Reports

Lebanon Pulls back from the Abyss
By   Heiko Wimmen

The political crisis that has dragged on for nearly 18 months escalated dramatically during the second week of May. With the help of the Arab League, a process of dialogue was inaugurated and, on May 20, a temporary compromise was struck. The immediate crisis seems now resolved; however the situation remains volatile and renewed conflict possible, in particular as long as regional tension remains high. Read...

More Reports:

 Mixed Messages and Open Friction
The Arab League Summit in Damascus, 2008

  Regional Political Developments
2006-07 (German)

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Dossiers

The Iraqi Refugee Crisis

While Iraqis have been fleeing war and internal repression for decades, murder and mayhem in the wake of the 2003 war and in particular since 2006 have turned the Iraqi refugee community into one of the largest in the world. Refugees spread throughout the neighboring countries, especially Syria and Jordan, were their living conditions are often dire. This dossier provides a collection of links to articles, TV programs, maps, numbers, reports and studies that may helpful to form a comprehensive idea about the dynamics of the latest major refugee crisis in the Middle East.

More Dossiers:

Climate Change and the Middle East
War in Darfur

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Other Voices

On Blasphemy, Bigotry and the Politics of Culture Talk
By Mahmood Mamdani

In a book that I wrote in 2004 titled Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, I began with two propositions: that every culture, without exception, is historical; and that cultures do not grow in separate containers called civilizations. The claim that they should be seen as a part of an attempt to politicize culture, that is, to harness culture to a political project. My focus then was on the period that led to 9/11. My object will be to advance two further arguments. One, the continuing “clash of civilizations”- including its distinctive European version- is better understood not as a defense civilization but as the ideological arm of a larger political project, the War on Terror. And two, for those interested in developing an effective counter to hate movements organized as political projects, I suggest developing an intellectual and political, rather than a legal, strategy. Read...

More Articles on "Other Voices":

Noam Chomsky: Imminent Dangers - Threats an
Opportunities
Bourhan Ghalioun: Globalization and Democracy
Ilya Harik: Violence, Cultural Identity, and Negotiated Diversity

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Publications

Cities Of the South - Citizenship and Exclusion in the 21st Century

Major cities worldwide are caught in a whirlwind of change that is turning urban spaces into strategic places for emerging and yet undefined forms of citizenship.
Migration, civil society, new spaces of consumption and exclusion and an array of national and transnational players are transforming the major cities of the South. The book, which evolved from a workshop held with the Institut Français du Proche Orient (IFPO), collects accounts and assessments from around the Mediterranean, Latin America and South Asia that discuss the impact of global integration on traditional concepts of citizenship and belonging defined by the nation state. Published by Dar Al-Saqi, Beirut/London.

More Publications:

 Cultural Diversity in the Middle East (forthcoming)
Walking a Tightrope - News Media and Freedom of Expression in the Arab Middle East