German election
Not enough migrants in German politics
Egypt‘s illegal deportation practice
Eritrean refugees in Egypt: arrested, beaten, threatened
Prostitution in the Shah's Iran
Shahr-e No – "the neighbourhood of the sorrowful"
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt
A new dawn for diplomacy in the Middle East?
Politicians with a migrant background, such as Serap Guler, are few and far between in the German Bundestag.

Germany's general election

Not enough migrants in German politics

One in four people in Germany has a migration background, but less than 8% of the members of parliament have foreign roots. Germany is out of touch with reality, says Maissun MelhemRead more

General election in Germany: How will Germany's immigrants vote?Migration policy: Europe's migrants are part of the solutionAladin El-Mafaalani's "Das Integrationsparadox": Demanding a seat at the tableGermany’s identity crisis: We are the people, too
Refugees from Eritrea.

Egypt‘s illegal deportation practice

Eritrean refugees in Egypt: arrested, beaten, threatened

Two refugees detained in Egypt are facing deportation to Eritrea. The expulsion of the Eritreans, who have been incarcerated in Cairo for more than eight years, has been halted for the time being. But the attempted deportation is not an isolated case, and sheds light on Egypt’s draconian approach towards refugees and migrants. By Sofian Philip NaceurRead more

Highlighting Sisi's systematic crackdown: Lawyers detained in Egypt receive CCBE Human Rights AwardEgypt – Dollars to despots: Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's international patronsPolice co-operation with Egypt: Is Germany an "accessory to repression"?Egyptian society: Migrants – ever the foreigners?

Prostitution in the Shah's Iran

Shahr-e No – "the neighbourhood of the sorrowful"

Drawing on the history of Tehran's Shahr-e No red light district, Nasrin Bassiri describes how prostitution functioned in Iran before the Islamic Revolution. The neighbourhood would end up being destroyed in August 1980, six months after Khomeini came to powerRead more

Child trafficking in Iran: The agony of the destituteThe documentary film ''In the bazaar of sexes'': Temporary marriage in Iran″City of lies. Love, sex, death and the search for truth in Tehran″: Where nothing is allowed, yet anything is possibleThe photography of Kaveh Golestan
Endless conflict may mark the Middle East’s past; but it is not the region’s settled destiny.

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt

A new dawn for diplomacy in the Middle East?

International relations are shifting across the Middle East as regional powers adapt to America's retrenchment and China's growing influence. Although the region could become the site of another great-power competition, it also has a chance to pursue diplomatic openings and new security arrangements. By Fawaz A. GergesRead more

Reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar: A turning point for the whole Middle East?Hic sunt dracones: Is Iran set to forfeit its national interests to China?Afghanistan and Iran: Can Iran be friends with the Taliban?Yemen and the Biden administration: "After the war, Yemen will no longer be a sovereign state" New books on the Middle East: The clouds of war or the dawn of a new beginning?

Politics

Refugees from Eritrea (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

Egypt‘s illegal deportation practice

Eritrean refugees in Egypt: arrested, beaten, threatened

Two refugees detained in Egypt are facing deportation to Eritrea. The expulsion of the Eritreans, who have been incarcerated in Cairo for more than eight years, has been halted for the time being. But the attempted deportation is not an isolated case, and sheds light on Egypt’s draconian approach towards refugees and migrants. By Sofian Philip NaceurMore

Highlighting Sisi's systematic crackdown: Lawyers detained in Egypt receive CCBE Human Rights AwardEgypt – Dollars to despots: Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's international patronsPolice co-operation with Egypt: Is Germany an "accessory to repression"?Egyptian society: Migrants – ever the foreigners?
Sunrise on the island of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf (photo: Instagram)

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey and Egypt

A new dawn for diplomacy in the Middle East?

International relations are shifting across the Middle East as regional powers adapt to America's retrenchment and China's growing influence. Although the region could become the site of another great-power competition, it also has a chance to pursue diplomatic openings and new security arrangements. By Fawaz A. GergesMore

Reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Qatar: A turning point for the whole Middle East?Hic sunt dracones: Is Iran set to forfeit its national interests to China?Afghanistan and Iran: Can Iran be friends with the Taliban?Yemen and the Biden administration: "After the war, Yemen will no longer be a sovereign state" New books on the Middle East: The clouds of war or the dawn of a new beginning?
German Leopard tanks at a weapons trade fair in Abu Dhabi 2017 (photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo)

Arab world

Germany and the Middle East – a tale of morals and markets

Germany's foreign policy is explicitly values-based. But what happens, Ralf Bosen asks, when democracy, the rule of law and human rights collide with the logic of trade and business?More

Germany's arms exports controversy: When doves cryInterview with Yemen expert Marie-Christine Heinze: "Now is the time to start preparing for reconstruction"Germany′s arms exports to the Islamic world: Profiteering from terrorismAngela Merkel′s visit to Egypt: Blinkered realpolitikSisi and the European Union: The long arm of the dictator
Protests against the miserable economic situation in Tunis in December 2020 (photo: Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images)

Arab world

"The people aren't ready" – can Arabs do democracy?

