraq is irreversibly split"
In his new book, "Terror vor Europas Toren" (Terror at the Gates of Europe), Wilfried Buchta analyses the reasons for the rise of the jihadist militia of the self-styled "Islamic State" and the disintegration of the Iraqi state. Ulrich von Schwerin spoke to Buchta, a scholar of Islam, who worked as a UN analyst in Baghdad for many years about the future of the nation
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Interview with "Der Spiegel" reporter Christoph Reuter
The strategists of terror
At present, IS is the most dangerous terrorist militia in the world. It controls a territory that stretches from north-eastern Syria to western Iraq, including almost all Syrian oil and gas fields. Igal Avidan spoke to Christoph Reuter (correspondent for the German weekly news magazine "Der Spiegel") about the ascent of IS
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One year of IS in Iraq
The caliphate is a reality
One year ago, Islamic State began its triumphal march through Iraq. The capture of the province Anbar played a key role in this advance. Birgit Svensson in Baghdad looks back on a year of IS in Iraq
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali's controversial theories on Islam
Hailed as a "female Luther"
Ayaan Hirsi Ali has just published her latest book "Heretic" in Germany. Her work has been received with enthusiasm in Germany, where she was courted by the media and even described as a "female Luther". She probably has more in common with him than is comfortable for many. By Emran Feroz
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Women writers in Iraq
Writing to stay alive
The anthology "Through the Eyes of Inana" is a collection of poetry and short stories by 19 Iraqi women writers. It is a cross-section of what women are writing in the country right now – about their lives and how they survive in a state of war, their wishes, their dreams and their sufferings. By Rosa Gosch