Saddam Hussein
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Sunni-Shia conflict
The enemy of my enemy
Anyone who thinks that the Sunnis in Tikrit and Mosul will welcome the opponents of Islamic State with open arms as liberators is mistaken. They fear the Shia militias even more than they do IS. This shows how the inner-Islamic religious war has polarised Iraqi society. By Stefan Buchen
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Military offensive against IS in Iraq
Strike and counter-strike
The Iraqi army hopes that taking back Tikrit will come to mean to it what Kobani means to the Kurds: a turning point and a motivational push in one. By Birgit Svensson in Baghdad
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Interview with the Iraqi author Abbas Khider
"German is my new language"
The Iraqi writer Abbas Khider was already living in Germany when war broke out in his home country. In this interview with Abderrahmane Ammar, he talks about why he speaks about those events in the language of his new home country and why he now also writes his books in German
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Offensive against IS in Iraq
Sowing the seeds of the next disaster
With their keen fighting spirit, the Shia militias may well be an effective weapon in the fight against Islamic State in Iraq. However, this is quite literally a case of casting out the devil that is IS with the Beelzebub that is the Shia militias, says Karim El-Gawhary
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Interview with Navid Kermani
"One should take the religious façade seriously"
The writer Navid Kermani spent a week in mid September travelling through Iraq, visiting a number of different parts of the country. In this interview with Kersten Knipp, he speaks of his impressions of the country and some factors that have led to the rise of IS in Iraq
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New government in Iraq
Shouldering a huge political burden
Iraq's new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, along with some members of his cabinet were recently confirmed in their posts with the help of votes from Kurdish members of parliament. But the haggling in Iraq's post-Saddam political bazaar is far from over. By Birgit Svensson in Baghdad
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Iraqi crisis
The expected death of a nation
Iraq has always been an artificial country, an entity created and beset by outside influences. However, Iraq is not currently being threatened by outside influences alone; discord is now flourishing within the country itself – with devastating consequences. A commentary by Rudolph Chimelli
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Interview with war photographer Christoph Bangert
The naked brutality of war
The photographer and journalist Christoph Bangert has published a book of photographs that his editors refused to use. All of them highlight the horror of war. His book, "War Porn", is an appeal not to look away from the brutality of armed conflict. Monika Griebeler spoke to him about his work and his book
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International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2014: "Frankenstein in Baghdad"
Beyond good and evil
Ahmed Saadawi's novel "Frankenstein in Baghdad" has won the 2014 International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Khaled Hroub presents the book
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Interview with American photojournalist Michael Kamber
Dispelling the myths of war and war photography
Michael Kamber is an American photojournalist and winner of the World Press Photo Award. Between 2003 and 2012 he covered the Iraq War extensively for the "New York Times". In 2013, he published the book "Photojournalists on war – The untold stories from Iraq", a mixture of photography and interviews with 39 photojournalists from different countries who worked in Iraq. Felix Koltermann spoke to him about his motivation for making this book
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Commentary by Daoud Kuttab
An Arab "Third Way"
Throughout the post-colonial period, Arab countries have consistently failed to produce an efficient – let alone democratic – system of government. Now, after a half-century of competition between military or royal dictatorships and militant Islamist regimes, many Arabs are again seeking a "third way"
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US-Iranian Relations at the Crossroads
Don't Miss the Chance
There is no traditional enmity between the US and Iran – at least not among ordinary people. Entrenched hostility at government level is largely due to historical errors. Iran's new President Hassan Rohani appears to be intent on learning from these mistakes. Commentary by Rudolph Chimelli