"The people aren’t ready for democracy" has been the constitutional basis for Arab tyranny, its favourite slogan and its sacred narrative for more than a century. Yet, asks Khaled Hroub, what chance does democracy have, unless it is repeatedly put to the test by the people at all levels of society?More

Political discourse in the Arab world: Last ditch democracyThe Arab Spring and political change: Are Arabs capable of democracy?The Arab Spring in historical perspective: Revolutions take timeUnrest in the Arab world: The genie is out of the bottle
more Politics »

Society

Election posters showing two candidates who are running in the election, Karl Lauterbach of German heritage and Serap Guler, of Turkish ethnicity, in Cologne (photo: Chai van der Laage/imago images)

Germany's general election

Not enough migrants in German politics

One in four people in Germany has a migration background, but less than 8% of the members of parliament have foreign roots. Germany is out of touch with reality, says Maissun MelhemMore

General election in Germany: How will Germany's immigrants vote?Migration policy: Europe's migrants are part of the solutionAladin El-Mafaalani's "Das Integrationsparadox": Demanding a seat at the tableGermany’s identity crisis: We are the people, too
Still of an alley in the prostitutes' ghetto Shahr-e No in Tehran before 1980 (source: ROUYDAD24.IR)

Prostitution in the Shah's Iran

Shahr-e No – "the neighbourhood of the sorrowful"

Drawing on the history of Tehran's Shahr-e No red light district, Nasrin Bassiri describes how prostitution functioned in Iran before the Islamic Revolution. The neighbourhood would end up being destroyed in August 1980, six months after Khomeini came to powerMore

Child trafficking in Iran: The agony of the destituteThe documentary film ''In the bazaar of sexes'': Temporary marriage in Iran″City of lies. Love, sex, death and the search for truth in Tehran″: Where nothing is allowed, yet anything is possibleThe photography of Kaveh Golestan

General election in Germany

How will Germany's immigrants vote?

Germany’s electorate includes some 7.4 million citizens with international roots, while many more millions of residents from abroad aren’t allowed to vote. Both groups are often overlooked by political parties. Kay-Alexander Scholz reportsMore

Migration policy: Europe's migrants are part of the solutionImmigrants in Germany: Electioneering in the Federal Republic: Courting the immigrant voteNon-fiction: Aladin El-Mafaalani's "Das Integrationsparadox": Demanding a seat at the tableGermany’s identity crisis: We are the people, too
A Muslim woman prays during Eid-Ul-Fitr, 2017 (photo: Sanka Vidanagama/ZUMAPRESS/imago images)

Future-proofing Islam

Indonesia G20 presidency to focus on "the soul of Islam"

Indonesian religious affairs minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas set the bar high for both President Joko Widodo and Nahdlatul Ulama – the religious backbone of Widodo's government – when he laid out the agenda for his country's presidency of the G20 last week. James M. Dorsey has the detailsMore

Interview with Indonesian cleric Yahya Cholil Staquf: "We must want peace"Islamic law in Afghanistan: Sharia – nightmare or ticket to salvation?Interview with the Algerian scholar Said Djabelkhir: What we Muslims need is a critical appraisal of Islamic lawManifesto published by Muslim intellectuals: For Islam and democracyQantara dossier: Reform Islam
more Society »

Culture

Still from Iman K. Zawahry's "American*ish" (distributed by

Film review: Fatima & Zawahry's "American*ish"

This is America, where dreams come true... ish

"American*ish" – co-written by Aizzah Fatima and Iman K. Zawahry, and directed by the latter – is a rom com for an America too many don't want to acknowledge. Whereas most mainstream American TV and films present the Muslim immigrant community as a monolithic group with a kind of hive mind, this film goes out of its way to break the mould. By Richard MarcusMore

The West and Islam 20 years after 9/11: Paranoia, nowInterview with Pakistani American actress Aizzah Fatima: "Human, flawed and funny"Muslim youth in America: The "mipster" phenomenon
Egyptian author Nadia Wassef (photo: Dany Eid Photography)

Diwan and the dialogue of cultures

Nadia Wassef's bookshop memoir – a chronicle of Egypt's upheaval

Egyptian author Nadia Wassef talks about opening the first independent bookstore in her home country; and her latest book in which she celebrates books and booksellers. By Manasi GopalakrishnanMore

A reading Renaissance: Kurdistan′s Book Cafe: In praise of female entrepreneursCOVID-19 on the Nile: How coronavirus snuffed out my bookseller's lifeBook review: Mohamed Elshahed's "Cairo Since 1900": In pursuit of other modernisms10 years of Arabellion: The buds of the Arab Spring
Calligraphy "Infinity" by Shahid Alam; courtesy of the artist

Karl-Josef Kuschel's "Goethe and the Koran"

Islam for the 21st century? Look no further than Goethe

No other Western poet was arguably so well-versed in the Koran or so fascinated by Islam as Germany's national hero, Goethe. In a new publication that examines all Goethe's writings relating to Islam, theologian Karl-Josef Kuschel shows that the poet's message is still highly relevant today. Stefan Weidner read the bookMore

Non-fiction: Karl-Josef Kuschel′s ″Christmas and the Qu′ran″: When love comes downProfessor Nasser Kanani on the Persian poet Hafez: "The joyful audacity of his spirit, the melody of his poetry"Goethe anniversary: Orient and OccidentGoethe and the Orient: Why did the poet's mind wander to far-off climes?Book review: Joseph Croitoru's "Die Deutschen und der Orient": Between contempt and fascination
The author Fatima Daas (photo: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)

Book review: Fatima Daas' "The Last One"

Confessions of a Muslim woman

In her debut novel, Fatima Daas makes use of traditional narrative forms reminiscent of Koranic suras. The piercing, insistent rhythm of her writing style addresses topical issues such as same-sex love, gender and questions concerning her identity as a French woman with Algerian heritage. Volker Kaminski read the bookMore

Book review: Shida Bazyar's novel "Drei Kameradinnen": Words like fireYoung Iranian women writers in Germany: Patchwork identities Leila Slimani's "The Country of Others": Dreams in times of crisisQantara-dossier: "Literature"
more Culture »

In brief

More

Most Recent Photo Essay

It's a man's world: photos and videos emerging from Afghanistan show bustling activity returning to the streets of cities – as at this restaurant in Herat, where customers are being welcomed back. But there is one conspicuous difference from before: at the tables are men and men alone, often wearing the traditional knee-long tunic. Women have become a rarity in the urban landscape

Afghans' altered life under the Taliban

Despite all the drama around the Taliban's takeover in Afghanistan, daily life carries on there. But that day-to-day life has certainly changed – particularly for women. By Claudia Dehn & Sonja Angelica Diehn

Editor's picks

The West′s Islam debate: For all our freedoms!

Muslims in the West – the cultural go-betweens

Authors of 'War on Terror' in denial to the bitter end

Houses of healing: The success of early Arab medicine against epidemics

Fairy tales depicting independent...More

UN: 16 million in Yemen "marching towards starvation" as food rations run low

A woman's hand holds a small. malnourished child (photo: picture-alliance/dpa)

At least 5 million people in Yemen are on the brink of famine and a further 16 million are "marching toward starvation", as the country’s humanitarian crisis spirals out of control.More

"I too am Germany"

"I too am Germany"

The Internet campaign #AuchichbinDeutschland (#ITooAmGermany) is all about taking a stand against racism. The photo blog was launched by a group of people who have received grants from the Deutschlandstiftung Integration, a foundation that promotes equal opportunities for people with a migration background in Germany.

No sign of life for 20 years – PEN demands release of Eritrean journalists

Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Index 2021 (source: Deutsche Welle)

PEN Centre Germany is appealing to the world community and especially the European Union to stop ignoring the situation of freedom of the press and freedom of expression in Eritrea.More

German election: What's at stake for India?

Angela Merkel on a state visit to India in 2019 (photo: Reuters/A. Abidi)

Germany's foreign policy after Merkel could be marked to a large extent by how it develops relations in the tense Indo-Pacific region. India is set to play a key role.More

SWP dossier: Forced displacement and migration

Pin and thread sculpture of a map of the world (© pogonici/Shuttterstock)

Migration is on the increase worldwide. The causes are manifold. Ever more people are forcibly displaced by persecution, violent conflicts and human-rights violations. Read up on international cooperation in the areas of forced displacement and migration, on developments in Europe’s migrant and refugee policies, and on the migrant and refugee policies of individual states.More

MIddle East Matters: Afghan refugees fear deportation at Iranian border

When the Taliban seized Afghanistan, tens of thousands of people fled the country, including former members of the Afghan security forces. Fearing Taliban reprisals, they've fled to neighbouring Iran. Temporary camps have been set up, but Iranian authorities are already considering sending the Afghans back. More

Morocco's Chefchaouen blues await the return of tourists

The pandemic has upended millions of lives in Morocco. This has been especially true for those working in the city of Chefchaouen, Morocco, a once-bustling tourism hub. How have the lives of ordinary people changed in Morocco over the course of the pandemic?More